Loren was born Maria Loren Avellaneda Sharp on May 7, 1980, in Sacramento, California.[5] She has one sibling,[3] an older brother, Daniel Sharp, who is the executive chef at a small restaurant in New York City.[6] Her mother is of Mexican descent, received her college degree in her 40s, and became a teacher; her father, an American, was working as an economist at the time he married her mother.[3] She spent her childhood in Sacramento, California, and later, in suburban Sacramento, although spending summers in an area of her mother's heritage, in Mexico.[3] Loren has stated that, despite her mom being from Michoacán, Mexico,[7] she did not learn Spanish until she was 10 years old, and that doing so helped her to communicate with relatives when she would return to the village from which her mother came.[8] From early childhood, Loren had surrounded herself with an array of pets, and had intended a career in biology.[3] Loren went to an all-girls' high school,[9] where she was a member of a men's rowing team.[9][10]
Loren notes that it took three years for her to land her first acting audition, and that she "paid her dues with small roles"—in The Shield, Gang Related, and shows of the CSI franchise.[3] Further television roles followed, including in Cold Case and Ghost Whisperer.[13] Loren began a leading role as Angela Valdes on the Starz television series, Power from 2014-2020,[1][2] starring in 63 episodes.
In 2019, Loren joined the second season of the Netflix science fiction series, Altered Carbon, as a series regular, playing the character of Danica Harlan.[4]
in 2021, Loren joined the third season of STARZ's series American Gods as Marguerite Olsen, a reporter for the local paper, a committed single mother of two, and a property manager.[14]
^ abcdefghTV Guide Staff (5 March 2020). "Lela Loren—Biography—Fast Facts, College". TV Guide. Retrieved 5 March 2020. Fast Facts / Was a member of an all-male crew team during high school. / Studied performing arts at Ruskin School of Acting. / Worked as a commercial fisher in Alaska to pay for college. / Starred in the titular role of a stage production of My Antonia at Pacific Resident Theatre. / Performed the lead role of Flora in José Rivera's Boleros for the Disenchanted at the American Conservatory Theater in 2009. / Is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. / College / Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, United States (BA in Theatre)
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