Roma Maffia as Dr. Liz Cruz | nip/tuck on FX
Roma Maffia
Dr. Liz Cruz
Roma Maffia plays “Dr. Liz Cruz,” the outspoken lesbian anesthesiologist at McNamara/Troy who often challenges the views held by Sean and Christian. Last season, Liz was the victim of an underground ring of organ thieves, who stole one of her kidneys. In ill health, she underwent transplant surgery when a generous Dawn Budge (Rosie O’Donnell) donated one of her own kidneys to Liz. She also fell in love with another anesthesiologist, Poppy (Alanis Morrissette) – and quickly fell out of love when she realized that her new partner was a controlling and unstable woman. This season, Liz joins Sean and Christian in their new Beverly Hills practice.
Career Highlights
Roma started her acting career performing off-Broadway, off-off Broadway and in regional productions ranging from Shakespeare to Sam Shephard. At a benefit reading for the New Group in New York, she was asked by casting director Jane Jenkins to audition for a role in director Ron Howard’s feature film The Paper, and found a career mentor: “Ron tells people he discovered me, which is absolutely true.” When The Paper opened in 1994 in Los Angeles, Roma took her first trip to Hollywood and her career quickly flourished. She soon met television producer David E. Kelley, who cast her as Adam Arkin’s secretary, “Angela” in Chicago Hope.
During her one season on Chicago Hope, Roma landed a plum role in the Barry Levinson film Disclosure, in which she played Michael Douglas’ tough sexual-harassment lawyer “Katherine Alvarez.” Garnering rave reviews for her performance, Roma quickly landed feature film roles in director John Badham’s Nick of Time, playing a kidnapper opposite Christopher Walken and Johnny Depp and Eraser, with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Roma recently wrapped production on the psychological thriller Ghost Image for writer/director Jack Edward Snyder and just completed Yonkers Joe with Chaz Palmentari and written and directed by Robert Celestino. Additional feature credits include Double Jeopardy opposite Ashley Judd; Kiss The Girls with Morgan Freeman; Totally Baked: A Pot-U-Mentary; Kingshighway; Holes; I Am Sam with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer; and Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her with Glenn Close and Holly Hunter.
From 1996-2000, Roma played the dedicated and brilliant “Grace Alvarez,” forensic pathologist for the Violent Crimes Task Force on NBC’s primetime series Profiler. Her telefilm credits include Consensual Relations for NBC, HBO’s Mistrial with Bill Pullman, and Showtime’s The Defenders. She had a recurring role on NBC’s ER, and has also guest-starred on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer, Lifetime’s Strong Medicine, NBC’s The West Wing, HBO’s The Sopranos and has a recurring role on NBC’s Law & Order.
Roma is actively involved with the non-profit organization Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA), which dedicates itself to advancing democracy and equality in South Africa. Roma resides in Los Angeles with her dogs Lou Lu and Lucky.