# Liza Colón-Zayas
**Liza Colón-Zayas** is an American actress, born in the Bronx, New York, best known for her Emmy-winning role as [Tina Marrero](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-marrero) on the FX series *The Bear* and for a three-decade career in New York theater, chiefly with the LAByrinth Theater Company.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/liza_colonzayas) At the 76th [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards) in September 2024 she became the first Latina to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.[3](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Breakout role | Tina Marrero on *The Bear* (FX on Hulu, premiered 2022), a Chicago line cook hard on the outside but insecure underneath[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/liza-colon-zayas-the-bear-interview-77562/) |
| Emmy | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, 76th Emmy Awards (September 15, 2024); first Latina winner in the category; nominated again in 2025[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas) |
| Other awards for the role | Screen Actors Guild Award and two Imagen Awards; Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG nominations for season three[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas) |
| Theater company | Member of LAByrinth Theater Company since 1992, which she helped form with fellow UAlbany alum Stephen Adly Guirgis and others[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) • [3](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out) |
| Signature stage role | The Church Lady in Stephen Adly Guirgis's Pulitzer Prize-winning *Between Riverside and Crazy*, off and on Broadway; Lucille Lortel Award for the Off-Broadway performance[6](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/liza-colon-zayas) |
| Solo show | *Sistah Supreme*, an autobiographical one-woman show she wrote, produced, and starred in, with a summer-long run at the First Hip-Hop Theater Festival[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) • [7](https://playbill.com/article/colon-zayas-sistah-supreme-steps-up-at-hip-hop-fest-june-28-com-90248) |
| Recent film | Detective Jean DeWolff in *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026); Janet in John Krasinski's *IF* (2024)[8](https://nc.inverse.com/entertainment/liza-colon-zayas-interview-spider-man-brand-new-day) • [6](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/liza-colon-zayas) |
## Theater career
Colón-Zayas began her career off-Broadway and has spent more than 30 years with the LAByrinth Theater Company, a New York company founded in response to the lack of diversity in conventional theater.[9](https://elpais.com/us/entretenimiento/2024-08-19/liza-colon-zayas-de-the-bear-la-columna-vertebral-de-estados-unidos-siempre-ha-sido-la-gente-de-piel-morena-y-negra.html) She appeared in Stephen Adly Guirgis plays including *In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings*, *Our Lady of 121st Street*, *The Last Days of Judas Iscariot*, and *The Little Flower of East Orange*, all directed by [Philip Seymour Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-seymour-hoffman).[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) She also toured Europe with director Peter Sellars in *Story of a Soldier* and later in *Othello* as Emilia opposite Hoffman, and starred in [Athol Fugard](https://www.edgepedia.org/athol-fugard)'s *Have You Seen Us?* opposite [Sam Waterston](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-waterston), receiving a Connecticut Critics Circle nomination.[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/)
**Originating roles.** She originated a role in Quiara Alegría Hudes's *Water by the Spoonful*, the 2012 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize)-winning play, at Second Stage New York, earning an HOLA Award for Best Featured Actress.[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) Her most cited stage role is the Church Lady in Guirgis's *Between Riverside and Crazy*, which she created in the 2014 Atlantic Theater production, the 2015 Second Stage Off-Broadway run, and the original 2022 Broadway production.[6](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/liza-colon-zayas) • [10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/LIZA-COL%C3%93N-ZAYAS/) For her stage work she has won Drama Desk, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, Audelco, Outer Critics Circle, HOLA, and Kingsley Awards.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas)
**Sistah Supreme.** Early in her career she wrote, produced, and starred in the autobiographical one-woman show *Sistah Supreme*, which had a summer-long run at Danny Hoch's first Hip-Hop Theater Festival and was directed and developed by playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis.[5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) • [7](https://playbill.com/article/colon-zayas-sistah-supreme-steps-up-at-hip-hop-fest-june-28-com-90248)
## The Bear and the Emmy
Colón-Zayas auditioned for *The Bear* during the pandemic with a self-taped recording, without a script or a description of the scene, and did not know what the show was about; she acted on impulse and won the part.[9](https://elpais.com/us/entretenimiento/2024-08-19/liza-colon-zayas-de-the-bear-la-columna-vertebral-de-estados-unidos-siempre-ha-sido-la-gente-de-piel-morena-y-negra.html) The series, which follows a young chef transforming his family's working-class sandwich shop into a fine-dining restaurant, premiered in 2022 and pulled its largely unknown cast into the spotlight.[3](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out)
