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Raquel Almazan, born in Madrid, Spain, and of Costa Rican heritage, was raised in the United States. The daughter of farmer parents with big dreams, she draws inspiration for her diverse career as an actor, writer, director, activist, and educator dedicated to social change. Honored with the Latinidad Award from the Kennedy Center, Raquel is transforming Latinx representation for a new generation through her performances and original creations. She is currently developing the comedy pilot CHUTUP!, inspired by her life and work in New York City.
Notable screen roles include Alicia Alicia Watkins on Limitless alongside Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Maricela on Law & Order: SVU, Rosa Heredia opposite James Spader on The Blacklist, Rita Campos on White Collar, and a Cuban exile opposite Cristina Ricci in PAN AM. Additional appearances include Blue Bloods and The Michael J. Fox Show.
Her first passion was theater, with standout roles such as La Negra at the Lincoln Center workshop, performances at BRIC Arts, and the lead in La Paloma Prisoner, set to premiere at New York Theatre Workshop. She has portrayed Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Mrs. Papov in Chekhov's The Bear. At El Museo del Barrio, she starred in Escaping Juarez and Deviant Borders as the male Chamuco (New World Theatre Mass). She also performed a leading role in a Labyrinth Theatre reading of The Motherf**ker with the Hat, directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Collaborations include work with Bill T. Jones on Marc Bamuthi Joseph's libretto workshop for MOVE, and the role of Glenda in development with Opera Philadelphia.
Raquel has performed in over 100 venues, including The Kennedy Center, The Actors Studio, City Center, La MaMa, Repertorio Español, INTAR, Pregones, Dixon Place, and in independent films screened at festivals such as Cannes, HBO NYLIFF, Canada International, Honolulu, Mexico, and Philadelphia International Festivals. Her feature film directorial debut, the mockumentary White Alligator, has been featured at the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, and International Bled Film Festival in Slovenia, where she won Best Actress. She participated in the Writer's Lab with the National Association of Latin Independent Producers for her feature screenplay Death of the Doll. Her short film was showcased at the Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza in Los Angeles and the Naked Angels Theatre Reading Series.
A seasoned writer, Raquel holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University and received the Kate Neal Kinley Playwriting Fellowship. She earned a B.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Florida/New World School of the Arts Conservatory. Her original works have been presented Off-Broadway in New York City, across the United States, and internationally in Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Colombia, Guatemala, and Sweden. She has completed several plays as part of The Latin is America Play Cycle, the largest play cycle attempted in the U.S., with each play dedicated to a different Latin American country.
