You’ve seen her before–plenty. She first got noticed almost eight years ago, in FX’s strangely wonderful plastic surgery series Nip/Tuck, and she’s been keeping busy ever since, with guest shots in every quality hour-long drama you can think of, as well as extended arcs or full seasons in SyFy’s The Dresden Files, HBO’s Dexter and True Blood, and most recently as one of the overly dedicated doctor in ABC’s ill-fated Off The Map. And she’s kept busy on the movie side as well, with a steady stream of strong independents like The Line with Andy Garcia, The Devil’s Tomb with Ron Pearlman, and the upcoming Loft opposite James Marsden.
Notice the weirdness: a SyFy series about urban magic, a season as a modern-day vampire on True Blood, another season on the weirdest non-supernatural show on television with Dexter, and now another set of appearances as a button-down Department of Defense agent in the surprisingly intelligent and subtle mutants-among-us series, Alphas.
Valerie’s one of those lucky actors who’s done both network shows and cable dramas, from the high-end like Dexter to the far more modest Dresden, and she’s willing to talk about the differences. In an interview earlier this year with About.com, she said, “It’s unfortunate that creatively, the network shows are dictated by dollar and the target audience. You can’t just say, ok, this is our target audience and who we’re writing for and if it alienates some people, it’s alright because it’s not as important to us as the story and the characters. I don’t think they have the latitude to do that on network television. You can’t alienate one audience while creating something for another audience. I think the fact that you have to paint in much broader brush strokes makes it more difficult for everyone. There’s a different type of pressure working on network television than some of the shows for cable.” And all along the continuum, she’s had a chance to work with some amazing professionals; she mentions David Zayas of Dexter as one of them, and she’s currently face-to-face with Oscar winner David Strathairn in Alphas.
And there’s good news: Alphas has proven to be one of the top-rated new shows for SyFy, and though its season finale is Monday, 9/26 at 10P, it will be back next year with at least twelve new episodes (and, as far as everyone knows, much more Valerie Cruz). SyFy is also doing a marathon of the entire series on Monday, and you can catch Valerie’s appearances beginning at 11A.
Cop or vampire, diva or DOD agent, Valerie Cruz is well worth watching…and there’s more to come.
