Vanessa Marcil


Vanessa Marcil is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Brenda Barrett on General Hospital, Gina Kincaid on Beverly Hills, 90210, and Sam Marquez on Las Vegas.

Early life

Marcil, the youngest of four children, was born in Indio, California, to Patricia Marcil, an herbalist, and Pete Ortiz, a contractor and millionaire. Marcil's father is Mexican and her mother is an American of French and Italian ancestry. Vanessa attended Indio High School, located in Indio, California. Shortly after high school she attended a junior college, College of the Desert, in Palm Desert, California.

Career

Marcil acted in a number of theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the soap opera General Hospital, in 1992. She garnered three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for her portrayal, and won in 2003 as Outstanding Supporting Actress. In February 1998, she was named Outstanding Lead Actress at the Soap Opera Digest Awards.
On June 14, 1993, she appeared in the Prince music video "Poorgoo", which was released officially in very limited numbers. In 1994, she was cast in the Prince music video, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and made Peoples 50 Most Beautiful list the next year. She made her feature-film debut in the film The Rock, in which she appeared opposite Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris.
In 1998, after six years on
General Hospital, she left the show to star in the made-for-television movie To Love, Honor and Deceive, and had a recurring guest role on the police drama High Incident, produced by Steven Spielberg. In November 1998, Marcil joined the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast as Gina Kincaid and remained with the show for one-and-a-half seasons. In 1999, she starred in two independent films: Nice Guys Sleep Alone, with Sean O'Bryan, and This Space Between Us, with Jeremy Sisto.
In 2001, she was initially cast to join
NYPD Blues ninth season as a new series regular, Det. Carmen Olivera. However, after her first appearance in "Johnny Got His Gold", the show decided to redo the role and replaced Marcil with Jacqueline Obradors, as Det. Rita Ortiz. Marcil made one more cameo appearance, as Det. Olivera, in the 11th-season episode "Shear Stupidity".
From 2002 to 2003, she returned to
General Hospital, as Brenda Barrett, garnering her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2003. Vanessa later joined the cast of the NBC drama Las Vegas as Sam Marquez, a casino host, where she remained on the show for five seasons until 2008. That same year, she became the host of Lifetime's reality show
', as well as making a three-episode guest appearance on the NBC show Lipstick Jungle.
In 2009, she starred in the Hallmark Channel movie
The Nanny Express and in the Lifetime movie One Hot Summer. In 2010, she was in the web series The Bannen Way and in August 2010 after a seven-year absence, she made her return to General Hospital remaining on the show for a year before her departure from the show in July 2011. Marcil did make a guest appearance in April 2013 to commemorate the show's 50th anniversary.
In 2014, she starred in the Hallmark channel movie
Stranded in Paradise, and in 2015, she joined the cast of the Pop reality series Queens of Drama, about the lives of former soap-opera actresses attempting to pitch a pilot for a television network. In 2016, she starred in her latest Hallmark channel movie, The Convenient Groom''.

Personal life

Marcil was married to actor Corey Feldman from 1989 to 1993.
Marcil and her former Beverly Hills, 90210 castmate Brian Austin Green have a son born in 2002.
On July 11, 2010, Marcil married actor Carmine Giovinazzo in a private ceremony in New York City. In June 2011, the couple announced they were expecting their first child together; however, Marcil suffered a miscarriage, her second that year. Marcil filed for divorce in August 2012 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in March 2013.
In April 2015, Marcil revealed that she was engaged to a deputy sheriff, whom she refers to as "MC" on social media. On November 13, 2017, Marcil announced she was pregnant yet again. On January 9, 2018, she revealed the she was expecting a daughter, but on January 27, released a statement on Instagram stating she had miscarried for the seventh time.
Marcil's father, Pete, died on September 14, 2017.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
General HospitalBrenda BarrettMain role from: September 18, 1992 – September 11, 1998
Main role from: September 4, 2002 – February 19, 2003
Main role from: August 11, 2010 – July 21, 2011
Guest role from: April 2, 2013 – April 23, 2013
1996To Love, Honor and DeceiveSydney CarpenterTelevision movie; aka. The Protected Wife
1997High IncidentKerry AndrewsEpisodes: "Hot Wire", "Remote Control"
1998–2000Beverly Hills, 90210Gina KincaidMain role, 37 episodes
2001Spin CityCrazy KaraEpisode: "A Shot in the Dark: Part 2"
2001, 2003NYPD BlueDetective Carmen OliveraEpisodes: "Johnny Got His Gold", "Shear Stupidity"
2003–2008Las VegasSam MarquezMain role, 106 episodes
2004–2005Crossing JordanSam MarquezEpisodes: "What Happens in Vegas Dies in Boston", "Luck Be a Lady"
2008Lipstick JungleJosie Scotto3 episodes
2008'Kate HewittTelevision movie
2009Without a TraceKim Marcus3 episodes
2009One Hot SummerMargarita Silva SantosTelevision movie
2010'MadisonWebseries
2012Hawaii Five-0Dr. Olivia VictorEpisode: "Wahine'inoloa"
2014Stranded in ParadiseTess NelsonTelevision movie
2014Hell's KitchenHerselfEpisode 12.4: "17 Chefs Compete"
2016The Convenient GroomDr. Kate LawrenceTelevision movie
2017The Wrong MotherKayleneTelevision movie
2018Bad TutorKellyTelevision movie
2019My Stepfather's SecretTinaTelevision movie

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
1994Soap Opera Digest AwardsOutstanding Female NewcomerGeneral Hospital
1995Soap Opera Digest AwardsHottest Soap Couple General Hospital
1997Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesGeneral Hospital
1997Soap Opera Digest AwardsHottest Female StarGeneral Hospital
1998Soap Opera Digest AwardsOutstanding Lead ActressGeneral Hospital
1998Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesGeneral Hospital
2003Soap Opera Digest AwardsFavorite ReturnGeneral Hospital
2003Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesGeneral Hospital