Lana Parrilla’s 10 Best Movies and TV Shows

While she is mostly known for her award-winning tenure in once upon a time, The best Lana Parrilla Movies and TV shows reveal an incredibly wide range that is suitable for a lot of genres. Born in New York in 1977, Lana Parrilla studied acting at LA’s Beverly Hills Playhouse, following in the footsteps of her aunt, character actress Candice Azara (who appeared in the likes of Caroline in the city And Who’s the boss?). Parrilla’s career began in 1999 with movies like Very mean people And Spiders and the UPN sitcom Grow Ups.

However, while her earlier roles on the big screen didn’t launch a prominent career in movies, she got her big break when it came to TV shows when she signed up to ABC’s celebrated sitcom Spin City In 2000. From there she went on to appear in several short-lived shows, although despite a run of less-than-stellar luck when it came to signing onto shows that ended up receiving early cancellations, her career did not falter. Over the decades, she has been considered a reliable and versatile presence on both the big and small screen, as the best Lana Parrilla TV shows and movies prove.

10

Miami Medical (2010)

Lana Parrilla played Dr. Eva Zambrano

Miami Medical It may have only lasted one season, but it still stands out as one of the best Lana Parrilla TV shows to date — though more because of Parrilla’s performance than the quality of the show itself. The medical drama aired on CBS between April and June 2010, although it unfortunately managed to compete with other shows in the same genre, such as Gray’s Anatomy Or House MD, Both were at the peak of their popularity at the time.

Still, for all that Miami Medical Wasn’t a success for CBS, the role of Dr. Eva Zambrano gave Lana Parrilla a chance to showcase her aptitude for drama roles, building on the reputation she had laid the foundations for earlier in her career on shows like Boomtown. The character is also incredibly nuanced, and Parrilla does a fantastic job of making Zambrano’s frustration at the trajectory of her career incredibly believable. Plus, in retrospect, there are many who believe Miami Medical was canceled far too quickly, and each of the 13 episodes remains incredibly gripping thanks to scenes like a hotel shooting and a mass-cravat explosion in a restaurant.

9

Atlas (2024)

Lana Parrilla played Val Shepherd

Most of the projects among the best Lana Parrilla movies and TV shows are series made for the small screen, although she has also made a handful of appearances in feature films. Of these, one of the best and latest is the 2024 Netflix sci-fi Atlas. Starring Jennifer Lopez in the lead role of Atlas Shepherd, Atlas is a tale of rogue AI in the near future with lots of spectacular sci-fi visuals and intense action sequences.

While she is only in the opening of the movie and in various flashbacks, Lana Parrilla’s Atlas Character, Val Shepherd, is incredibly important to the plot. She is the mother of Jennifer Lopez’s character, Atlas Shepherd, and is also integral to the creation of the AI ​​known as Harlan (played by Simu Liu). Atlas May not be the most notable role of Lana Parrilla’s career so far, but she plays the part incredibly well, and the 2024 Netflix movie hopefully marks a transition for the Once upon a time Star to more high-budget blockbuster movies.

8

Windfall (2006)

Lana Parrilla played Nina Schaefer

In some ways, the career of Lana Parrilla had a rocky few years during the beginning, because she was a member of several shows that were unfortunately canceled after one season. It is especially unfortunate because the reasons why the show was canceled had nothing to do with the actor himself, with her performances always being a standout despite the various other flaws with the projects. Such is the case with 2006s windfall, In which Lana Parrilla played Nina Schaefer.

Windfall was an NBC drama that ran for only 13 episodes between June and August of 2006. The premise was intriguing as well, as it focused on a group of friends and acquaintances in a small town who collectively win $400 million in a lottery. . Then the series delved into the various dramas and schisms that this created within the group and wider community, and Parrilla managed to capture the surprisingly nuanced motivations of her character, Nina Schaefer, incredibly well. She also has some incredible chemistry with co-star Luke Perry, especially during the romance scenes between Schaefer and Perry’s character, Nina’s husband, Peter

7

Swingtown (2008)

Lana Parrilla played Trina Decker

The CBS period-drama Swingtown may have been canceled after only 13 episodes, but Lana Parrilla’s performance as Trina Decker is still worth a visit for fans looking for her best movies and TV shows. Set in the late 1970s, Swingtown Focusing on the Millers, a couple who move to a new area of ​​Chicago and find their neighbors, Parrilla’s Trina Decker and her husband, Tom (Grant Shaw), have an open marriage and happily self-identify as ‘swingers’.

The show was incredibly steamy in some places, and Parrilla’s performance as Trina showed glimpses of some of the roles she would take on later in her career, such as Rita Castillo in Why women kill. Swingtown May not necessarily be the best show overall that Lana Parrilla has been a cast member, but her performance and character when considered in isolation is easily a highlight of her career thus far.

