
Rose Portillo
Biography
Rose Portillo is an accomplished American actress/writer/director/educator and visual artist whose stage and film career began with a lead role in Luis Valdez's 'Zoot Suit' (original L.A. and Broadway productions and the film). She played the role of Mother in the critically acclaimed 2017 revival, starring Demián Bichir. She was Associate Director of About Productions, now celebrating 24 years of creating original Theaterworks and founded the company's Young Theaterworks, which serves students in Continuation/Options High Schools primarily in East Los Angeles. Since appearing in Theresa Chavez's solo play, L.A. Real, she has directly partnered with Chavez (the company's Artistic Director) on at least 10 critically acclaimed productions.
Movie Appearances

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip
as Lidia Garcia
2025

Encanto
as Señora Guzmán (voice)
2021

Zoot Suit
as Della
1981

That's Amor
as Julietta
2022

Exorcist II: The Heretic
as Spanish Girl
1977

Seguin
as Gertudis
1982

...And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him
as Florentina
1995

Best Kept Secrets
as Mrs. Zepeta
1984

The Mean Season
as Kathy Vasquez
1985

Palomino
as Donna
1991

Panic in Echo Park
1977

Victims
as Pilar Galloway
1982

Peak Season
2024

Fathers and Sons
as Nurse
2005
TV Appearances

Seis Manos
as (voice)
2019

Eisenhower and Lutz
as Millie Zamora
1988

Sliders
as Sister Celine
1995

The Rookie
as Emilia Lopez
2018

Zootopia+
as Additional Voice Talent (voice)
2022

Marvel's Runaways
as Eileen
2017

Home Improvement
as Woman #2
1991

Murder, She Wrote
as Maria
1984

Touched by an Angel
as María Parades
1994

Undone
as Speech Teacher
2019

Capital News
as Officer Bates
1990

NCIS
as Sheriff Jo
2003