Roselyn Sanchez is originally from Puerto Rico. She grew up with a love for performing and channeled that into local competitions and beauty pageants when she was a kid. When she left Puerto Rico for New York while she was in college, she decided to take classes in dance, music, and acting, ready to pursue the work full-time.
Sánchez has filmed a handful of projects in her native Puerto Rico, but her big break came from a role in the soap opera As The World Turns in the mid ‘90s. She’s been steadily acting ever since. While she has a variety of movies and tv shows behind her, many of her best roles have been in television.
10 The Game Plan (2007)
As Monique Vasquez
The Game Plan PGComedyFamilySport
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*Availability in US Director Andy Fickman Release Date September 28, 2007 Cast Dwayne Johnson , Madison Pettis , Kyra Sedgwick , Roselyn Sanchez , Morris Chestnut , Hayes MacArthur Runtime 110 minutes
…most audiences only knew the actor from her roles in crime TV shows…
While cinema fans will knock The Game Plan as a cheesy Disney comedy, it’s a crowd-pleaser for families. The movie follows a professional football player (Dwayne Johnson, still credited as The Rock) who finds out that he has a child his ex-wife never told him about when his daughter (Madison Pettis) shows up at his door.
Sánchez has a reporting role in the movie as Monique Vasquez, a ballet instructor whose class the little girl attends. She is the romantic interest in the movie, but it’s a good role for Sánchez at this point in her career. In 2007, most audiences only knew the actor from her roles in crime TV shows, and she hadn’t had much fo a chance to appear in comedies. It also allowed her to show off some of her own dancing skills (however small the moments are).
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9 Chasing Papi (2003)
As Lorena
Chasing Papi PGComedyRomance
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*Availability in US Director Linda Mendoza Release Date April 16, 2003 Writers Laura Angelica Simon , Steve Antin , Alison Balian , Elizabeth Sarnoff Cast Roselyn Sanchez , Sofia Vergara , Jaci Velasquez , Eduardo Verastegui , Lisa Vidal , Freddy Rodriguez Runtime 80 minutes
Chasing Papi is definitely a product of its time. It is best described as what would happen if John Tucker Must Die was made for adults instead of teenagers with a primarily Latin cast – but in 2003. The premise of the movie is that three Latin American women from different parts of the country all find they are dating the same man in Los Angeles when they all converge on his home to visit him at the same time.
While initially, they agree to go their separate ways, all of the women also want to know who he would pick, but one of them being tailed as part of a criminal investigation turns the potential rom-com into a chase movie. It’s not a serious drama, but an incredibly fun ride about three women learning they’re all better off without this man in their lives.
Sánchez stars as Lorena, a lawyer from Chicago who is one of the women being cheated on. While the three women are on the run, she poses as a beauty pageant contestant to help them. Sánchez was actually a beauty queen in Puerto Rico, so the movie draws heavily on her real skill sets. She’s been a master at incorporating her real-life experiences into her roles.
8 Gringa (2023)
As Elsa
Sánchez was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival for the movie.
Gringa follows a teenage girl (Jess Gabor) struggling both before and after her mother dies. When she finds out her father (Steve Zahn), who she hasn’t seen since she was two, lives in Mexico, she goes on a journey to find him. There, she discovers the former professional soccer player is living in a small town and coaching a team of girls her age. When they reunite, he’s an alcoholic and she’s struggling with bulimia, but they both agree to work on their demons and be there for one another.
Sánchez is not the star of Gringa, but she offers a supporting role in the movie that does help ground it. She plays the owner of the bar in the small village where the characters live, and the on-again-off-again love interest of Zahn’s character. She helps fill in the character of the town, making the atmosphere feel lived-in and real.
Sánchez doesn’t get to appear in a ton of the movie, but it is her highest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes according to the Popcornmeter. Gringa earned the audience prize at four different film festivals. Sánchez was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival for the movie.
7 Rush Hour 2 (2001)
As Isabella Molina
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 action-comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, featuring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reprising their roles as Detective Lee and Detective Carter. Set in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles, the film follows the duo as they investigate a counterfeiting ring tied to a Las Vegas casino. The sequel blends humor with high-octane action sequences, continuing the dynamic partnership and cross-cultural clash established in the original film.