6

Boomtown (2002-2003)

Lana Parrilla played Teresa Ortiz

The action drama series Boomtown It may not be widely remembered, especially since it only ran on NBC for two seasons between 2002 and 2003, but fans of Lana Parrilla know that her time as Teresa Ortiz was a highlight of her career in the 2000s. Not only was Boomtown One of her first roles as a main cast member in a prime-time television show, however Parrilla also won an Imagine Award for Best Supporting Actress due to how much her performance shined through – even as part of an ensemble cast that included the likes of Donnie Wahlberg and Neil McDonough.

in many ways, Boomtown Followed the standard format of many procedural crime shows, but with a twist. Rather than just focusing on law enforcement, Boomtown Also included are the perspectives of lawyers, reporters and paramedics. It was in the latter category that Parrilla’s Boomtown character, Teresa Ortiz, fell, and in retrospect, it’s clear how her time on the show paved the way for many of her future roles, such as 24 And Miami Medical.

5

24 (2005)

Lana Parrilla played Sarah Gavin

When it comes to action thrillers created for the small screen, few can match the blockbuster appeal of high budget feature films quite like 24, The Kiefer Sutherland-led Fox series that ran from 2001 to 2010 (with a short-lived revival in 2014). Like many of the best Lana Parrilla TV shows, the future Once upon a time The star didn’t appear throughout the entire run, but thanks to her solid performance, she ensured that her time as Sarah Gavin in 24 Season 4 was highly memorable.

Lana Parrilla 24 Character Sarah Gavin was an agent with the CTU. However, she was framed by a mole working in the agency, with the government believing she was using her position to steal critical intelligence. Gavin was immediately tortured in an attempt to get a confession, and it was the harrowing and tense scenes that allowed Lana Parilla to show just how talented an actor she is. To this day, Lana Parrilla has had few roles like Sarah Gavin 24, Ensuring that her tenure in the show’s fourth season remains a standout in her career.

4

Spin City (2000-2001)

Lana Parrilla played Angie Ordonez

When it comes to the best Lana Parilla movies and TV shows, one of the classic roles from her earlier career, and where many undoubtedly still know her from, is the 1996-2002 ABC sitcom. Spin City. The series was directed by Michael J. Fox, who starred as Deputy Mayor of New York Mike Flaherty (a role for which he won a Primetime Emmy and three Golden Globes).

Lana Parilla joined the cast of Spin City In 2000, and although she was only for one season, her character Angie Ordonez remains both one of the most memorable of the show and in the actor’s extensive career. Ordonez joined the show’s new lead in the last season, Charlie Sheen, and was the assistant to his character Charlie Crawford. The two have great chemistry on screen – a key reason why many still associate Parilla with the show despite Spin City Being off the air for over two decades.

3

The Lincoln Advocate (2023)

Lana Parilla played Lisa Trammell

Based on the novels by Michael Connelly, the legal drama The Lincoln Levir was both a hit for Netflix, and stands as one of the best TV shows of Lana Parrilla’s career so far. There have been three seasons of the series so far, and the show’s quirky premise of following Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s Mickey Haller as he recovers from addiction while working as a criminal defense attorney from the back of his Lincoln Navigator continues to attract New fans from among the Netflix subscriber base.

Lana Parrilla joined the cast of The Lincoln Advocate In the highly celebrated second season of the show, which adapts the second book in Michael Connelly’s series, The fifth witness. Parrilla plays Lisa Trammell, the accused in the focal case of the show’s second season. Although she was only in the second season, it is still a highlight of Parrilla’s recent appearances, especially since the gritty-yet-quirky legal drama allowed her to showcase a wider range than some of her other appearances.

2

Why Women Kill (2019-2021)

Lana Parrilla played Rita Castillo

The incredibly dark anthology comedy Why women kill Featuring an ensemble cast that has completely changed between its two seasons, Lana Parilla’s season 2 role as Rita Castillo makes the CBS series one of her best TV shows to date. As the title says, Why women kill Focuses on various (fictional) murders where the perpetrators are all women. While season 1 focused on three separate stories, season 2 covered a single story arc.

Lana Parrilla’s Rita was a central character in the second season, the president of an exclusive garden club. She is extremely materialistic and has no regrets about the fact that she is patiently waiting for the death of her elderly husband, Carlo, while having an affair with the much younger Harry Jaworski. She is a character with many layers, and Lana Parrilla plays the role exceptionally well, with her performance arguably a key reason the story of Why women kill Season 2 was so well received.

1

Once Upon a Time (2011-2018)

Lana Parrilla played the Evil Queen/Regina Mills

When it comes to the best Lana Parrilla movies and TV shows, her role as Regina Mills/The Evil Queen in the ABC fantasy drama Once upon a time is undisputed her most celebrated appearance. Created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Once upon a time Takes many common fairy tale characters and juxtaposes their adventures with the residents of the town of Storybrooke. Like many of the cast, Lana Parrilla has a dual role – in the real world she is Regina Mills, and in the fairy realm (where the citizens of Storybrooke all come from although they have no memories of their origins) , she is the evil queen.

The show was a hit in its own right, but Lana Parrilla received an incredible amount of recognition for her role in Once upon a time. She was nominated for multiple awards, including Teen Choice and Saturn Awards, and won both the Teen Choice Award and Alma Awards for TV Actress in the categories of Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Drama respectively. While Lana Parrilla had a long and successful career, it is undoubtedly her 156 episodes as the eventually-resolved villain of Once upon a time which features her best and most celebrated performance to date.