Lina Esco

Lina Esco
Born Lina Esco[1]
May 14, 1985
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation Actress, activist, producer, director
Years active 2003–present

Lina Esco (born May 14, 1985) is an American actress, producer, director and activist. She gained recognition in 2007 for portraying Jimmy Smits daughter in the CBS drama show "Cane". Esco has also enjoyed a successful film career, having appeared in several productions including London (2005), Kingshighway (2010), LOL (2012),[2] and most recently, Free the Nipple (2013).[3]

Early life

Lina Esco was born in Miami, Florida in 1985 and lived there for 14 years. From there she moved to France where she did some modeling, and then moved to London where she worked in theater. There, she took her first film role, appearing as a supporting character in the romantic film London. She then moved to New York to pursue acting and her career brought her to Los Angeles where she currently resides.

Career

Television

Esco moved to Hollywood, California and was cast in her first television guest star role in 2006, as Angie Watson in series CSI: NY. In March, 2007 Esco joined the cast of the CBS drama “Cane” alongside Jimmy Smits, Nestor Carbonell, Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno.

In 2009, Esco also guest starred in an episode of Drop Dead Diva series with Paula Abdul, where she played a lingerie model who'd been fired for going public about her breast cancer surviving story.

It was announced on February 25, 2011 that Esco will join the cast of Fox's new pilot “Exit Strategy”. Described as a High octane procedural set in the world of CIA agents who are sent in to "fix" operations gone bad. The cast includes Ethan Hawke, Megan Dodds and with Antoine Fuqua directing.[4]

Esco will play Mia, an MIT graduate and computer expert from South Boston.[5] In 2014 Esco was cast in Ryan Murphy's new HBO pilot alongside Michelle Monaghan Wes Bentley Scott Speedman and Jennifer Jason Leigh

Film

Esco's film debut was in 2005 with London, starting alongside Jessica Biel, Jason Statham, Chris Evans and Isla Fisher. In June 2010, She also was a supporting character on the comedy 'LOL', starring alongside Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore and Ashley Greene in 2012.She directed and starred in Free the Nipple which was released in select theaters , VOD and on iTunes on December 12, 2014.[6][7]

Producer

On April 2010, Esco produced a PSA for the Oscar Award-winning documentary The Cove Titled: "My Friend is..." alongside Oscar-winning producer Fisher Stevens joined forces with celebrities: Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rudd, Naomi Watts, Courteney Cox, Mariska Hargitay, Woody Harrelson, Jason Mraz, James Gandolfini, John Leguizamo, Evan Handler, Rob Morrow, Tamlyn Tomita, Carrie Ann Inaba, Chris Tashima, Russell Simmons, James Kyson Lee and Richard Kind to bring awareness on the annual killing of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.[8]

Director

Esco's directorial debut was in 2012 with a PSA for the Oscar Award-winning documentary The Cove Titled: "Kids Speak Out Against Dolphin Captivity".[9] She directed Free the Nipple in a bid to circumvent female nipple censorship.[6][7]

Organizations

Esco is very involved in two specific organizations. The Dolphin Project, which has gained much support from many celebrities, is a campaign under the International Marine Mammal Project at the non-profit Earth Island Institute and aims to prevent dolphin slaughter and exploitation from occurring.[10] Esco is most known for how involved she is in women's rights and the Free the Nipple campaign. The organization, as Esco states, is to promote sexual equality. Free the Nipple has attracted attention from numerous celebrities including Courtney Love, Cara Delevingne,[11] and Miley Cyrus,[12] who also has a song on the soundtrack of the Free the Nipple movie[13] and continues to strongly support the organization.

Other work

Very little is known about her commercial work but Esco has been showcase in various commercial, music videos, magazines and publications over the past years. In 2001, she was feature in the Sinéad O'Connor music video for "Jealous". She later appear briefly in Moby's music video for "Southside" featuring Gwen Stefani. She was also an extra for a series of AXE commercials one including with Nick Lachey for the “Clix” campaign in 2007. Esco also featured in Halos's music video for "Amalgam" in 2010.

On January 12, 2011 it was reported that Lina would be showcased on the Louis Vuitton’s jewelry collection for the Spring/Summer 2011. The campaign featured sixteen “It” girls from around the globe that included Alexandra Richards, Annabelle Dexter Jones, Mary Charteris, Alka Balbir, Mohini Geisweiller, DJette Clara 3000, Charlotte Lebon, Hailey Gates, Nathalie Love and Rinko Kikuchi.[14]

On May 16, 2011 Esco was featured in Ketel One Ad Campaign: "Gentlemen, This is Vodka." directed by Academy Award Nominee, David O. Russell.[15]

Esco is also seen in a 2013 NFL Women's Apparel Collection TV advertisement.[16]

Philanthropy

On September 9, 2009 Esco held a private screening of The Cove in New York, alongside Russell Simmons and Fisher Stevens hosting the event to bring awareness on the film.[17] Esco has supported many foundations and organizations throughout her career, but has mainly focused on whales and dolphins.

Filmography

Actress

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2005 London Kelly
2008 The Evening Journey Marla Short
2010 Kingshighway Lena Capriolini
2010 Where the Road Meets the Sun Natasha
2012 LOL Janice
2011 Low Fidelity TBA
2014 Free the Nipple With formerly Girlrillaz, also as director & writer
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Cane Katie Vega (13 Episodes)
2008 Heroes: Destiny Elisa (4 Episodes)
2011 Exit Strategy Mia (Pilot)
Television guest appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2006 CSI: NY Angie Watson "Live or Let Die" (Season 2, Episode 18)
2009 Drop Dead Diva Lina Martinez "Grayson Anatomy" (Season 1, Episode 13)
2009 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Angela Paulson "Death and Maiden" (Season 10, Episode 6)

Producer

Year Title Notes
2014 Free the Nipple formerly Girlrillaz, also as actor, director & writer

References

  1. ↑ "Transcripts". CNN.com.
  2. ↑ "Gather.com - Join The Conversation". Gather.com. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah. "Free the Nipple". http://www.ew.com/article/2015/01/13/free-nipple''. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Nellie Andreeva. "TV CASTINGS ROUNDUP: Slew Of Actors Book Pilots". Deadline. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Gabel, Esco join 'Exit Strategy' pilot". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "FREE THE NIPPLE (@freethenipple) - Twitter". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Keegan, Simon (28 December 2014). "Topless Miley Cyrus backs #freethenipple campaign for female equality". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ↑ YouTube. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Kids Speak Out Against Dolphin Captivity - NEW PSA. YouTube. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Najarian, JW. "The Dolphin Project with Ed Begley Jr and Ric O’Barry". http://onpurposemagazine.com/''. On Purpose Magazine. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  11. ↑ Winter, Katy. "Cara Delevingne shows support for Free The Nipple campaign with provocative topless photo on Instagram". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/''. Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Tejada, Chloe. "Miley Cyrus Supports 'Free The Nipple' With Topless Photo". http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/''. Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Strecker, Erin. "Listen to Miley Cyrus' Song From the 'Free the Nipple' Film". http://www.billboard.com/''. Billboard. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Louis Vuitton handpicks 16 It girls for S/S 2011 jewelry collection! | The Fix | Daily Front Row
  15. ↑ Ketel One Vodka (16 May 2011). "Ketel One® Vodka Launches New National Campaign". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Highlights from Baltimore Ravens retrieved 30 September 2013
  17. ↑ "Lina Esco and Russell Simmons.jpg - udo salters photography". Retrieved 10 April 2015.

External links