Natalie Martinez’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

Natalie Martinez

’s name might not be familiar, but her face will certainly be familiar to TV fans, and her best movies and TV shows see her appearing in some very popular projects. Martinez got her start as a model before transitioning to acting by first appearing in music videos. She cut her acting teeth on a pair of soap operas, and she has continued to be one of the hardest-working actors on television.

Since she started acting professionally in 2006, Martinez has only appeared in a handful of movies, but she has been in a ton of television shows. Those shows include several projects that were canceled ahead of their time and franchises like CSI and From Dusk Till Dawn. She has found her niche in playing law enforcement officials, but she also has some great roles that do not see her carrying a badge.

10

Fashion House (2006)

Natalie Martinez As Michelle Miller

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Fashion House

NR

Drama

Release Date

September 5, 2006

Network

MyNetworkTV

Cast

  • Headshot Of Morgan Fairchild

    Morgan Fairchild

    Sophia Blakely

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Nicole Pulliam

    Uncredited

  • Headshot Of Tippi Hedren

    Tippi Hedren

    Michelle Miller

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Donna Feldman

    Tania Ford

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Though Natalie Martinez had worked as a model before appearing in the series, Fashion House was her first professional acting role. The primetime soap opera was inspired by a Cuban telenovela and only lasted a single season, but in that time, Martinez appeared in 55 episodes of television, which is a huge feat for her first project.

When Fashion House was canceled, Martinez booked the telenovela Saints & Sinners immediately after. It ran for 65 episodes and Martinez appeared in 62.

The series followed the employees at a fashion company as someone schemed to take it over. The competition within the company was cut-throat as well since designers would sometimes steal from one another.

Martinez appeared in the series as Michelle, an up-and-coming designer who had her designs stolen by the leader of the company. She also found love, found herself in mortal danger, and opened her own company over the course of the show. Despite the show only lasting one season, Martinez played one of the few characters who really got a complete arc, and she got to have a crash course in playing a variety of storylines and emotions.

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9

APB (2017)

Natalie Martinez As Theresa Murphy

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APB

TV-14

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Crime

Drama

Action

Release Date

2017 – 2016

Network

FOX

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Justin Kirk

    Justin Kirk

    Gideon Reeves

  • Headshot of Joel Courtney

    Joel Courtney

    Luke

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Leena Kurishingal

    Reporter #1

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Jeff Blim

    Carter Knoll

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It’s a shame that APB only lasted for a single season before the show was canceled because it offered an interesting take on a police procedural. The series followed the goings-on in a police department after it was purchased by a man who made billions in the technology sector. He was inspired to get the police department the funding they needed and make them more effective after witnessing the murder of a friend and how poorly the police handled it.

The series used the hook of creating high-tech gadgets for the main characters to use to more effectively investigate crimes. Unfortunately, the series got bogged down in a lot of that technology and didn’t find its footing with the characters. It also saw the original showrunner leave in the middle of that first season and have to be replaced.

Despite those problems, the casting is solid. Martinez is one of the leads as a detective in the police force who has to adjust to all of the new changes. It’s one of many law enforcement roles she would play in the 2010s and the show really demonstrated that she has a knack for playing authority figures with a healthy sense of curiosity.

8

Under The Dome (2013-2015)

Natalie Martinez As Linda Esquivel

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Under the Dome

Sci-Fi

Mystery

Drama

8/10

Release Date

2013 – 2015-00-00

Network

CBS

Cast

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    Dean Norris

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Alexander Koch

Showrunner

Neal Baer

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At the time Natalie Martinez appeared in Under The Dome, she had played a lot of law enforcement officers. Here, she’s a police officer in a small town who struggles to keep order when a dome descends over it, cutting the town off from the outside world.

The series is based on a novel from Stephen King and lasted three seasons, and though aspects of the show deviate from the source material, it mostly stays true to its sci-fi-horror fusion of a story. The series was tightly scripted and acted at the start of the show, but plot points rapidly begin to spin out of control in later episodes, and that detracts from the enjoyment of the short-lived show as a whole.

Despite that, Martinez is great in the series, though she is only a regular in the first two seasons. In fact, the entire show is superbly cast from Britt Robertson as a young woman who ends up dead when she just wants to get out of town to Mike Vogel as a veteran who takes charge to Dean Norris as a manipulative car salesman.

