Dania Ramirez was on born November 8, 1979 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She is best known for playing Alex in Entourage, Maya Herrera in Heroes and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos. She also played antagonist Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand. At an early age, Ramirez decided to become an actress. At the age of 15, and was cast in a small part in a soda commercial. She graduated from Montclair State University in 1999, where her volleyball talents led her to be placed among the top five in career digs, digs/game, solo blocks and total blocks. Later, she decided to pursue acting seriously and studied at the Actor's Workshop in New York City under Flo Greenberg. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. Ramirez appeared as an extra in the HBO film Subway Stories (1997), where she met filmmaker Spike Lee who later cast her in his film, She Hate Me (2004). She played older sister "Laurie" in the movie Fat Albert (2004). She was Callisto, one of The Omegas, in the comic book film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). She went on to star in The 5th Commandment in 2008, a film written by and starring Rick Yune. That same year, she appeared in the horror film Quarantine. Next, Ramirez plays a bicycle messenger in the 2011 film Premium Rush, directed by David Koepp.