Karla Souza

Mexican actress Karla Souza, known for her role as Laurel Castillo on the ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder, was born in Mexico City on December 11, 1985. She is Mexican and American, with a Chilean father and a Mexican mother. Her grandmother, Elba Silva, immigrated to New York City from Chile in the 1960s and worked as an assistant cook for the Rockefeller family for 20 years, which is why Souza holds an American passport. Souza lived in Aspen, Colorado, until age eight and later studied acting at Centro de Educación Artística, a Televisa-run school in Mexico City.

Souza has been active in the entertainment industry since 1993, appearing in numerous TV shows and films. She played Marina Hayworth on the ABC sitcom Home Economics and won the International Emmy Award for Best Actress in 2023 for her role as Mariel Saenz in the television movie La Caída (Dive), an Amazon Studios release. Her on-screen work includes several projects with revealing or intimate scenes, such as How to Get Away with Murder (2014), Me Late Chocolate (2008), Don't Blame the Kid (2014), Everybody Loves Somebody, and Dive (2022). Straight and Caucasian, Souza stands 5'4" with a slim, natural figure, black hair, and grey eyes. She maintains an Instagram following of 3.8 million.