Natalie Morales (actress)

Natalie Morales (born February 15, 1985) is an American actress and director. She is known for her role as pediatric surgeon Dr. Monica Beltran on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2024–25). She starred in the ABC Family series The Middleman, the ABC sitcom Trophy Wife, the Fox legal series The Grinder, the NBC sitcom Abby's, the first season of White Collar, and the Netflix miniseries The Beast in Me. Morales also had recurring roles on Parks and Recreation, Santa Clarita Diet, Dead to Me and The Morning Show.

Her directorial debut film, the teen comedy Plan B, was released May 28, 2021, on Hulu. She also directed Language Lessons, a film she co-wrote with Mark Duplass. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and was released in September 2021.

Early life

A native of Miami, Florida, Morales is of Cuban descent.

Acting

Morales had a guest appearance on CSI: Miami in 2006, and played a character in Pimp My Ride that year, a video game version of the MTV television series Pimp My Ride. Her first major role was in The Middleman, a sci-fi dramedy which aired on the ABC Family network for one season. She starred as Wendy Watson; the series was adapted from the comic book, The Middleman.

Morales also starred in and executive produced a Web series, titled Quitters. The series was an official selection of the 3rd annual ITVFest (Independent Television Festival) in Los Angeles in August 2008.

In 2009, Morales joined the cast of the USA Network television series White Collar for the first season. She portrayed Lauren Cruz, a junior FBI agent. In May 2010, after her dismissal from the White Collar cast, Morales began recurring on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, as Lucy, the girlfriend of Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford and bartender at The Snakehole Lounge.

Morales appeared in Oliver Stone's 2010 film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, a sequel to his 1987 film Wall Street. She was cast as Chelsea Handler's best friend in Are You There, Chelsea?. She left the series when the cast was replaced for creative reasons. Morales also appeared on Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama, The Newsroom, guest-starring as Kaylee, the girlfriend of Dev Patel’s character, Neal.

In 2013, Morales joined the cast of Trophy Wife as Meg, Kate's best friend. In 2015, she joined the cast of the Fox series The Grinder. In 2017, she appeared in some episodes of the NBC series Powerless. Morales appeared as Detective Anne Garcia in the Netflix horror comedy series Santa Clarita Diet.

Morales was in the television series Abby's, an NBC multi-camera sitcom created by Josh Malmuth and executive produced by Parks and Recreation creator Michael Schur. Their third series for the network, it premiered on March 28, 2019. Later that year, Morales was cast as Michelle in the Netflix black comedy series Dead to Me, appearing in seasons 2 and 3.

In 2022, Morales was cast as Kate Danton in season 3 of The Morning Show. The following year, Morales was cast as pediatric surgeon Dr. Monica Beltran on Grey's Anatomy, appearing in a recurring role for two seasons. Her final appearance was in the show's season 22 premiere.

In 2025, Variety ranked Morales-lead movie My Dead Friend Zoe as one of the 10 Best Movies of the year. That same year, she was part of the main cast of the miniseries The Beast in Me, portraying the estranged wife of Claire Danes's character. She was also cast as Cassie in the Amazon MGM Studios rom-com You Deserve Each Other.

Directing

In 2021, Morales directed teen comedy Plan B starring Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma. The story revolves around two teens looking for the Plan B pill after a regrettable first sexual encounter. The film earned critical acclaim with critics praising Morales' direction including Linda Holmes of NPR who wrote, "The creators and the cast deserve enormous credit for how deftly the broader comedy here is balanced with genuine fear and frustration, and how unexpectedly parts of the film unfold. A lot of it is somehow structurally familiar but specifically surprising."

That same year she also directed the drama film Language Lessons (2021) which she co-wrote with writer-director Mark Duplass. They both star in the feature, which they filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is set over Zoom as a Spanish teacher (Morales) communicates with her student (Duplass). Katie Erbland, critic of IndieWire praised Morales' work on the film writing "Morales’ winning Language Lessons offers one of the best uses of the format yet, a 'Zoom film' that utilizes its constraints to craft an intimate, expressive two-hander, no fatigue in sight".

The film had its debut at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021 to positive reviews, and was released in September 2021.

Personal life

In January 2010, Morales fell down approximately 20 steps at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, landing face-first on a balcony wall. She sustained major facial injuries and underwent emergency reconstructive surgery following the accident.

On June 30, 2017, Morales stated on social media that she is queer.

