Kiele Sanchez

American actress

Zach Helm

(m. 2001; div. 2008)

Zach Gilford

(m. 2012)

Children2

Kiele Michelle Sanchez (/ˈkiːli/ KEE-lee; born October 13, 1977)^[1] is an American actress who starred in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously, she had starred as Anne Sorelli in The WB comedy-drama Related and as Nikki Fernandez on the main cast in the third season of the ABC television drama series Lost. She also starred in the DirecTV drama series Kingdom on the Audience Network.

Early life and education

Sanchez was born in Chicago. Her father, Oscar Sanchez, is a racetrack jockey agent.^[2] She is one of four children, and is of Puerto Rican descent.^[3] Sanchez began her acting career at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream, Illinois, when she performed in a school production of The Grapes of Wrath. Her performance helped her overcome her stage fright, with which she struggled at the time.^[3]

Career

In 2000, Sanchez auditioned for MTV's Wanna Be a VJ contest in New York. She was selected as one of the five finalists, but did not win the competition. However, an agent who had seen her on MTV expressed interest in representing her.^[4]

After her agent recommended a move to Los Angeles, Sanchez auditioned and landed roles in the short-lived drama series That Was Then,^[5] and the sitcom Married to the Kellys.^[5] In 2003, Sanchez appeared in the film Stuck on You.^[5] She joined the cast of the hit ABC show Lost,^[5] for the series' third season, as Nikki Fernandez, but due to fan responses to her character, she was killed off six episodes after her first appearance. She had a recurring role on the ABC show Samantha Who?,^[5] and played a leading role in the 2008 film Insanitarium,^[5] alongside Jesse Metcalfe. She co-starred as Gina, Nick's (Timothy Olyphant) girlfriend, her character was famously seen nude swimming, near a waterfall in her first scene, in the 2009 thriller A Perfect Getaway.^[5]

Sanchez starred in the 2010 film 30 Days of Night: Dark Days,^[5] taking over the role of Stella Oleson from Melissa George, who played her in the first film. Sanchez also starred in the DirecTV drama series Kingdom which premiered on the Audience Network in the fall of 2014. She also appeared in 49 episodes of The Glades, which ran for four years.^[5]

In February 2020, she was cast as Lorna (the ex-wife of Mickey Haller) in the CBS series The Lincoln Lawyer, which is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Michael Connelly.^[6]

In November 2022, Sanchez joined her husband Zach Gilford in a recurring role as Sydney Voit, the wife of Gilford's character Elias Voit in Criminal Minds: Evolution.^[7]

Personal life

Sanchez was married to screenwriter and director Zach Helm^[8] from 2001 to 2008.^[9]

In 2010, Sanchez began dating actor Zach Gilford, with whom she co-starred in the ABC television pilot The Matadors.^[10] The couple became engaged in November 2011,^[11] and married on December 29, 2012.^[12] The couple also co-starred in The Purge: Anarchy. In August 2015, Sanchez announced that she and Gilford were expecting their first child, a son, that November.^[13] In October 2015, the couple announced that Sanchez had suffered a stillbirth.^[14] In November 2017, the couple had a daughter, born via surrogate.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Migrating Forms	Dream Woman
2001	The Kiss	Girl	Short
2001	Stealing Time	Emily
2003	Stuck on You	Pepper Spray Cutie
2007	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium	Mrs. Goodman
2008	Insanitarium	Lily	Video
2009	A Perfect Getaway	Gina
2010	Redemption Road	Hannah
2010	30 Days of Night: Dark Days	Stella Olemaun	Video
2014	The Purge: Anarchy	Liz
2018	Benji	Whitney Hughes

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Live Girls	Lynne	Television film
2001	Class Warfare	Amber Whidden	Television film
2002	That Was Then	Claudia Wills-Glass	7 episodes
2003	Young MacGyver^[16]	Taylor	Unaired TV Pilot
2003–2004	Married to the Kellys	Susan Wagner	21 episodes
2005–2006	Related	Anne Sorelli	19 episodes
2006	Four Kings	Jen	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	Modern Men	Lisa	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	Girls on the Bus	Ronnie Sarazen	Episode: "Pilot"
2006–2007	Lost	Nikki Fernandez	14 episodes
2007	Football Wives	Donna Reynolds	Unsold TV pilot
2007–2008	Samantha Who?	Chloe	4 episodes
2008	The End of Steve	Emily Green	Television film
2010	Matadors	Natalie Munoz	Television film
2010–2013	The Glades	Callie Cargill	49 episodes
2011	Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe	Amanda Maples	Television film
2014–2017	Kingdom	Lisa Prince	40 episodes
2019	Drunk History	Emma Pulaski	Episode: "Good Samaritans"
2019	The Lost Boys	Lucy	Unsold TV pilot
2020	The Lincoln Lawyer	Lorna	Unsold TV pilot
2022	Criminal Minds: Evolution	Sydney Voit	Recurring role
2023	Station 19	Kate Powell	Recurring role
2023	The Fall of the House of Usher	—	Co-writer: "The Raven"

References

^ "Today in History - Oct. 13". journalgazette.net. The Journal Gazette. The Associated Press. October 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
^ Ross, Graham. "Father's Day Fruition Friday for Oscar, Kiele Sanchez". Arlington Park. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Kiele Sanchez". tvnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on June 4, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
^ "Hollywood Life Kiele Sanchez". Hollywood Life. 10 October 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Kiele Sanchez Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
^ Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (February 3, 2020). "Kiele Sanchez To Co-Star In 'The Lincoln Lawyer' CBS Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood.
^ Ray, Alyssa (November 24, 2022). "When Zach Gilford Learned About His Wife's Criminal Minds Role". E! Online. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
^ "NU grad directs 'Wonder Emporium'". The Union. November 27, 2007. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
^ "Actress Kiele Sanchez, ex-husband Zach Helm list Los Feliz-area home at $1.849 million". The Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
^ MacKenzie, Carina Adly (November 30, 2011). "Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford engaged to Kiele Sanchez". zap2it. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
^ "Friday Night Lights Star Zach Gilford Engaged". People Magazine. December 1, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
^ "Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez Tie the Knot!". E Online. December 29, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
^ "Kiele Sanchez Is Pregnant, Expecting First Child With Zach Gilford: Find Out Her Due Date!". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
^ Green, Mary (October 9, 2015). "Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez Suffer Late-Term Miscarriage". People. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
^ Green, Mary (December 22, 2017). "Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez Welcome Daughter Zeppelin Adele". People. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
^ "MacGyver: Watch Jared Padalecki as the Hero's Nephew, Young MacGyver". 17 March 2009.