Gina Torres is well known for her role as “Jessica Pearson” on the hit cable drama “Suits,” and its spin-off series, “Pearson,” which saw her “Suits” character take on the world of Chicago politics. In addition to her leading role, Torres also served as an executive producer on the series. For the role, Torres was honored with an ALMA Award; an Imagen Award (as well as multiple additional Imagen nominations); the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Award for Outstanding Performance in a Television Series; and the Visionary Award from the LA Femme Film Festival.

Included amongst Torres’s most notable television credits are her performances as the Russo-Cuban assassin “Anna Espinosa” on “Alias”; the shotgun-toting mercenary “Zoe Washburn” on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” (whom she also played in his feature film, “Serenity”); and the soul-eating “Jasmine” on Whedon’s “Angel.”

Additional television credits include “The Catch,” “Hannibal,” “Revenge,” “Huge,” “The Shield,” “24,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Flash Forward,” “Gossip Girl,” “Boondocks” and “The Vampire Diaries.” She also has voiced the roles of “Vixen” in “The Justice League” series and “Superwoman” in “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths,” opposite James Woods.

Torres began her onscreen career with roles on “Law & Order,” “One Life to Live,” “Any Day Now” and “La Femme Nikita.” However, it was her collaboration with producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert on “MANTIS,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Cleopatra 2525,” the latter of which earned her an ALMA Award, that brought her to the masses and promptly shifted her career.

Torres’s film credits include “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions”; “Jam”; “South of Pico”; “I Think I Love My Wife,” with Chris Rock; “Hair Show,” with Mo’Nique; “Five Fingers,” opposite Laurence Fishburne; and “Don’t Let Me Drown,” a Grand Jury Prize nominee at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

The youngest of three children, Torres was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx with her close-knit Cuban family. She graduated from Fiorello LaGuardia School of Arts, where she studied opera and jazz as a vocal major, before entering the world of acting. Within a year of graduating, she was cast as “Deena Jones” in “Dreamgirls,” her first professional acting job. It wasn’t long before she started appearing on Broadway, being directed by such legends as Tommy Tune and Pete Masterson in “The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public” and Jerry Zaks in “Face Value.” Her additional theater credits include Off and Off-Off Broadway plays and musicals that spanned genres, such as classic Greek tragedy in “Antigone” and “Amphytrion”; Shakespeare’s “Pericles of Tyre” and “Julius Caesar”; contemporary classics such as Lorca’s “Blood Wedding”; and the world premiere of “Sheila’s Day” and “Heliotrope Bouquet.”

On January 1, 2020, Torres served as a Grand Marshal of the 131st Annual Tournament of Roses Parade, alongside Rita Moreno and Laurie Hernandez.