Daniella Alonso

Daniella Alonso is an American actress and former fashion model. She is known for her work across film and television, including main and recurring roles in post-apocalyptic, medical, and crime drama series, as well as feature films in the horror and comedy genres. Over her career, she has transitioned from print and commercial modeling to prominent roles on major broadcast and cable network television shows.

Alonso was raised in New York City in a predominantly female household, while also being influenced by her father, grandfather, and uncles. She has a brother and holds a fourth level green belt in karate. Her background includes Puerto Rican, Peruvian, and Japanese heritage. In her youth, she was discovered by the Ford Modeling Agency, which led to print appearances in teen magazines such as Seventeen, YM, and Teen. Her modeling work expanded into television advertising, where she appeared in over thirty national commercials and at least twenty Spanish market advertisements for brands including Clairol, CoverGirl, Clean & Clear, Kmart, Target, Footlocker, and Volkswagen. An advocate for animals, she supported PETA by posing in a 2013 advertising campaign promoting synthetic leather.

Alonso began her professional acting career with television guest appearances on shows such as Law & Order and As the World Turns. Her breakthrough came with a recurring role as Anna Taggaro in the second season of The WB drama series One Tree Hill from 2004 to 2005. Following this television success, she established a presence in feature films, particularly within the horror genre. Her early film credits include roles in Hood of Horror, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, and The Collector.

In 2007, Alonso secured a recurring role as Carlotta Alonso on the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights, appearing through 2008. She went on to star in the ABC drama series My Generation in 2010. Alonso subsequently earned major television cast roles, starring as Nora Clayton in NBC's post-apocalyptic series Revolution from 2012 to 2013, and as Dr. Landry de la Cruz in the first season of the NBC medical drama The Night Shift in 2014. During this period, she also made guest appearances on television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Private Practice, Rizzoli & Isles, and Castle.

Alonso returned to feature film projects in 2015, starring in the horror movie Re-Kill and the box office hit comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 opposite Kevin James. She also maintained a recurring role on the BET drama series Being Mary Jane in 2015. In 2016, she was part of the main cast for the first season of the TNT crime drama series Animal Kingdom. She subsequently filmed the ABC drama pilot Las Reinas in 2017, though it was not picked up to series.

Continuing her television career, Alonso landed recurring roles on procedural series including Criminal Minds and The Resident. In 2019, she joined the cast of The CW prime time soap opera Dynasty during its third season, playing the role of Cristal Jennings. In her personal life, Alonso announced in November 2020 that she was expecting her first child with her longtime boyfriend, Jeff Schine. She gave birth to a daughter named Inara in 2021.