Lana Parrilla

Lana Parrilla Bio

Lana Maria Parrilla (born July 15, 1977) is an American actress whose career spans television drama, fantasy, and film. Born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, she rose through a series of steady guest and recurring roles before becoming an international fan favorite as Regina Mills, also known as The Evil Queen, on the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time. Parrilla is recognized for her emotional range, commanding screen presence, and willingness to play characters who travel between vulnerability and menace.

Beyond her work in front of the camera, Parrilla has expanded into directing and executive producing, building a reputation as a thoughtful creative collaborator. She has also pursued entrepreneurial interests, including a fashion venture inspired by her most famous role. Her career reflects a steady climb through network television, where each project sharpened her craft and broadened her audience.

Early Life and Background

Lana Maria Parrilla was born on July 15, 1977, in New York City, New York, USA, and grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill and Bay Ridge. She was raised by her mother, Dolores Dee Azzara, who is of Sicilian ancestry from Villabate, and her father, Sam Parrilla, a Puerto Rico-born former baseball player who spent one season with the Philadelphia Phillies. Through her mother, Parrilla is the niece of the American Broadway and television actress Candice Azzara, giving her early exposure to the performing arts through family connections.

Parrilla graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. After high school, she chose to pursue acting seriously and moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at the Beverly Hills Playhouse to study her craft. Her training at the Beverly Hills Playhouse gave her a strong foundation in scene study, character work, and emotional authenticity, all of which would later shape her approach to complex television roles.

Path to Acting

Parrilla made her television debut in 1999 with an appearance on the UPN sitcom Grown Ups, marking her first entry into the entertainment industry. The following year, she joined the cast of the ABC comedy series Spin City, playing Angie Ordonez during the show’s fifth season from 2000 to 2001. Working alongside established comedic leads on a major network sitcom helped her adjust to the pace of weekly television production and refine her timing.

After leaving Spin City in 2001, Parrilla transitioned into dramatic television, joining the cast of Boomtown in 2002 alongside Donnie Wahlberg and Neal McDonough. Her portrayal of Teresa, a paramedic, earned her the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress, an early sign of the recognition she would later receive for layered, grounded performances. She continued building her résumé through guest spots on acclaimed dramas such as JAG, Six Feet Under, Covert Affairs, Medium, The Defenders, Chase, and Lost, where she played Greta in the third season. Recurring roles on NYPD Blue in 2004 and on the fourth season of the Fox series 24 in 2005 as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Sarah Gavin further expanded her range across network and cable television.

Lana Parrilla Career

Early Career (1999–2010)

Throughout the early 2000s, Parrilla appeared in a variety of films, including Very Mean Men (2000), Spiders (2000), and Frozen Stars (2003), as she built her on-screen presence in independent productions. On television, she took on the NBC summer series Windfall in 2006 with former Boomtown castmate Jason Gedrick, and in 2008 she starred as Trina Decker in the CBS summer series Swingtown. That same year, she played the lead role of Nellie in the Lifetime film The Double Life of Eleanor Kendall, a story about a divorcee whose identity is stolen.

In 2010, Parrilla landed a female lead role on the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced CBS medical drama Miami Medical, playing Dr. Eva Zambrano. Although Windfall, Swingtown, and Miami Medical each had short runs of about 13 episodes before cancellation, they allowed her to demonstrate her ability to anchor a series. Across this period, she developed a reputation as a reliable performer capable of carrying both serialized drama and procedural formats.

Breakthrough (2011–2018)

In February 2011, Parrilla was cast as Mayor Regina Mills and her alter ego The Evil Queen in the ABC adventure fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. The series premiered in October 2011, and its pilot drew 12.93 million viewers with a strong adult 18-49 rating, earning generally favorable reviews from critics. Parrilla’s performance was singled out by reviewers, and in 2012 and 2013 she was regarded as a promising contender for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category, though she did not ultimately receive a nomination.

The role transformed Parrilla into a globally recognized television star, with Regina Mills becoming one of the most memorable characters of the 2010s fantasy television era. She continued the role through the series finale in 2018, earning the TV Guide Award for Favorite Villain and the ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2012, along with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress on Television at the 38th Saturn Awards. After the series concluded, she joined the second season of the Paramount Plus drama Why Women Kill in 2021 as Rita Castillo, returning to serialized television with a sharp, ensemble-driven performance.

Notable Works and Milestones

Her signature work remains her portrayal of Regina Mills and The Evil Queen on Once Upon a Time, a role that earned her the ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series and the TV Guide Award for Favorite Villain in 2012. She has since expanded into film, appearing opposite Jennifer Lopez in the 2022 Netflix sci-fi thriller Atlas, and joined the cast of the second season of the Netflix legal drama series The Lincoln Lawyer. On April 30, 2021, Parrilla released a song with artist Glovibes titled It’s Over Now, a remix of Deborah Cox’s 1998 track of the same name.

Lana Parrilla Award Nominations

Across her career, Lana Parrilla has received notable recognition from genre and industry awards bodies for her work in television drama and fantasy. Her most prominent nomination came at the 38th Saturn Awards, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her performance in Once Upon a Time. Her continued visibility as a contender in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy conversation in 2012 and 2013 further highlighted the critical regard her work has earned.

Lana Parrilla Awards Won

Lana Parrilla has collected several respected honors throughout her career. Early in her journey, she won the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Teresa in Boomtown. Her most celebrated year was 2012, when she won the ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series and the TV Guide Award for Favorite Villain, both for Once Upon a Time.

Lana Parrilla Family

Lana Parrilla was raised in Brooklyn by her mother, Dolores Dee Azzara, a woman of Sicilian ancestry from Villabate, and her father, Sam Parrilla, a Puerto Rico-born former baseball player who spent one season with the Philadelphia Phillies. Through her mother, she is the niece of Candice Azzara, an American actress with credits on Broadway and in television, whose own career provided an early connection to the entertainment world.

Personal Life

Parrilla became engaged to Alfredo Di Blasio on April 28, 2013, while the couple was traveling in Israel. They were married on July 5, 2014, in British Columbia. In April 2019, Parrilla shared on her Instagram account that she was no longer married and was beginning a new life path. In 2020, she launched the online clothing company Keep It Regal, where she sells apparel inspired by her role in Once Upon a Time.