Getting to Know Emmy Winner Liza Colón-Zayas, From The Bear to Her Husband and Net Worth

We get to know newly-minted Emmy-award winner Liza Colón-Zayas, from her net worth, husband, and career to her time on The Bear.

Actress Liza Colón-Zayas has joined her fellow stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the latest cast member of The Bear to claim an Emmy award. With her incredible performance in the critically acclaimed dramatic comedy by FX, the 52-year-old actress has won the hearts of viewers and critics with her incredibly poignant portrayal of line cook Tina Marrero. Having garnered a well-deserved Emmy award this past month, the career trajectory of Liza Colón-Zayas is upward-bound, as is her net worth. 

Humble beginnings 

Of proud Puerto Rican heritage, Liza Colón was born in the Bronx neighbourhood of New York City in 1972. She received a bachelor’s degree in theatre from the State University of New York in Albany and went on to kickstart a career off-Broadway. 

Her career in theatre was not without its highlights; in 2000, Colón-Zayas wrote, produced, and starred in Sistah Supreme, a one-woman semi-autobiographical show that documented the struggles of a young Puerto Rican girl growing up in the projects.

In the chaos of urban family life and surrounded by hardened locals and dysfunctional relatives, Colón-Zayas’ eponymous character Liza finds strength in her mother, vowing to rise beyond becoming an unfortunate statistic. The show debuted as part of the first ever NYC Hip-Hop Theater Festival. 

Colón-Zayas continued to hone her skills in theatre, appearing in the Philip Seymour Hoffman directorial In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings in 1999. Her sojourn off-Broadway also included titles like The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005), A View From 151st Street (2007), The Little Flower of East Orange (2008), Othello (2009), and Water by the Spoonful (2012) among others. 

Her television credits were likewise colourful, with minor and guest roles in Hollywood’s most popular series including Law & Order, Sex and the City, Hope & Faith, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, medical dramas House and Nurse Jackie, Dexter, and Blue Bloods among others. She also starred in six episodes of David Makes Man (2019), an American coming of age drama, and in six episodes of HBO drama In Treatment (2021). Then, she landed the role of a lifetime: Tina Morrero in FX’s hit comedy drama The Bear. 

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Liza Colón-Zayas’ award-winning performance in The Bear 

As the prickly matriarchal figure and line cook of ‘The Beef’, Tina Marrero holds an intrinsic sway to her character, like a tightly packed onion with layers to be peeled back and explored. We watch as newcomer Sydney (portrayed by fellow Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri) slowly becomes an ally and a friend, and through her eyes, we learn who Tina truly is. A mother, a wife, and an eager employee hardened by the tribulations of the working class. But beyond that, we learn this: Tina is a steadfast woman determined to make her way in the world at all costs. 

Liza Colón-Zayas’ multifaceted portrayal of the intriguing Tina garnered much praise for the actress in season 3 of The Bear. The acclaim is well-deserved; Colón-Zayas’ performance is as nuanced as it is contradictory, providing a glimpse into the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of humanity. While Tina begins the series equal measures indifferent and hostile towards Carmy (portrayed by Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney both, she soon begins to warm to them and all they represent in the scheme of the culinary industry. 

By season 2, she’s ready to step into the shoes of a sous chef, with Colón-Zayas expertly navigating the range of emotions shown across the season — chiefly gratitude and kinship, peppered by her iconic Latina sass. Enter season 3, and Colón-Zayas’ Tina has now become a fan favourite with episode 6, Napkins, cementing her place in ‘The Bear’. Much as Tina has become indispensable to the restaurant of Carmen’s dreams, so too has Colón-Zayas become integral to the success of the show. 

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And so, it came as little surprise this past month when Colón-Zayas became the first Latina to win a Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The accolade also marks the actress’ first Emmy win. 

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Who is the husband of Liza Colón-Zayas? 

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Liza Colón-Zayas first met her husband, Puerto Rican actor David Zayas when they were working on the Showtime series Dexter together in 2010. The two tied the knot on November 21 1998, and have a child together. 

Zayas, who is 62, is known for portraying Angel Batista on Dexter. Having embarked on a similar trajectory as his wife insofar as television goes, Zayas’ extensive filmography includes hit titles such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Beat, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Angel, Numb3rs, CSI: Miami, The Blacklist, Elementary, and Blue Bloods among others. Interestingly, Zayas also appeared in The Bear, where he portrayed Tina’s doting on-screen husband, David Marrero. 

What is the net worth of Liza Colón-Zayas? 

As of 2021, the estimated net worth of Liza Colón-Zayas is USD 1 million. While little information exists online as to how much her net worth has grown since then, a good assumption is that her work on The Bear has significantly added to the figure. 

Notably, lead star Jeremy Allen White is said have earned USD 350,000 per episode in the earlier seasons. However, following the success of the show, reports suggest the figure was bumped up to USD 750,000 per episode for season 3. Separate reports place the per-episode salary of co-star Ayo Edebiri at between USD 50,000 to USD 200,000. While no official confirmation exists as to the salaries earned by the cast of The Bear, a safe assumption is that Colón-Zayas, with her years of on-screen experience, earned close to what Edebiri did. 

Estimates also place the net worth of Colón-Zayas’ husband, David Zayas, at USD 4 million as of 2024. Together, the couple, who have been married close to 26 years, have an estimated shared net worth of USD 5 million, a figure that is expected to grow as Colón-Zayas finds more success following her Emmy award win.

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