7

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (2016)

Natalie Martinez As Amaru

From Dusk Till Dawn The Series (2014)

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From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series

TV-14

Drama

Crime

Fantasy

Horror

8/10

Release Date

2014 – 2016-00-00

Showrunner

Robert Rodriguez

Cast

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  • Headshot Of D.J. Cotrona

    D.J. Cotrona

  • Headshot Of Zane Holtz

    Zane Holtz

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…a very different role for Martinez…

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series expands the universe for fans of the original movies or comic books. It sees new actors take over the roles from the movie as the Gecko brothers, on the run from law enforcement after a robbery gone wrong, end up fighting for survival against vampire-like beings who get their power from ancient mystical snake creatures.

Though the character Martinez plays is in the show for longer, Martinez only plays the role for a handful of episodes. Amaru is an ancient demon, and according to her, the one who gave most of the snake-people their powers. She is also intent on destroying humanity and taking over the world, but she possesses the bodies of others before her true form (as Martinez) is revealed.

It’s a very different role for Martinez who is often the girl next door or the good-hearted police officer. This gives her the chance to play the villain, and she is very fun in the role. She would have been a great long-term addition to the show if she had a longer arc.

from dusk till dawn mesoamerican mythology

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6

Detroit 1-8-7 (2010-2011)

Natalie Martinez As Ariana Sanchez

The original cast of Detroit 187 in front of brick and city buildings

Detroit 1-8-7

Seasons

1

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Detroit 1-8-7 had the misfortune of premiering at a time when audiences were not looking for more police procedurals. Though it had unique elements in place, it was still a crime drama that did not hook enough viewers, which was not helped by it ending up airing in a timeslot that often got preempted for news broadcasts at the time.

The series was set and filmed in Detroit (except for the pilot episode), which helped bring the series a certain air of authenticity. It also had a high mortality rate for its characters, both the criminals and the police officers investigating them, which meant the audience never knew he would survive the episode.

Martinez plays a detective with several years working in the homicide unit under her belt. She is someone who has good instincts and a sharp eye, and she’s the character often forced to fire her weapon on more than one occasion. This is the series responsible for setting Martinez on the path to playing a lot of characters involved in law enforcement. It was only her fifth television role.

5

CSI: NY (2012-2013)

Natalie Martinez As Jamie Lovato

CSI NY (2004)

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CSI: NY

TV-14

Crime

Drama

Mystery

8/10

Release Date

2004 – 2013-00-00

Writers

Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Gary Sinise

    Gary Sinise

  • Headshot Of Melina Kanakaredes

    Melina Kanakaredes

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Martinez followed up one police procedural with a role in another. This time, however, she joined a major franchise, and she likely would have continued with the series if it had not ended with season 9 – the same season in which her character debuted.

Like all of the CSI franchise shows, the series follows the forensic clues in investigations instead of strictly the interviewing of suspects. Martinez played a homicide detective who was newly transferred to the department. She had previously been an undercover officer for the narcotics division, so she is a character with a lot of field experience. Martinez’s Lovato liked to banter with those around her, and the actor has a knack for delivering her quips.

Of course, if the series had not been canceled, Martinez likely would not have been available to book a lead role in Under the Dome, which she did right after, giving her three law enforcement roles back-to-back, and each of them different from one another.

4

Wendell And Wild (2022)

Natalie Martinez As Marianna Cocolotl

Wendell and Wild Netflix Poster

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Wendell & Wild

PG-13

Animation

Comedy

Fantasy

Horror

7/10

Release Date

October 21, 2022

Runtime

106 Minutes

Cast

See All

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This is the rare animated project among Martinez’s work. She only has a few animated projects under her belt, and Wendell And Wild is certainly a unique one to take on.

Martinez’s only other animated movie so far is 2019’s Ugly Dolls.

The stop-motion animation is a horror comedy about a little girl grieving the loss of her parents who is tricked into summoning a pair of demons. She also has powers of precognition and gets to help save her town from a corrupt couple who own a private prison. There’s a lot going on in the movie, but it’s got just the right amount of scares and real-world issues for young audiences as well as adults.

