One of the most respected Latino actors in Hollywood, April Lee Hernandez-Castillo's personal life-story is one of victory. Her feature film debut as Eva Benitez in the 2007 Image Award nominated MTV film, Freedom Writers, alongside Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank, put her in the ranks of some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
An actress with a blend of unlimited expression and humor, the Bronx, New York native made her stage debut at the famous New York Comedy Club in New York City as a standup comedienne. As an actress, April expanded her stage experience to television. She got her first acting break as the Yo/Yoa Girl alongside NBA All-Star Houston Rockets center, Yao Ming in the 2004 Super Bowl Visa Check Card national commercial. Next came major television roles that would include NBC's Emmy-award winning series ER, Law & Order and 30 Rock. Keeping an eye on the big picture, in 2007 April tried out for the role of a lifetime and got it. She would co-star alongside one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Hilary Swank. It was this role that April would catch the attention of The View producers who invited her to co-host the show.
Reaching critical heights, her portrayal of Eva Benitez earned her recognition and critical acclaim confirming her status as one of the more talented up and coming actresses. Now displaying the talent and drive to parlay success into a career as a respected actress, April garnered roles both onstage and off in the FOX pilot Blue Blood and Showtime's Nurse Jackie and received a SAG Award nomination for her role as Officer Cira Manson in Showtime's award winning drama Dexter. She recently wrapped J Anderson Mitchell's sci-fi comedy Future Folk, a new webseries East WillyB and is in production on the Brian A. Miller film, Officer Down alongside James Wood and David Boreanaz. Onstage, April would get a chance of a lifetime to work with award winning director Frank Perez in Nancy Genova's off Broadway play, Death of a Dream.
We all have had to overcome obstacles in our lives and sometimes it feel like we don’t have a voice because no one is willing to listen. Words are powerful! It is time to discover your voice that says I can make my dreams come true no matter the situation. In this workshop, which is great for high school, college, universities and youth conferences- the audience member will be able to discover what their gifts and talents are.& nbsp; The students will also create a vision/mission statement to work towards making their dreams become reality!
After spending so many years in the dark and not talking about the violence I realized I was doing more damage to myself by not speaking out! Surviving was not enough there was more work to be done. In this in depth session I share a portion of my testimony and break down what abuse looks like and the strongholds it has on our lives.
So you made it to the altar, settled in the house of your dreams and maybe planning for a family but after a couple of years you the heat between you and your spouse begin to dwindle…