| Roberta Colindrez | |
| Birth Place: | Mexico |
| Nationality: | Mexican-American |
| Occupation: | Actor, playwright |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Known For: | |
Roberta Colindrez is a Mexican-American actor and writer. She is best known for originating the role of Joan in the musical Fun Home. Additionally, Colindrez is known for roles in the TV shows I Love Dick, Vida, and Amazon Prime's A League of Their Own, as well as the films Ms. White Light (2019) and Cassandro (2023). Her main contributions to the film industry include portraying queer Latine characters and adapting them as her own to avoid stereotypes.
Colindrez was born on May 28, 1986 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico with Argentinian and Honduran heritage,[1] [2] Colindrez migrated from Mexico to Houston when she was 5 years old. Colindrez lived in Houston for six years then moved to Austin, Texas[3] when she was 10 years old.[4] She first realized she wanted to become an actor at age 12, when she and her brother took a theater class together.[5] She went to Westwood High School, and went on to the Texas State University in San Marcos where she graduated with bachelor's in acting.[6] She later moved to New York City. [7] While trying to find work as an actress, she also worked in restaurants and once as a janitor in a church. Colindrez eventually joined the New York Neo-Futurists. [8]
Colindrez made her off-Broadway debut in 2006, in the Neo-Futurist revue Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. She appeared in several short films and regional theatre productions after that, and in 2011 she wrote and starred in the film Otis Under Sky. In 2013, she began playing Joan, a "confident young lesbian",[5] in the musical Fun Home off-Broadway.[5] The show closed in early 2014, and after a cameo in the Academy Award-winning film Birdman, Fun Home opened on Broadway in 2015, where it won five Tony Awards and was nominated for seven more.[5]
Colindrez has also made guest appearances on several television series and her performance on I Love Dick as a butch artist was described as a "breakout" in an interview with Vanity Fair; showrunner Joey Soloway described Colindrez's performance as "masterful", portraying "a queer cowboy masculinity".
In 2018, Colindrez joined the cast of HBO's The Deuce about the life of sex workers in New York City in the 1970's to 1980's as the character Irene.
In 2019, Colindrez joined the cast of Latino TV drama Vida as Nico, a mixologist. Although Colindrez had some reservations about joining the show, she was ultimately excited to have this role to be celebrated as queer, and show queer Latin American experiences.[9]
She also does voice acting work, most notably in the podcast Alice Isn't Dead.[10] [11]
In 2020, Colindrez joined the cast of Amazon's comedy pilot A League of Their Own[12] about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s as the character Lupe. To prepare for this role, Colindrez trained with Justine Siegel, and thought she was "pretty good" at playing baseball during training.[13]
Colindrez also originated the role of the farmer in a 2022 workshop of the first act of the Césaire José Carroll-Domínguez's epic historical play Spreckles which premiered in the 2022 Beyond The Box performance festival in Marfa, Texas with the group 'Marfa Live Arts' in the Crowley Theater.
Colindrez also writes for the stage, preferring "dark, heavy, comedic nuance".[5]
Colindrez identifies as queer[5] [14] and butch.[15]
Colindrez became close friends with Bobbi Salvör Menuez on the set of I Love Dick, which she found helpful when filming a sex scene with Menuez. Menuez gave Colindrez a stick and poke tattoo as a memento of their friendship.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | One Dollar Poem | Short | ||
| 2011 | Otis Under Sky | Ursula | Also writer | |
| 2013 | Beautiful Dreamer | Catherina | Short | |
| The Artist's Assistant | Justine | Short | ||
| 2014 | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Broadway Woman on Street | ||
| 2019 | Ms. White Light | Lex Cordova | ||
| Friends Like That | Alex | Short | ||
| 2022 | Unidentified Objects | Lola Nelson | ||
| 2023 | Cassandro | Sabrina |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2014 | Girls | Tako | 2 episodes | |
| 2014 | F to 7th | Baby | Episode: "Down to Zero" | |
| Gotham | Female Detective | Episode: "Pilot" | ||
| Unforgettable | Pam Lisotta | Episode: "Throwing Shade" | ||
| Boardwalk Empire | Episode: "Golden Days for Boys and Girls" | |||
| 2015 | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self/Joan | Episode: "Ed Helms/Alison Bechdel/Fun Home/Brad Wilk" | |
| 2016–2017 | I Love Dick | Devon | 8 episodes | |
| 2018 | The Good Fight | FBI Agent Grace | Episode: "Day 492" | |
| Home | Roberta Colindrez | Episode: "Home on the Range" | ||
| 2018–2019 | The Deuce | Irene | 12 episodes | |
| 2018–2020 | Vida | Nico | 14 episodes | |
| 2019 | Mr. Robot | Happyhardonhenry806 | Episode: "404 Not Found" | |
| 2019–2020 | Vida | Nico Silva | 14 episodes | |
| 2020 | Interrogation | Detective Boyd | Episode: "Det. Dave Russell vs Chris Keller 1983" | |
| Mrs. America | Jules | Episode: "Phyllis & Fred & Brenda & Marc" | ||
| Monsterland | Shawn Greene | Episode: "Plainfield, Illinois"[16] | ||
| 2021 | The Harper House | Tonya Acosta (voice) | 5 episodes | |
| High Herstory | The Storyteller/Ellen Ochoa | 2 episodes | ||
| 2022 | A League of Their Own | Lupe Garcia | 8 episodes | |
| 2024 | Eric | Ronnie | Miniseries[17] |