Celebrity crush: Natalie Martinez

Photographers are encouraged to contact me at
mentalnomadshow -at- gmail -dot- com so I can credit them.

Here's an up-and-comer who captured my attention in the sadly short-lived crime drama Detroit 1-8-7 (done and out in one season, but at least they got to tie up most of the loose ends).

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Name: Natalie Martinez (images -- some NSFW, some possibly of other people sharing the name | Web site -- last updated in 2009 or thereabouts | Twitter)
Hometown: Miami, Fla., according to her Wikipedia profile. She's from a Cuban-American family.
Best Known For: In the Anglophone world, Natalie might be best known for her work on Detroit 1-8-7 as a homicide detective. Both viewers of Sons of Tucson might remember her from that sitcom as well.

More people have probably seen her as the face of JLO by Jennifer Lopez and a telenovela actress -- Fashion House, which aired 55 episodes in 2006, and Saints & Sinners, which debuted in 2007 and ran for 62 episodes. Or, you know, as a really beautiful Latina model.

Humble Beginnings: She beat 5,000 other candidates for the JLO gig, according to one site. Film-wise, she's at the start of her career, with a supporting role in the 2008 Jason Statham action film Death Race and a couple of movies filming or in post-production.
Missed Opportunities Dept.: Natalie was originally slotted to be a major character -- and full-time cast member -- on NBC's spy comedy Chuck. She appeared in promotional photos before the series debuted. But between pilot and pickup, the show was rethought, her character was phased out, and she didn't end up appearing in any aired scenes by the time it started showing. Bummer.

Not the Courteney Cox Factor: But hey, she's been in at least a half-dozen music videos.
Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Detroit 1-8-7 was the closest a network crime show has come to recapturing the power of Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue in their prime, and Natalie was part of a fantastic ensemble cast that brought the show to life. There were moments of action but many more quiet moments carried by the actors' ability to say a lot with a look or turn of phrase, and she held her own against Michael Imperioli, James McDaniel, and others who might have several years' experience on her.

All that AND a sense of humor.
She may just be the perfect woman.

Plus, just ... damn. Her absence from TV this fall makes the airwaves a lot less beautiful.
TV and Web Series Credits: Detroit 1-8-7 (Amazon | iTunes) * El Dorado (2010 mini-series) (Amazon | iTunes) * Sons of Tucson (Amazon | iTunes) * Saints & Sinners (2007) (Amazon | iTunes) * Fashion House (2006) (Amazon | iTunes)
Music Videos: "Live & Breathe" by Self Scientific (iTunes) * "Ne'ool Eih" by Amr Diab (iTunes) * "Rain Over Me" by Pitbull feat. Marc Anthony (iTunes) * "Señorita" by Justin Timberlake (iTunes) * "We Be Burnin' (Recognize It)" by Sean Paul (iTunes) * "Yo Te Quiero" by Wisin & Yandel (iTunes)
Film and TV-Movie Credits: End of Watch (filming) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Baytown Disco (post-production) (Amazon | iTunes) * Magic City Memoirs (Amazon | iTunes) * Death Race (2008) (Amazon | iTunes)