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Christina Vidal

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Christina Vidal
Born
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1993–present
RelativesLisa Vidal (sister)

Christina Vidal is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in films such as Life with Mikey, Brink!, Freaky Friday, See No Evil and for her role in Nickelodeon sitcom Taina, in which she played the title character (2001–2002), as Gina Perrello in Code Black (2015–2016), and as Detective Valeria Chavez in Training Day (2017). She has also starred as Drea in the sitcom Primo (2023).[1]

Early life and education

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Vidal was born and raised in Whitestone, an area in Queens, New York City, the daughter of Manny Vidal, a tax consultant and businessman, and his wife Josie, a secretary, both of Puerto Rican ancestry.[2] She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.[citation needed] When she was 17 in 1998, she joined a girl group called Gemstone (along with Jade Villalon and Crystal Grant). Vidal later moved to Orlando, Florida, to proceed with the filming of Taina. Her sisters Lisa and Tanya are also actresses and have appeared on TV and in theatre; she also has a brother, Christian.[3]

Career

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Acting

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Vidal's acting career began when one of her teachers told her there was an audition for the film Life with Mikey (1993), starring Canadian actor Michael J. Fox. She auditioned and got the part of "Angie Vega", becoming the first Puerto Rican child actress to play a lead in a US film.[4] Since then, Vidal has appeared in feature films and television series. She portrayed Taina Maria Morales in the Nickelodeon sitcom Taina in 2001 and 2002. The series ran for two seasons with speculation that it would be renewed for more; according to Vidal, the reason for the show being cancelled was likely due to her recording deal with MCA.[5] Scripts for a third season and a made-for-television movie of the series were already written before Nickelodeon canceled the show.[6]

The next year she played Maddie in the film Freaky Friday alongside Lindsay Lohan and starred in the short-lived ABC action TV series about police officers called 10-8: Officers on Duty until she suddenly left after two months on the show. Also in 2003 she guest-starred in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Paris Fate. In 2006 she did an untitled sitcom pilot with her sisters for ABC (which was executively produced by George Lopez). The show was not picked up, but later that year she starred in the film See No Evil and also had a brief stint on the hit sitcom Girlfriends. More recently she has made cameo appearances in the films I Think I Love My Wife, Mask of the Ninja, and the Internet comedy short "Love Automatically", written by Mylinda Royer and directed by Allison Haislip.[7] Most recently, Vidal played a supporting character in the film Magic Man, which was released in 2009.

Music

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When Vidal was in the band Gemstone, she recorded songs with herself as well as bandmates Jade Villalon and Crystal Celeste Grant performing vocals. A few of these tracks would surface many years later on albums consisting of demos, rare tracks, and special songs of Villalon's music project, Sweetbox. In 2002, she was briefly signed to MCA Records and in that time she was supposed to release her first single "Tropical" and her solo debut album White in the summer of 2002, but never did. That same year she provided guest vocals on the remix of Will Smith's summer hit "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" from the Men in Black II soundtrack. She was a part of Lupe Fiasco's 1st & 15th Entertainment.[8] She also recorded a track for the work out cd called Byou from Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls. The song she recorded was "Anything Is Possible". She also sang the song "Take Me Away" in the film Freaky Friday.

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
1993 Life with Mikey Angie Vega
1995 Welcome to the Dollhouse Cynthia
2000 Details Maggie Short film
2003 Chasing Papi Festival Singer
Freaky Friday Maddie
2005 The Mosquito Tia
2006 See No Evil Christine
2007 I Think I Love My Wife Candy
2010 Magic Man Elena
2021 The Guilty Sergeant Denise Wade
2025 Freakier Friday Maddie Post-production[9]
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1994 The Cosby Mysteries Ramona Suarez Episode: "Camouflage"
1995 The Commish Julianna Muldoon Episode: "Off Broadway: Parts 1 & 2"
1997 F/X: The Series Theresa Episode: "Bad Influence"
1997–98 Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Sophia Del Bono Main Role (Season 2); 21 episodes
1998 Brink! Gabriella TV movie
1999 Providence Street Girl Episode: "Saint Syd"
Touched by an Angel Ilena Episode: "Hearts"
2001–02 Taina Taina Maria Morales Lead Role; 26 episodes
2003 Hotel Gisel TV movie
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Fate Paris Episode: "Romance Looming"
2003–04 10-8: Officers on Duty Deputy Gabriela Lopez Main Role; 14 episodes
2004 Beck and Call TV short
Second Time Around Gabrielle Herrera Episode: "Secrets", "A Kiss Is Still a Kiss"
2005 Clubhouse Carmen Episode: "Between First and Home"
2006 Girlfriends Samantha Stephens Episode: "Bad Blood"
Episode: "Just Joan"
2007 ER Elena Vega Episode: "In a Different Light"
2008 Play or Be Played TV movie
Mask of the Ninja Mercedes TV movie
2009 Monk Winona Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes Camping"
2009–10 House Sandy Episodes: "Wilson", "Private Lives"
2010 The Deep End Rachel Esposito Episode: "Nothing Personal"
In Plain Sight Amber Whitman Episode: "Son of Mann"
Castle Jamie Ruiz Episode: "Almost Famous"
2011 Things We Do for Love Episode: "Best Friend"
Fairly Legal Sofia Peña Episode: "Coming Home"
2014 Stalker Christina Richards Episode: "Skin"
2015 Being Mary Jane Lilly Episode: "Reading the Signs"
The Player Mrs. Cruz Episode: "A House Is Not a Home"
Major Crimes Carmen Tamayo Episode: "Thick as Thieves"
2015–16 Code Black Gina Perrello Recurring role; 7 episodes
2016 Limitless Lucy Church 2 episodes
Blue Bloods ADA Marta Avila Blowback
2017 Training Day Det. Valeria Chavez Main role; 13 episodes
2018 Sneaky Pete Valerie The Reluctant Taxidermist
2019 Grand Hotel Det. Ayala 4 episodes
2020 United We Fall Jo Ryan Main role
2021 The Shrink Next Door Hannah Recurring Role
2022 The Terminal List Mac Wilson Main Role
2023 Primo Drea Main role

Discography

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Soundtracks

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Awards and nominations

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Year Group Award Result Film/Show
1994 Young Artist Award Best Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy – Youth Actress Won[10] Life with Mikey
Most Promising New Youth Actress (special award) Won[10]
2002 ALMA Award Outstanding Actress in a Television Series Nominated Taina

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Esocbar, Cristina (May 19, 2023). "Christina Vidal aka Taina Stars in New Latino Show Primo". Latino Rebels. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  2. ^ [1] Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ [2] Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "May 2006 | An Interview with Christina Vidal". Blackfilm.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Simon, Jordan (June 28, 2021). "Christina Vidal Reveals Likely Reasons Why The Nickelodeon Classic Was Cancelled". Shadow And Act. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Exposito, Suzy (June 13, 2021). "Taina at 20: Christina Vidal on playing the pioneering Latina everygirl". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  7. ^ "Love Automatically (remix)". YouTube. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  8. ^ "1st & 15th | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  9. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 24, 2024). "Sophia Hammons & Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Among Other New Additions To 'Freaky Friday 2' As Chad Michael Murray, Stephen Tobolowsky & More Are Set To Reprise; Theatrical Release Confirmed". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "15th Annual Awards". Youngartistawards.org. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
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