Monique Alvarez

Monique Nicole Alvarez is an American multicultural film and television actress born in 1986 of Colombian and Cuban descent. She's acted in films and theater directed by Oscar^[1]-winning director David Frankel^[2], Tony-winning Mark Medoff, and Oscar-nominated Burt Reynolds^[3]. Recently noted as the lead in Chase Bank's national ads and host of the newest television pilot^[4] developed at mun2, "From Beyond" which was successfully turned into a television series on NBC^[5]. Some films she starred in are currently in the festival circuit. As part of the Creative Coalition's Art & Soul project^[6], she was photographed by Pulitzer-prize winning photographer, Brian Smith in Los Angeles. She currently works and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Earlier Life

Monique was born and raised in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Fatima and Richard Alvarez, a lead cardiovascular technician; she has a brother and sister. She began acting by the age of four entertaining family and friends as Madonna. She acted in school plays and talent shows and started her own theater group where her performance earned her first film role in a local independent movie. Prior to graduating high school, an inductee in the Trojan Hall of Fame, Monique acted in a film directed by Oscar-winning David Frankel and won best actress in South Florida's theater competition along with an invitation from 14 universities to attend their theater programs. At Florida State University^[7], she majored in theater and communication and earned a theater scholarship to train in London, UK. During this time, she trained with Olivier-winning Clare Higgins^[8], Olivier-nominated playwright Mark Wheatley^[9] and Shakespeare & Company^[10] with Tina Packer where Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Raquel Welch and Keanu Reeves attended. She was discovered by Burt Reynolds in Florida when he directed her in an award-winning short film. She embarked from FSU, an inductee into the University's Hall of Fame and made her way to Los Angeles, CA.

Activism

She currently serves as on the Advisory Board of PARK Project^[11], a non-profit organization spearheaded by Starmar events whose grass-roots effort encourages people to 'perform acts of random kindness.' A supporter of VDAY, she performed in the Vagina Monologues for three consecutive years as part of the national campaign to stop violence against women. While at FSU, Monique co-founded FSUnited^[12], an initiative inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and educator Ernest Boyer that was endorsed by the university with the aim to unite students and groups, faculty, staff and the city through activism, inclusion and engagement to build one community. This initiative, co-founded with Dr. Timothy Quinnan and the Department of Student Affairs is now spreading to other universities. Prior to graduating, she was inducted into the FSUnited Hall of Fame. A supporter of blood donations, she rallied students to donate the highest volume of pints of blood the city recorded in over a decade while in high school. She went on to work for the American Red Cross^[13] Blood Services in LA while supporting herself at the onset of her acting career. In college, she was the co-chair of the FSU & City of Tallahassee "MLK Day," continuing the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., for three consecutive years with her focus on presenting a Mentorship Program between students and the city's youth.

External links

• MoniqueAlvarez.com
• IMDb

References

1. ^ AMPAS "http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/SessionTimeout.jsp"
2. ^ IMDB"http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2310571/"
3. ^ IMDB "http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000608/"
4. ^ Variety Article "http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118019307?refCatId=14"
5. ^ NBC Slate "http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/Telemundo_Announces_201011_Original_Programming_Lineup_20100513"
6. ^ Art & Soul "http://briansmith.com/#/PROJECTS/Art%20&%20Soul/1"
7. ^ FSU "http://www.fsu.edu/"
8. ^ National Theater "http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/33094/company-members/clare-higgins.html"
9. ^ Theater London"http://www.international.fsu.edu/London/tal/about.html"
10. ^ Shakespeare & Co. "http://www.shakespeare.org/"
11. ^ ParkProject "http://www.parkproject.org/about_us.php"
12. ^ FSUnited "http://studentaffairs.fsu.edu/documents/newsletters/spring%2005.pdf"
13. ^ ARC"http://www.redcrossblood.org/"