Natalie Morales, an American actress and director, has appeared in various television shows such as The Middleman (2008) on ABC Family and the first season of White Collar (2009) on USA Network. She also had leading roles in The Grinder (Fox), Abby’s (NBC), and recurring roles in Parks and Recreation (NBC), The Newsroom (HBO), and Dead to Me (Netflix).
Early Life
Natalie Morales, who hails from Miami, Florida, comes from a Cuban background. She completed her education at St. Agatha Catholic School and Southwest Miami Senior High School. She also took part in the Dow Jones Minority High School Journalism Workshop at the University of Miami.
Natalie Morales’ Movies & TV Shows
In 2006, Natalie Morales made a special appearance on CSI: Miami and also starred in Pimp My Ride, a video game adaptation of the popular MTV show. Her breakthrough role came in the sci-fi dramedy The Middleman, which aired for one season on the ABC Family channel.
Morales played the role of Wendy Watson in the television series based on the comic book, The Middleman. She also acted in and served as executive producer for the Web series, Quitters. The show was chosen as an official entry for the ITVFest in Los Angeles in August 2008.
Natalie Morales was in the White Collar cast for its first season on the USA Network in 2009. He played Lauren Cruz, a new FBI agent.
However, after leaving the show, she got a regular role on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation in May 2010. In this role, she played Lucy, the girlfriend of Aziz Ansari’s character Tom Haverford, and a bartender at The Snakehole Lounge.
In 2010, Morales had a role in Oliver Stone’s movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which was a continuation of his 1987 film Wall Street. She played the part of Chelsea Handler’s closest companion on the TV show Are You There, Chelsea? However, she departed from the show when the cast was changed due to artistic decisions.
Morales made appearances on various TV shows, including The Newsroom where she played Kaylee, the girlfriend of Neal, portrayed by Dev Patel. She also joined the cast of Trophy Wife in 2013 as Meg, Kate’s close friend, and later joined the Fox series The Grinder in 2015.
In 2017, she guest-starred in a few episodes of the NBC series Powerless. Additionally, Morales took on the role of Detective Anne Garcia in the Netflix horror comedy series Santa Clarita Diet.
In 2019, Natalie Morales appeared in two popular television series. The first was the NBC sitcom Abby’s, created by Josh Malmuth and produced by Michael Schur, known for creating Parks and Recreation.
The show premiered on March 28th. Later that year, Morales joined the cast of the second season of Dead to Me, a dark comedy series on Netflix. She played the role of Michelle.
In 2023, Morales landed the role of Kate Danton in The Morning Show season 3, and in 2024, she was cast as Dr. Beltran, a Pediatrics Surgeon, in Grey’s Anatomy.
In the year 2021, Natalie Morales took on the role of director for the teenage comedy Plan B, featuring Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma. The plot centers around two adolescents in search of the “plan b” contraceptive pill following a night of an unexpected sexual encounter. The movie received widespread acclaim, with critics commending Morales’ directing skills.
Linda Holmes of NPR wrote,
“The creators and the cast deserve enormous credit for how deftly the broader comedy here is balanced with genuine fear and frustration, and how unexpectedly parts of the film unfold. A lot of it is somehow structurally familiar but specifically surprising.”
In 2021, she helmed the drama movie Language Lessons alongside writer-director Mark Duplass, which they wrote together. The two also have leading roles in the film, which was shot during the COVID-19 outbreak. Taking place on Zoom, the movie follows a Spanish instructor (Morales) as she interacts with her pupil (Duplass).
Net Worth
Over the course of her career, Natalie Morales has not only earned praise from critics but also achieved considerable financial prosperity.
With more than fifteen years of experience in the entertainment field, she has appeared in a multitude of TV shows, movies, and stage productions, receiving substantial financial compensation for her exceptional talents. Her approximate net worth is between $4 and $5 million.