Filmography

Film

• 2010 — The Time Machine — Natalie — Short film
• 2010 — Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps — Churchill Schwartz Trader (Laura)
• 2010 — Going the Distance — Brandy
• 2011 — 6 Month Rule — Sophie
• 2012 — Freeloaders — Red Dot Girl
• 2017 — Battle of the Sexes — Rosie Casals
• 2018 — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Miss Calleros (voice)
• 2019 — Stuber — Nicole Manning
• 2021 — The Little Things — Detective Jamie Estrada
• 2021 — Language Lessons — Cariño — Also co-writer and director
• 2021 — Happily — Patricia
• 2021 — Plan B — —.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap}N/a — Director
• 2022 — I'm Totally Fine — Jennifer
• 2023 — Self Reliance — Theresa
• 2023 — If You Were the Last — Savannah Gherrity
• 2023 — No Hard Feelings — Sara
• 2024 — My Dead Friend Zoe — Zoe
• 2024 — Thelma the Unicorn — Penelope Pizzaz (voice)
• 2025 — Summer of 69 — Robin Goode
• 2026 — Brian — TBA
• TBA — You Deserve Each Other † — Cassie — Post-production
• TBA — The Girlfriend † — —N/a — Director

• † — Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

• 2006 — CSI: Miami — Anya Boa Vista — Episode: "Darkroom"
• 2008 — Quitters — Natalie — Web series
• 2008 — The Middleman — Wendy Watson — Main role, 12 episodes
• 2009 — Boldly Going Nowhere — Ruby — TV movie
• 2009 — Rockville CA — Isabel — Web series, episode: "Shoegazed"
• 2009–10 — White Collar — Lauren Cruz — Main role, 9 episodes
• 2010 — The Subpranos — Beatrice Ramirez — Web series, episode: "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"
• 2010–15 — Parks and Recreation — Lucy — Recurring role, 12 episodes
• 2011 — The Cape — Kia — Episode: "The Lich (Part 1)"
• 2012 — The Newsroom — Kaylee — 2 episodes
• 2012–13 — 90210 — Ashley Howard — 5 episodes
• 2013–14 — Trophy Wife — Meg Gomez — Main role, 14 episodes
• 2014–15 — Girls — Clementine — 3 episodes
• 2015–16 — The Grinder — Claire Lacoste — Main role, 21 episodes
• 2017 — Grace and Frankie — Melissa — Episode: "The Musical"
• 2017 — Powerless — Green Fury — 2 episodes
• 2017 — Crashing — Stephanie — Episode: "The Baptism"
• 2017 — Imaginary Mary — Rebecca — Episode: "In a World Where Worlds Collide"
• 2017 — Making History — Mona — Episode: "The Duel"
• 2017–19 — Santa Clarita Diet — Anne Garcia — 11 episodes
• 2017–18 — BoJack Horseman — Yolanda Buenaventura (voice)Mindy Buenaventura (voice) — 4 episodes
• 2018 — Alex, Inc. — Serena Bans — Episode: "The Rube Goldberg Contraption"
• 2018 — Room 104 — Jess — Episode: "A Nightmare"
• 2018 — Dream Corp, LLC — Patient 6 — Episode: "Woomba"
• 2019 — Abby's — Abby — Main role, 10 episodes
• 2019 — Sunnyside — Celeste — Episode: "Pants Full of Sandwiches"
• 2019–25 — Harley Quinn — Lois Lane (voice) — 8 episodes
• 2020–22 — Dead to Me — Michelle Gutierrez — Recurring (seasons 2-3)
• 2020 — Home Movie: The Princess Bride — Inigo Montoya — Episode: "Chapter Ten: To the Pain!"
• 2020–25 — Solar Opposites — Mrs. Perez / various (voice) — 14 episodes
• 2021–22 — Mr. Mayor — Susan Alvarez-Craw — 2 episodes
• 2021–23 — Rugrats — Betty DeVille (voice) — Recurring role
• 2022–25 — Firebuds — Val Vega-Vaughn (voice) — 6 episodes
• 2022 — The Young and the Restless — Talia Morgan — Episode #1.12500
• 2023 — History of the World, Part II — Cavewoman — Episode: "I"
• 2023 — The Morning Show — Kate Danton — 4 episodes (season 3)
• 2024–25 — Grey's Anatomy — Dr. Monica Beltran — Recurring (seasons 20–21); Guest (season 22)13 episodes
• 2025 — The Beast in Me — Shelley — Main role; 8 episodesGolden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or, Motion Picture Made for Television — Nominated (2026)

• 2024 — Penny & Me — Director — Hanson — Moonlight version

• 2006 — Pimp My Ride — Aiyan — Video game