Heather Hemmens

Heather Hemmens (born July 10, 1984) is an American actress, film director, and film producer. She is best known for her role as Alice Verdura in The CW series Hellcats (2010-2011). She starred as Stacy Collins in the Netflix comedy Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! opposite Jamie Foxx and currently stars as Maria DeLuca in the series Roswell, New Mexico, which premiered in January, 2019 on The CW. Previous credits include the OWN series, If Loving You Is Wrong, where she played Marcie Holmes for five seasons.

Early life
A native of Waldo, Maine, Hemmens attended the performing arts high school Walnut Hill School for the Arts near Boston for her final two years of high school graduating in 2002. She went to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career upon graduating. She has a black belt in martial arts and weapons training.

Career
In her early career, Hemmens had small roles in the films The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) and Glory Road (2006). In addition, Hemmens has also directed and produced the short films Perils of an Active Mind and Designated which were both released in 2010. In 2010, she was cast as Alice Verdura in The CW series Hellcats, a comedy-drama about competitive college cheerleading, executive produced by Tom Welling. The show received mixed reviews, but Hemmens' performance was very positively received by critics, with many referring to Hemmens as the breakout star. The series was canceled after one season in 2011. She also guest starred on CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace, The Haves and the Have Nots, Grey's Anatomy, and The Vampire Diaries.

In 2014, Hemmens was cast as one of leads in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera If Loving You Is Wrong, created, produced and written by Tyler Perry. In 2018, she was cast in the CW series, Roswell, New Mexico.