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Miami born and raised Colombian American actress and Yale Drama School alum, Juliana Aidén Martinez, is a rising star in the Hollywood industry. Her first ever TV role as ‘Detective June Hawkins’ in Netflix’s Emmy nominated Griselda, where she worked alongside Sofia Vergara, received an Imagen Award nomination. Martinez is now the latest recruit to NBC’s seminal Law & Order: SVU, joining the iconic ‘Captain Benson’ (Mariska Hargitay) and ‘Sergeant Tutuola’ (Ice-T) as ‘Detective Kate Silva’. Martinez talks with Miami Living about landing her biggest role yet, her upbringing in Miami, and being a Latina woman in Hollywood. Miami Living: Can you tell us what it was like to land your role as ‘Detective Kate Silva’ on Law & Order: SVU? What emotions did you go through after learning you got the part? Juliana Martinez: I was so shocked and surprised when I found out. I did a screen test…and you never know with these things.. but as soon as I met Mariska and we worked together for the first time it felt kismet. This is a powerful, women-driven show with an incredible legacy and important message. Kate Silva feels like a contribution to that legacy and it feels very special and humbling to represent Latinas in the SVU universe. Miami Living: What has it been like working with icons Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T? How do you feel you’ve learned from them while filming season 26? Juliana Martinez: To work with icons like those two is the best. Not only do I learn so much from them but we laugh everyday! We genuinely like each other. Ice T has the best jokes and common sense advice and Mariska is such an inspiration in her work ethic, leadership, humor, grace, I can go on and on and on. Best piece of advice: knowing who you are is your superpower. Miami Living: How do you feel your role as ‘Detective June Hawkins’ in Netflix’s Griselda helped you to prepare for this role? Juliana Martinez: Well, the prep for June helped in a myriad of ways, like the way you approach information, how you think, how you see the world, the emphasis on listening, observation, the study of human psychology. You have to be smart to be a homicide detective. It’s a critical thinking type of job where you are extracting clues from a lot of information. What was interesting for me was to think about ‘how do you make these women (‘June’ and ‘Kate’) completely their own person?’ Griselda was a biopic and I had the foundation of a real person in June Hawkins and how she behaved during her