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*Availability in US Director Brett Ratner Release Date August 3, 2001 Cast Jackie Chan , Chris Tucker , John Lone , Alan King , Roselyn Sanchez , Harris Yulin , Zhang Ziyi Runtime 90 Minutes
Rush Hour 2 is the followup to Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s Rush Hour, in which an odd couple of an investigative duo are forced to team up. This time around, they team up by choice after trying to go on a much-needed vacation. The two end up in the middle of a case that involves money laundering, counterfeit money, Chinese organized crime, and the murder of government agents.
Sánchez plays a supporting role in the movie as a Secret Service agent. She crosses paths with the main characters while working undercover, and she enlists their help in cracking her case. Like a lot of her film roles, the supporting character is also a love interest and doesn’t get a huge storyline of her own. Rush Hour 2 also received mixed reviews with critics not enjoying it quite as much as the original.
This is, however, one of the biggest box office successes for Sánchez as the movie made over $340 million in theaters.
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6 Fame L.A. (1997)
As Lili Arguelo
Though Sánchez has appeared in several movies throughout her career, she’s arguably better known for her work on television. Sánchez is at her best when she really gets the chance to sink her teeth into a character, and that’s rare on the big screen since actors don’t get to spend as much time with those roles. Her first professional television role was in Fame L.A.
The series used the idea of the 1980s movie and television series Fame and took it out of New York. It moved to the West Coast instead. It still followed a group of young people at a performing arts school and their teachers in their quest to make it big in the entertainment world, and it still kept the grittier approach as opposed to the glitzy. In the pilot episode, one character discovers his big brother is a heroin addict, so characters got no breaks right off the bat.
Sánchez starred as Lili, the dancing student among the cast of performers. Since she had studied dance at a young age in real life, incorporating dance into her acting work seems like a natural choice. Though critics initially gave the series mixed reviews, largely for the melodramatic lives of the teens, they praised the talent of the actors, particularly that of Sánchez and her dance sequences early in the show.
5 Fantasy Island (2021)
As Elena Roarke
Fantasy Island (2021 Series) TV-14DramaFantasy
Based on the original 1970s series by Gene Levitt, Fantasy Island is a modern imagining of the fantasy/drama series. The show surrounds a luxury private resort island where visitors can fulfill their fantasies. However, not all dreams play out as expected for the guests, as strange and phenomenal happenings occur regularly.
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*Availability in US Cast Roselyn Sanchez , Kiara Barnes , John Gabriel Rodriquez , Daniel Lugo , Gabriela Z. Hernández , Alexa Mansour , María Gabriela González Release Date August 10, 2021 Showrunner Elizabeth Craft , Sarah Fain
Sánchez hasn’t appeared in too many sequels or spinoff series in her career, though it’s interesting that so many of her best projects have been part of existing creative properties. That’s the case with Fantasy Island, which is a sequel series to the original show from the 1970s.
Sánchez stars as the new version of Roarke, the person in charge of helping everyone live out their fantasies. She’s meant to be the grand-niece of the character from the original show. Unlike the original series, which focused mostly on the weekly guest stars, this modern take on Fantasy Island explores the personal lives of those who keep the island running; Roarke’s own love life even gets explored.
The fantasy nature of the series allowed Sánchez to explore a new genre of television since before this, so many of the shows she starred in were procedural in nature.
4 Grand Hotel (2019)
As Gigi Mendoza
Grand Hotel TV-PGDramaCrimeMystery
Grand Hotel (2019) is a drama series set in Miami that explores the secrets and scandals hidden within the luxurious Riviera Grand Hotel, managed by the charismatic Santiago Mendoza and his second wife Gigi. The series, created by Brian Tanen, delves into the lives of the elite guests, hotel staff, and the Mendoza family while unveiling a web of mystery and intrigue.
Cast Demián Bichir , Roselyn Sanchez , Denyse Tontz , Bryan Craig , Wendy Raquel Robinson , Lincoln Younes , Shalim Ortiz , Anne Winters Character(s) Santiago Mendoza , Gigi Mendoza , Alicia Mendoza , Javi Mendoza , Helen Parker , Danny Garibaldi , Mateo , Ingrid Release Date June 17, 2019 Creator(s) Brian Tanen
Based on the 2011 Spanish series, Grand Hotel followed the dramatic goings-on of a family who owns a luxury hotel. The show kicked off with a staff member going missing during a hurricane and her brother going undercover as a new hire to figure out what happened to her. That jumping-off point, however, is just the tip of the iceberg for the show’s mysteries and drama.
