Celebrity crush: Julie Gonzalo

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If the cable network TNT's plans come to fruition, next summer's Dallas revival may propel this week's new profile subject to super-stardom. But she's been a regular on a couple of previous series -- both more substantial in their prime, though one had peaked by the time she joined -- who I frankly would rather have seen run much longer instead. Such is life.

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Name: Julie Gonzalo (images | Web site -- no content so far | Twitter)
Hometown: In or around Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to her Wikipedia profile. IMDB notes that Julie speaks Spanish fluently and conducts her interviews with Spanish-language media in the language of the land of her birth.
Best Known For: ... Not a lot of Hispanic roles, actually. Julie co-starred in the third and final season of Veronica Mars as a college classmate of Veronica (fellow crush Kristen Bell) and Mac (fellow crush Tina Majorino). The show was still fun but its shorter mystery arcs didn't hold a candle to the season-long storylines of the first two years.

She was later a regular on the quirky ABC legal drama and spiritual vision quest Eli Stone. And Dallas looms on the horizon for summer 2112.

Julie has made guest appearances on a number of other TV programs, from the pilot of kid show Drake & Josh early in her career to more recent roles caught up in mysteries on Castle, CSI: Miami, and The Glades.

Humble Beginnings: Early TV roles also included two episodes of sitcom Greetings from Tucson and the second episode of NCIS. Film work has included two movies with Jamie Lee Curtis (Christmas with the Kranks and a Freaky Friday remake), Hilary Duff's A Cinderella Story, the Vince Vaughn comedy Dodgeball, and the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.
Missed Opportunities Dept.: Julie had the lead role in the aborted NBC post-apocalyptic drama Day One, which was greenlit for a series to start in fall 2009, downgraded to a mini-series if memory serves, reduced to a "We'll show the pilot as a TV-movie," and as far as I know never aired. (Also in the cast: fellow celebrity crush Thekla Reuten and ER vet David Lyons, who went on to star in the colossal flop The Cape.)

With Diane Lane in Must Love Dogs.

The Courteney Cox Factor: She's appeared in at least a couple of music videos, with IMDB listing songs by Menudo (same group as during my childhood, different people -- they rotate singers out when they hit puberty as I recall) and Bart Baldwin, who is unknown to me. (She also sang in an episode of Eli Stone, but then, I think so did everyone else at times.)

With Carly Pope at an "upfront"
for the aborted Day One.

Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: This beautiful lady had guts coming into Veronica Mars as one of two new characters in its third season and may have been judged uncharitably by a result. A re-watch of the season a couple of years after its cancellation showed I liked her work as Parker better than I'd recalled. She was great on Eli Stone, and I've enjoyed her appearances on Castle, The Glades, CSI: Miami, and Nikita since then.

If Dallas doesn't catch lightning in the bottle for a second time, I think she'll find something else. She's even started doing some production work, so she's in it for the long haul.

Plus: She's been photographed for the NOH8 campaign, supporting LGBT equality. Gotta love that.
Production Credits: Pink Eye (2009 short, producer) (Amazon | iTunes) * Silent Night (2007 short, executive producer) (Amazon | iTunes)

Music Videos: "Heaven" by Menudo (iTunes) * "I Need You Now" by Bart Baldwin (iTunes)
TV and Web Series Credits: Dallas (2012) (Amazon | iTunes) * CSI: Miami, season 9: "Match Made in Hell" (Amazon | iTunes) * The Glades, season 1: "Breaking 80" (Amazon | iTunes) * Nikita, season 1: "Kill Jill" (Amazon | iTunes) * Castle, season 2: "Food to Die For" (Amazon | iTunes) * Eli Stone, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Eli Stone, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * Veronica Mars, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Drake & Josh: "Hug Me, Brother (pilot)" (Amazon | iTunes) * NCIS, season 1: "Hung Out to Dry" (Amazon | iTunes) * Greetings from Tucson (Amazon | iTunes)

Photo by Adam Bouska for the NoH8 campaign.
Click to buy print and support LGBT equality.

Film and TV-movie Credits: 3 Holiday Tails (post-production) (Amazon | iTunes) * Dr. Limptooth (post-production) (Amazon | iTunes) * Saving Angelo (2007 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * Ladrón Que Roba a Ladrón (2007) (Amazon | iTunes) * Cherry Crush (Amazon | iTunes) * Silent Night (2007 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * Must Love Dogs (Amazon | iTunes) * Christmas With the Kranks (Amazon| iTunes) * A Cinderella Story (2004) (Amazon | iTunes) * Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Amazon | iTunes) * Freaky Friday (2003) (Amazon | iTunes) * Special (2003 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * I'm With Lucy (Amazon | iTunes) * The Penny Game (2001 short) (Amazon | iTunes)