When I caught the first episode of the second season of Dexter, I exclaimed to myself, “Yay, Kim Fields is back on TV!” I rejoiced over this fact for the next three episodes. Imagine my shame when I discovered that Lt. Maria Laguerta is played by Lauren Velez, not Kim Fields.
Oh, the agony; oh, the shame! But seriously, were Velez and Fields separated at birth? Take a look for yourself.
I would have saved myself all this embarrassment had I just read the opening and closing credits, but leave it to me to just jump right in. I may have made a complete fool of myself, but at least I can go down claiming that “I Ain’t Never Scared (to make a fool of me).”
But back to the subject at hand. Showtime’s bio on Velez reads as follows:
LAUREN VÉLEZ first appeared in the 1994 feature film I Like It Like That, which centered [on] a Latino family struggling to stay together amidst the stresses of life, earning Vélez an Independent Spirit Award. She also starred in City Hall, opposite Al Pacino, and in Prince of the City, opposite Danny Aiello and Kathleen Turner. From 1997-2003, Vélez starred on Oz, winning an ALMA Award for her role as Dr. Gloria Nathan. However, she is perhaps best known for her role as Nina Moreno on the cop drama New York Undercover. She also starred in the pilot for Strong Medicine: First Response and has appeared in Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Medium and The Pretender, as well as Numb3rs on CBS. For Dexter, Lauren Vélez was recently nominated for another ALMA award.
