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What may appear as overnight success has been a long time coming for 22 year old Judy Marte. The Dominican actress has been studying theatre since the age of nine, landing commercials and theatrical roles before being cast as “Juicy Judy” in the acclaimed independent film Rasing Victor Vargas. It was that film which catapulted her career and caught the eye of Director Michael Skolnik, who immediately cast her in his film On the Outs.

On the Outs chronicles the lives of three teenage inner city girls whose struggles with drugs land them all in the prison system. Oz (Judy Marte) is a drug dealer whose mom is a recovering addict, Marisol (Paola Mendoza) is an unemployed crack addict struggling to provide for her young daughter, and Suzette (Anny Mariano) gets pregnant by her crack dealer boyfriend (Clarence "Don" Hutchinson). The lives of the three girls intersect when they serve time in a Juvenile Detention Center together.

Playing the role of Oz - a drug dealing, tom boy was a challenge for Marte. “I am nothing like Oz, so it was a challenging role and I love that. The character is based on a real person and there is so much to her”. Getting into character took a lot of preparation both mentally and physically, including mimicking the dress and mannerisms of her brother. “Oz has a lot of respect, so that’s what I tried to portray. The good thing about Oz is you see both sides of her, when she goes home she is a completely different person.”

Pursuing roles in independent films is a conscious choice Marte makes, claiming they are very true to the art and true to the character development. Being a Latina actress, Marte admits that the fear of being typecast is very real as there is no set method to avoid that. When choosing roles she feels it is important to take into consideration the big picture such as having a great story line, great director and a great cast. Her largest frustration is the limited amount of scripts for Latinas as she strives to get away from the stereotypes Hollywood has put on Latin women. “People need to start realizing that there is talent out there. Latin women are capable of doing more, so that is what I am trying to do with my work.”

The work has been paying off, as Marte takes a step away from urban themes in her new film Platonically, where she pays an aspiring scientist/ poet. Platonically which will be filmed in California, is about measuring love logically and scientifically. It’s a role very different from anything Marte has played before which she is looking forward to. “We are in the middle of a movement for Latin People in general, and I am glad to be a part of it.”

You can see Judy Marte in On the Outs opening January 20th.