Alana De La Garza - Not a Damsel In Distress

Here’s an article from an Australian news web site (The Herald Sun) that I thought shed an interesting light on Alana De La Garza, currently starring on Law & Order as ADA Connie Rubirosa. I have to admit that when De La Garza started with Law & Order that I wasn’t thrilled. Her performance was stiff, and the look that they gave her was cold and severe. It was almost as if they were trying to cast off any residue from her role on CSI Miami, where she played the beautiful Marisol Delko, who needed constant rescuing from Horatio Caine (David Caruso). I can understand why they wanted a different look for her for Law & Order, but they really went too far, and in the wrong direction. This season, she has a much softer, more realistic look, and I think that it has even helped her performance seem more believable.

Here’s the article from The Herald Sun. Enjoy!

Alana De La Garza on her role in Law & Order
December 14, 2007

ALANA De La Garza is a law unto herself as the sassy, tough-talking Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa on Ten's Law & Order.

Previously, perhaps because of her strikingly beautiful looks, the 31-year-old Texas-raised former model was always cast as the “damsel in distress'' -- she was the one who needed to be saved.

Starring as Rubirosa, opposite Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy, De La Garza is doing the saving.

“I was always whining and crying. It was like `Oh, get over it','' De La Garza (above) says of the characters she has previously played.

“So it's really fun to now help the damsel.''

The actor is the latest addition to the Law & Order cast; joining in the show's 17th season Rubirosa succeeds Alexandra Borgia, who was murdered in the final episode of the previous season.

But the role almost didn't happen for De La Garza.

She had auditioned for the part of a detective on the show, when the show's creator, Dick Wolf, suddenly asked her: “How are you at cold readings?''

To which De La Garza replied: “I think we're about to find out.''

So she tested for Rubirosa and won the part. It helped that her Latin looks fitted with Rubirosa's Hispanic heritage.

In reality, De La Garza's ethnic make-up is more diverse than that of her character. Her father is Spanish-Mexican and her mother Irish-Cherokee.

Interestingly, when she previously went for roles that called for an Hispanic actress, De La Garza was told she didn't look Latin enough.

But she's enjoying playing an educated and intelligent Latina.

“When it comes to exploring immigration issues, Connie's background comes into play,'' she says.

“She can really identify with that and how she is torn between rules and regulations and what is fair to the population. She is in the middle, because these are her roots.''

Before De La Garza filmed her first scenes, the producers took her to a real district attorney's office where she watched people being arraigned and talked with female DAs.

“It was really interesting and I learnt a lot,'' she says.

“What stood out was the dichotomy between the law and what your heart says.

“I saw a mother who was trying to protect her child, but she had done something illegal.

“By all rights, you probably would have done the same thing.

“So it is really interesting what they have to deal with. That really humanised the role for me.''

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