Lana Parrilla

Lana Parrilla (born July 15, 1977) is an American actress. She was a regular cast member in the fifth season of the ABC sitcom Spin City (2000–2001) and in the fourth season of 24 (2005), and starred in Boomtown (2002–2003), Windfall (2006), Swingtown (2008), and as Dr. Eva Zambrano in the short-lived medical drama Miami Medical (2010), and as The Evil Queen / Regina Mills in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018). Among her awards and nominations is a 2012 ALMA Award win for Outstanding TV Actress - Drama. In 2021, she played the role of Rita Castillo in the second season of Why Women Kill. Early life Parrilla was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on July 15, 1977. Her mother, Dolores Dee Azzara, is of Sicilian ancestry (Villabate) and her father, Sam Parrilla, is a Puerto Rico-born baseball player who played one season with the Philadelphia Phillies. She is also the niece of Candice Azzara, an American Broadway and TV actress. She grew up in Boerum Hill and graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge. Lana studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles.