only a year older than her onscreen daughter (portrayed by Jennifer Lopez), the young and sexy Constance had to undergo four hours of extensive make-up in order for her to look like Selena's mom. It was a pivotal role at the right time and it catapulted her into being one of the industry's most sought-after actresses, and she has contin- ued to work almost non-stop ever since. After Selena was released TV Producer Gary David Goldberg immediately offered Constance a role as Michael J. Fox's antagonist love interest, Gabby, on the hit ABC series “Spin City,” a stint that helped the series achieve some of its highest ratings. It was another high profile role which helped her gain attention from producers and casting agents. Offers for roles were pouring in and soon Constance was starring as Gabriella Diaz, on the top ten, NBC TV series "Union Square.” In 1998, Constance was nominated for the ALMA Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series" for her perform- ance in “Union Square”.
After “Dirty Dancing” ended, she chose not to work for a year because she did- n’t like the parts that came her way. “The only power I have is in the choices I make for work. And that’s where I thought, ‘You can’t put me in a box. I won’t let you,’ ” Constance says. She turned down many of the roles she was offered to portray drug addicts, prostitutes and maids and eventually found work on the NBC soap opera “Santa Barbara.” She regularly found small roles after that and she began to seek work in feature films as well.
Constance
It was good timing because in the 90’s there was a rise in Latino themed projects and a new awareness in Hollywood. It was only a matter of time before she was working in features, starring as Toni Sanchez in the critically recognized 1995 feature My Family, directed by Gregory Nava. The project also turned out to be the first of many times that she has worked with fellow actor and good friend Edward James Olmos. Constance then went on to win praise for her work in the 1997 film Selena about the slain Tejano music legend. Constance portrayed Selena’s mother, Marcella Quintanilla, in the blockbuster film. Although Constance was really
S A L U D O S H I S P A N O S MARIE
The cancellation of the highly publicized show allowed the in-demand actress to quickly jump into another role, as Detective Toni Brigatti on the popular CBS series "Early Edition" where she played series lead Kyle Chandler's love interest for two seasons. She has also had strong reoccurring roles on the series' “Two Guys and a Girl” for ABC, and “For Your Love” for the WB. In 2001, Constance went back to her dancing roots to portray Inez Cortez, a salsa champi- on on the quirky FOX hit “Ally McBeal.” Marie's other TV credits include an NBC pilot “The Underworld” opposite Kevin Pollack and the Mario Van Peebles-directed ABC pilot, “Missing Persons.” In 2001, Constance
starred in the highly celebrated Samuel
Goldwyn film, Tortilla Soup. She played the daughter of Raquel Welch, who coincidentally also starred as her aunt in the “American Family” series. The film received a 2002 AlMA Award nom- ination for “Outstanding Motion Picture.” The same year Constance also co-starred in the surprise comedy hit See Spot Run. She also starred in the Sundance Film Festival favorite Dancing In September.
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