1. Tonantzin Carmelo is known for her acting roles in film, TV and stage productions including in the Steven Spielberg miniseries, Into the West, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Television Movie or Miniseries.
In 2021, Carmelo filmed roles in Spain and Australia for the television series The English and La Brea.
In July 2024, Tonantzin Carmelo began filming NCIS Origins in Los Angeles playing the recurring character of Tish Kwa'la, the love of Mike Franks' life.
Tonantzin Carmelo grew up in Orange County, southern California and is of Indigenous and Latina descent.
Tonantzin Carmelo became a technically trained dancer and performed with the modern dance company Daystar.
Tonantzin Carmelo attended the University of California, Irvine, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Dance.
Tonantzin Carmelo began her professional acting career in an educational musical theater show produced by Carmen Zapata at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts.
In 2007, Tonantzin Carmelo played the leading role of Shayla Stonefeather in the thriller Imprint.
Tonantzin Carmelo's work was featured in the Amazon TV series, Undone, and in the opera, Sweetland.
Tonantzin Carmelo has performed as a singer with the band Trio del Alma and has recorded on three albums for Canyon Records.
In 2012, Tonantzin Carmelo testified for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the images of Native Americans in Hollywood.
Tonantzin Carmelo has appeared in several video games, including Dead Space, The Crew, Lego Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Tonantzin Carmelo has had an ongoing relationship with Native Voices at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, where she has performed on stage and has served on the advisory board.
Tonantzin Carmelo is a member of the Tongva Language Committee for Revitalization.
On January 5,2006, Tonantzin Carmelo was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her performance as Thunder Heart Woman in Into the West.
Tonantzin Carmelo won the American Indian Film Festival award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Hoboken International Film Festival for this role.
Tonantzin Carmelo was named "An Indie Darling to Crave" at the Sundance Film Festival 2015 for her role as Teresa, opposite John C Reilly in the film Entertainment.