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Tonantzin Carmelo

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Tonantzin Carmelo
Tonantzin Carmelo in 2021
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Orange County, California, U.S.
OccupationActress

Tonantzin Carmelo is an American actress. She is known for her acting roles in film, TV and stage productions including in the Steven Spielberg miniseries, Into the West, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Television Movie or Miniseries.[1]

In 2021, Carmelo filmed roles in Spain and Australia for the television series The English (BBC) and La Brea (NBC). In March 2024, she joined the cast of Dark Winds (Dark Winds)] (AMC) as a recurring guest star.[2] In July 2024, Carmelo began filming NCIS Origins (CBS) in Los Angeles playing the recurring character of Tish Kwa'la, the love of Mike Franks' life.[3]

Early life and education

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Carmelo grew up in Orange County, southern California and is of Indigenous (Tongva and Kumeyaay) and Latina descent. As a youth, she participated in Native dances and music, touring with cultural groups throughout North America.[4] She also became a technically trained dancer and performed with the modern dance company Daystar.

Carmelo attended the University of California, Irvine, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Dance. While in college, she began acting in theater productions and independent films.[5]

Career

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Carmelo began her professional acting career in an educational musical theater show produced by Carmen Zapata at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. The production toured the Los Angeles area.

In 2007, Carmelo played the leading role of Shayla Stonefeather in the thriller Imprint.

In addition, Carmelo is a choreographer. Her work was featured in the Amazon TV series, Undone, and in the opera, Sweetland.[6][7] She has also performed as a singer with the band Trio del Alma and has recorded on three albums for Canyon Records.

In 2012, Carmelo testified for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the images of Native Americans in Hollywood.[8][9][10]

Carmelo has also appeared in several video games, including Dead Space, The Crew, Lego Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077. Her memorable motion-capture and voice performance portrayal of the villainous character Kendra Daniels for Dead Space led Maxim Magazine to add Kendra to their Hottest Video Game Babes of the Year list.[11] Today, the character continues to attract legions of loyal fans.

She has had an ongoing relationship with Native Voices at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, where she has performed on stage and has served on the advisory board.[12][13]

She is a member of the Tongva Language Committee for Revitalization.[14]

Awards and nominations

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On January 5, 2006, Carmelo was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her performance as Thunder Heart Woman in Into the West.

Carmelo also won the American Indian Film Festival award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Hoboken International Film Festival for this role. She was also named "An Indie Darling to Crave" at the Sundance Film Festival 2015 for her role as Teresa, opposite John C. Reilly in the film Entertainment. Below is a list of her awards and nominations.

Awards
Year Film Award
2012 Shouting Secrets FirstGlance Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2008 Imprint Hoboken International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2007 Imprint American Indian Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2006 Into the West Outstanding Actress Performance in a TV Movie/Special (Lead)
2006 Into the West Western Heritage Award, Bronze Wrangler
Nominations
Year Film Nomination
2011 Shouting Secrets Nominated - American Indian Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2006 Into the West Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress
Western Heritage Award shared with cast and crew
2006 Into the West Nominated – Gold Derby TV Award, TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actress
2005 Into the West Nominated – OFTA Television Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

Filmography

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Film and Television[15]
Year Title Role Notes
2024 NCIS: Origins Tishmal Kwa’ la TV series
2022 The English Touching Ground TV series
2022–present Spirit Rangers Buffalo / Orchids (voice) TV series[16]
2021–2024 La Brea Paara TV series; Recurring role (season 1); Main role (season 2); Guest role (season 3)
2020 El Camino de Xico Carmen
2020 A Soldier's Revenge Alpana
2019 Undone Tonantzin TV series
2019 The Chosen One Dr. Lúcia Santiero (English voiceover) TV series
2019 The Son Nascha TV series
2018 Z Nation Kuruk TV series
2018 Animal Kingdom Anna TV series
2018 White Fang Film (voiceover)
2016 Teen Wolf Skinwalker / Black Night TV series
2015 Entertainment Teresa
2014 Child of Grace Kaya
2014 The Activist Anna Ward
2011 Periphery Isabella
2011 Shouting Secrets Caitlyn
2010 American Dad! Sooleawa'uha (voice) Episode: "There Will Be Bad Blood"
2010 Red Carpet Report Herself TV series short
2009 Shadowheart Miakoda Video
2009 Dark Blue Gina TV series
2009 American Experience Awashunk TV series documentary
2007 Unearthed Nodin
2007 CSI: Miami Adrienne Veston TV series
2007 Imprint Shayla Stonefeather
2005 Into the West Thunder Heart Woman TV mini series
2003 Dragnet Erika Sanchez TV series
2003 187 Shadow Lane Christina
2002 King Rikki Anita

Video games

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Year Title Role Note
2008 Dead Space Kendra Daniels
2014 The Crew Roxanne
2016 Lego Marvel's Avengers Maya Lopez / Echo
2020 Cyberpunk 2077 Joss Kutcher

References

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  1. ^ "The 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org.
  2. ^ "Tonantzin Carmelo joins the cast of "Dark Winds," which is beginning to film its third season". April 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Mitovitch, Matt. "Matt's Inside Line: Scoop on NCIS: Origins, Chicago P.D., Daryl Dixon, Ghosts, Found, Anansi Boys, Criminal Minds, Chicken Sisters and More!". TV Line. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Tongva actor Tonantzin Carmelo says change in roles for Indigenous talent 'a slow drip' - CBC Radio". CBC. February 7, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Tonantzin Carmelo, Tongva / Kumeyaay". AAA Native Arts. February 26, 2017.
  6. ^ "Review: 'Sweet Land' astonishes. Opera in an L.A. park examines what it means to be American". Los Angeles Times. March 2, 2020.
  7. ^ Barone, Joshua (February 28, 2020). "An Opera About Colonialism Shows How History Warps". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  8. ^ "- RECLAIMING OUR IMAGE AND IDENTITY FOR THE NEXT SEVEN GENERATIONS". www.govinfo.gov.
  9. ^ "Testimony of Tonantzin Carmelo: "Reclaiming Our Image and Identity for the Next Seven Generations"" (PDF). www.indian.senate.gov.
  10. ^ "Senate Committee Hears Testimony on Native Identity". www.nativetimes.com.
  11. ^ "Maxim's Hottest Video Game Babes of 2008". Kotaku. December 23, 2008.
  12. ^ "Native Voices Presents the World Premiere of Pure Native". Autry Museum of the American West. December 19, 2018.
  13. ^ "Getting to know Los Angeles Tongva Actress — Tonantzin Carmelo". September 9, 2018.
  14. ^ "Tongva, L.A.'s first language, opens the door to a forgotten time and place". Los Angeles Times. May 9, 2019.
  15. ^ "Tonantzin Carmelo". IMDb.
  16. ^ "Tonantzin Carmelo (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 17, 2024"A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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