So much happens in the show’s first season that it could have been enough stories for three seasons of any other show. Sánchez stars as Gigi, the wife of the man who has owned the hotel for years. The couple is initially interested in selling the hotel, though their children don’t approve of the idea. Gigi’s storyline involves her daughter coming out to her, her ex-husband being on the run from the law, and helping to cover up a lot of secrets.
Unfortunately, Grand Hotel was canceled after just one season. Of course, if it hadn’t been, Sánchez likely wouldn’t have been available to do Fantasy Island two years later.
3 Without A Trace (2005-2009)
As Elena Delgado
Without a Trace CrimeMysteryActionAdventureDrama
Without a Trace is a procedural drama series that aired from 2002 to 2009. The show follows the FBI’s Missing Persons Unit in New York City, led by Agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia). Each episode focuses on the team’s efforts to find missing individuals by reconstructing their last known steps, exploring their relationships, and uncovering motives. The series also delves into the personal lives of the team members, balancing professional and personal challenges.
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*Availability in US Cast Anthony LaPaglia , Poppy Montgomery , Marianne Jean-Baptiste , Enrique Murciano , Eric Close , Roselyn Sanchez Release Date September 26, 2002 Creator(s) Hank Steinberg
Sánchez’s most recognized role
Though Without A Trace began airing in 2002, Sánchez didn’t join the series until 2005. Her character was brought into an already-established crime procedural to breathe new life into the show and to expand the cast when other characters had been temporarily written out due to injuries or trauma.
Every crime procedural has a hook. For the CSI franchise, it’s the forensics of a mystery, for Criminal Minds it’s the psychology, but for Without A Trace, it was the emotional component of looking for missing people. The series was always hoping for a happy ending for the case of the week, and that allowed the show to give the more vulnerable sides of the characters early on.
Sánchez’s Elena is a former vice cop who joins the FBI’s missing persons unit. She’s a single mom with a daughter who falls for one of her coworkers over the course of the series. She’s also likely Sánchez’s most recognized role since the show aired at a time when crime procedurals were at the top of the ratings charts.
Sánchez earned multiple ALMA Award nominations for her role and wrote for one episode of the series.
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2 Devious Maids (2013-2016)
As Carmen Luna
Devious Maids (2013) TV-PGComedyDramaMystery
Based on the Mexican language series Ellas son… la alegria del hogar, Devious Maids is a comedy-drama series that follows four Latina maids working for wealthy clients in Beverly Hills, California. Beholden to secrets they should know, the maids experience high society through the window of occasional criminal activity.
Cast Ana Ortiz , Dania Ramirez , Roselyn Sanchez , Judy Reyes , Edy Ganem , Rebecca Wisocky , Tom Irwin , Brianna Brown , Brett Cullen , Matt Cedeno , Mariana Klaveno , Grant Show , Drew Van Acker , Wolé Parks , Susan Lucci Release Date June 23, 2013 Creator(s) Marc Cherry
When Devious Maids was in development by Marc Cherry, it was rumored to be a spinoff series of Desperate Housewives. In fact, Sánchez even appeared in an uncredited role in Desperate Housewives as her Devious Maids character, but that was all of the connection between the shows since they ended up airing on two different television networks.
The show surrounds a group of Latina women who work as maids for wealthy Beverly Hills clients. Each season revolves around a main mystery – usually a murder. Sánchez’s Carmen was working as a maid specifically to get close to powerful people in the entertainment industry though, not to solve a murder. Her character dreamed of being a singer, and each season examined how far she would go to achieve that dream.
Sánchez earned multiple Imagen Award nominations for her role in the show.
1 Yellow (2006)
As Amarillys Campos
Yellow isn’t the most lauded of Sánchez’s projects, but it was a passion project for her. Not only did Sánchez star in the movie, but she also wrote the story for it and produced it. She put her heart into it, combining her love for dance and acting into a story about that very love.
The movie follows Amarillys as she moves from Puerto Rico to New York to pursue a career in dance. A classically trained dancer, Amaryllis has to deal with her grief at losing her father and the reality of the competitive world of professional dance. She eventually begins work as an exotic dancer at a club while pursuing her dream.
The movie sees Sánchez’s character make friends with other dreamers down on their luck, fall in love with someone who wants to take her to a whole new country, and decide whether she needs to reconcile with the family members she left behind. There’s a lot going on in the movie, but Roselyn Sánchez handles all of it with grace and charm, more than proving her talent.