Daphne Rubin-Vega ( Vega; born November 18, 1969) is a Panamanian-American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for originating the roles of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent and Lucy in the Off-Broadway play Jack Goes Boating. Rubin-Vega also appeared as Bombshell publicist Agnes in the second season of the TV series Smash (2012) and as Luisa Lopez in the TV series Katy Keene (2020). In 2021, Rubin-Vega starred as salon owner Daniela in the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights. Early life Rubin-Vega was born in Panama City, Panama, the daughter of Daphine Corina, a nurse, and José Mercedes Vega, a carpenter. Her stepfather Leonard Rubin was a writer. Her mother's family came to Panama from Barbados, as the canal created opportunities for West Indians of African descent throughout the Caribbean. Her mother moved from Panama to the United States with her children when Daphne was only two years old, and passed away eight years later. Rubin-Vega studied theater at the New LAByrinth Theater Company as well as with William Esper Studio. She also performed with the comedy group El Barrio USA. Career Rent and Broadway While performing with El Barrio USA, Rubin-Vega landed an audition for a new musical written and composed by Jonathan Larson. The role was for Broadway musical Rent, and the role was Mimi Marquez, a nineteen-year-old, HIV-positive heroin addict who works at the Cat Scratch Club as an exotic dancer. Before landing the role, Rubin-Vega claims that she was not a major fan of musical-theater. The struggling actress auditioned for musical director Tim Weil by singing "Roxanne" by The Police. She was then handed an original number from the production and told to learn it. Rubin-Vega performed in the original workshop before the play went to Broadway. At the time, the script was vastly different from the current version. She developed the role all the way to its Broadway premiere on April 29, 1996. She left the cast on April 5, 1997, and was replaced by Marcy Harriell. Rubin-Vega did not participate in the film adaptation of Rent, as she was pregnant at the time of the movie's casting and filming. The role subsequently went to Rosario Dawson. One of her castmates was Wilson Jermaine Heredia, with whom she also starred in the 1999 film Flawless. Rubin-Vega has two Tony Award nominations to her credit: one for her role