Episode 29 - Carla Jimenez’s Journey to Broadway: Nacho Libre, The Mick, and Real Women Have Curves

Actress Carla Jimenez has been acting and singing since childhood. This year, she’s made her Broadway Debut as Pancha in the original cast of “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical.” She joins host Chloe Aftel on The Other Pod to discuss her journey to where she is now and all the ups and downs along the way. They discuss her early career, including breakout roles in “Nacho Libre” and “Desperate Housewives”, as well as her recent key role in “The Mick”, and now her singing on Broadway. Carla’s story is a beautiful journey of dedication, passion, and hard work in a harsh industry. She reflects on what she has learned and how she has changed in the process.
Highlights:

• How she approaches acting in comedy and drama in a similar way;
• How Latina representation in the film and television industry has changed since the early 2000s;
• Her favorite memories improvising on set of “The Mick.” 

Bios:
Carla Maria Jimenez is an American actress whose family hails from Mexico and Costa Rica. In 2025, she made her Broadway debut as Pancha in “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical.” Carla grew up in a working class household in Southern California and had early roles in “Malcolm in the Middle,” “The Shield,” “Nacho Libre,” and others. She held recurring TV roles in shows such as “Desperate Housewives,” “Raising Hope,” and “Last Man Standing.” Her widespread breakout moment came in 2017 when starring as Alba Pemberton in Fox’s “The Mick.” As an actress, Carla is praised for her physical comedy and emotional depth.

Chloe Aftel has spent her career working in commercial photography, photojournalism, and film. She’s an established name in modern photography with work featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Playboy, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Germany, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue & more. Chloe has photographed victims of sexual violence, reported on Covid’s impact on the trans community, and gained access as the first reporter in the Covid wards of the West Coast’s hardest hit hospitals. She has covered underground abortion providers, the impact of gender pronouns on daily life, and clergy abuse. Her first book, “Outside and In Between,” is an award-winning anthology covering gender non-conforming people across America.

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