Though this is an animated project, Martinez is still voicing the kind of role she seems to do best. Here, she plays an investigator looking into whether a local fire was actually set on purpose. She does not have a huge role in the movie, but it’s a fun one for her to branch out into other kinds of acting.

3

Kingdom (2015-2017)

Natalie Martinez As Alicia Mendez

kingdom poster

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Kingdom

TV-MA

Drama

Release Date

2014 – 2016

Network

NHK G, NHK BS Premium

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Jonathan Tucker In The Fashion Trust U.S. Awards 2023

    Jonathan Tucker

    Karyou Ten (voice)

  • Headshot Of Nick Jonas

    Nick Jonas

    Chang Wen Jun

  • Headshot Of Frank Grillo In The Los Angeles premiere of 'Lights Out' at The London

    Frank Grillo

    Shin Li (voice)

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Kingdom centers on the Kulina family and the mixed martial arts gym they run. Though fighting is a way of life for them, they all have their own traumas and secrets which means fighting is not just happening in the gym, but also in a lot of their personal relationships as well.

The series is very much male-dominated, which caused it to receive some criticism about its portrayal of women in the mixed martial arts industry – primarily that they were in the show to be love interests and not much else. That changed, however, with the introduction of female fighters, like Martinez’s Alicia Mendez, who is an up-and-coming fighter who begins frequenting the gym.

Though she joins the series later, this is one of Martinez’s late-addition roles in which the audience actually gets to know her character better. Many times, her characters did not get to be fleshed out before shows have been canceled, though her performances are still solid. Here, she gets to explore more as she has a relationship with another fighter in a gym and her complicated relationship with her younger sister plays a role. Kingdom allows Martinez to really dig into her character in a way not many of her roles have.

2

End Of Watch (2012)

Natalie Martinez As Gabby Savala

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End of Watch

R

Crime

Action

Thriller

Drama

10/10

Release Date

September 21, 2012

Runtime

109 minutes

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Frank Grillo In The Los Angeles premiere of 'Lights Out' at The London

    Frank Grillo

  • Headshot Of Natalie Martinez

    Natalie Martinez

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End of Watch is another police-centered project for Martinez, but as it is one of her earliest movie roles, she is not actually one of the law enforcement officers. Instead, she is one of their wives.

The movie centers on a pair of officers who work in one of the most crime-heavy areas of Los Angeles. The focus of the movie is not on the crime itself, but instead, on the friendship between the two men. They are partners on the force, but they are also long-time friends who vow to take care of one another’s significant others if anything happens to them in the line of duty.

Martinez appears as the wife of Michael Peña. While she is not in the movie a ton, she gets to play both the intense anxiety and commitment that comes with being the wife of a police officer who puts his life on the line every day. She also gets to play a mom, which is not common among her roles.

End of Watch offers a gritty take on the world of law enforcement, but also a warm one on the bonds formed. Though Martinez has not been in nearly as many movies as television shows, this one is her best movie.

A composite image of Yancy holding an ice cream on the beach in front of Yancy sitting with a monkey in Bad Monkey

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1

Bad Monkey (2024)

Natalie Martinez As Rosa

Bad Monkey 2024 TV Show Poster

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Bad Monkey

TV-MA

Comedy

Crime

ScreenRant logo

8/10

25

9.3/10

Release Date

August 13, 2024

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Vince Vaughn In The Los Angeles Season 12 premiere of HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

    Vince Vaughn

  • Headshot Of Natalie Martinez

    Natalie Martinez

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…proves that she would definitely be at home in more action comedy projects than what she has done in the past.

Though Natalie Martinez has played a lot of law enforcement in her acting career, Bad Monkey marks the first time she plays a coroner. The mystery-comedy series pairs her up with Vince Vaughn as a sort of odd-couple investigative pair, and the two have surprisingly great chemistry.

The series is based on a Carl Hiaasen novel.

Vaughn stars as a former law enforcement officer who has become a restaurant inspector. While he has behavioral issues and does not know when to stop talking, he is also a very good investigator and ends up in the middle of a corruption case that sees his and Martinez’s characters targeted.

Martinez has done everything from comedy to drama to procedurals at this point, but Bad Monkey pulls the best aspects from all of those and throws in a little action for good measure. It’s Martinez’s best TV series so far and proves that she would definitely be at home in more action comedy projects than what she has done in the past.