Carmen Corral was born and raised in inner city Chicago. Her parents emigrated there from Mexico. Her household was a traditional Mexican household, so much so that her first language was Spanish. Carmen was salutatorian of her grammar school and high school class. In addition to excelling in her studies, Carmen immersed herself in theater and dance. She became a member of Free Street Theater Company, a theater company that took underprivileged minority youth and guided them in creating socially conscious theater. There, she discovered her other love, writing. These two disciplines, academics and theater, earned Carmen a full ride to The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Upon graduating, Carmen was cast in and co-wrote, "Melancholia," under the direction of the Latino Theater Company. The play received great reviews from the critics, i.e. LA Weekly, and LA Times. Soon after, Carmen was cast in her first two features, HBO's "Walkout," directed by Edward James Olmos, and 3:15, an indie feature. Carmen's other credits include, playing Clifton Collin's girlfriend on "The Shield", and Yancey Arias' wife in the independent feature, "Undocumented." Recently, Carmen filmed "Revolucion", a collection of shorts produced by Canana Films, helmed by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. She had the privilege of being directed by Patricia Riggen ("Under the Same Moon"). The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as screened in Cannes, LA Film Festival, and a handful of others. On her spare time, Carmen has self-taught herself to be a professional salsa dancer. Currently, Carmen is in pre-production for her feature, "La Clave," in which she will unite her four loves, writing, dancing, acting and her Mexican heritage.