Her character's backstory episode, "Napkins" (season 3, episode 6), directed by [Ayo Edebiri](https://www.edgepedia.org/ayo-edebiri) in her directorial debut, explained how Tina ended up at the Original Beef and why, in Colón-Zayas's words, she "wears her armor in that way."[4](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/liza-colon-zayas-the-bear-interview-77562/) Her real-life husband, the actor [David Zayas](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-zayas), guest-starred as her character's husband on the show.[3](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out)
At the 76th Emmy Awards on September 15, 2024, she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, defeating nominees including [Meryl Streep](https://www.edgepedia.org/meryl-streep) and [Carol Burnett](https://www.edgepedia.org/carol-burnett), who cheered from the front row. She said she had not prepared a speech because she did not believe she would win.[3](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out) She was nominated in the same category again in 2025.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas)
## Screen work
Before *The Bear*, Colón-Zayas spent roughly 30 years in mostly small television and film parts, estimating that she was rejected about a thousand times before her breakout; her credits include *Law & Order: SVU*, *Sex and the City*, *Dexter*, *Louie*, *Hung*, *Nurse Jackie*, *House*, and *In Treatment*.[9](https://elpais.com/us/entretenimiento/2024-08-19/liza-colon-zayas-de-the-bear-la-columna-vertebral-de-estados-unidos-siempre-ha-sido-la-gente-de-piel-morena-y-negra.html) • [5](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/) She starred in and produced *Allswell in New York*, a dramedy that premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and won the award for Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature, and she played Janet in [John Krasinski](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-krasinski)'s *IF* (2024).[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas)
In *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026) she plays Detective Jean DeWolff, a police detective and ally of [Spider-Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/spider-man). She did not audition; director [Destin Daniel Cretton](https://www.edgepedia.org/destin-daniel-cretton) invited her to a Zoom meeting and then offered her the role, and she learned about the character from her son DJ, a Spider-Man fan.[8](https://nc.inverse.com/entertainment/liza-colon-zayas-interview-spider-man-brand-new-day)
## Recent and upcoming stage work
Colón-Zayas stars in *[Downstate](https://www.edgepedia.org/downstate-play)* on Broadway at the Booth Theatre beginning in October 2026.[6](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/liza-colon-zayas)
## References
1. [Liza Colón-Zayas, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/liza-colon-zayas)
2. [Liza Colón-Zayas, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/liza_colonzayas)
3. [A Seasoned Pro Breaks Out, UAlbany Magazine](https://magazine.albany.edu/features/seasoned-pro-breaks-out)
4. ['The Bear' Star Liza Colón-Zayas on Tina's Big Episode, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/liza-colon-zayas-the-bear-interview-77562/)
5. [Liza Colón-Zayas, Atlantic Theater Company](https://atlantictheater.org/bio/liza-colon-zayas/)
6. [Liza Colón-Zayas On Stage, New York Theatre Guide](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/liza-colon-zayas)
7. [Colon-Zayas' Sistah Supreme Steps Up at Hip Hop Fest, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/colon-zayas-sistah-supreme-steps-up-at-hip-hop-fest-june-28-com-90248)
8. [Liza Colón-Zayas Is Dialed In, Inverse](https://nc.inverse.com/entertainment/liza-colon-zayas-interview-spider-man-brand-new-day)
9. [Liza Colón-Zayas, de 'The Bear', El País](https://elpais.com/us/entretenimiento/2024-08-19/liza-colon-zayas-de-the-bear-la-columna-vertebral-de-estados-unidos-siempre-ha-sido-la-gente-de-piel-morena-y-negra.html)
10. [Liza Colon-Zayas, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/LIZA-COL%C3%93N-ZAYAS/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Playwrights and dramatists › Anglophone playwrights › Contemporary American dramatists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license