'Grey's Anatomy's' Sara Ramirez: 5 Things You Didn't Know

In honor of her recent engagement, here's five little-known things about the actress.

3:56 PM PDT 6/23/2011 by Jethro Nededog

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Sara Ramirez

This has been quite a year for Grey’s Anatomy and Tony-winning actress Sara Ramirez. She was featured in the first musical episode of the ABC show and then followed that up with the release of her first EP. And now she’s making it extra-memorable with a newly announced engagement. Ramirez and her longtime partner, Ryan Debolt, made it official while in Paris on June 17.

So, in honor of the news, we decided to tell you five things you didn’t know about Ramirez (and we hope her new fiancé does).

1.) You may have played her. In 1998, she voiced the character of Lammy in the video game UmJammer Lammy, a spin-off of PaRappa the Rapper, on Sony's PlayStation console. She then reprised the voice role in the PlayStation 2 video game sequel, PaRappa the Rapper 2.

2.) She and Wilson Cruz are tight. Ramirez and My So Called Life’s Wilson Cruz met while she was performing in The Capemen on Broadway in the late-nineties and they’ve been close friends ever since. This past season, the two had a chance to act together when Cruz guest starred on Grey’s.

3.) You knew her in Chicago. Or, maybe you didn’t. Ramirez was part of the female ensemble in the 2002 film starring Renee Zellwegger.

4.) She once suffered from deep depression. Ramirez told Latina Magazine that body issues and the loss of a close friend sent her into a depression, which began to affect her work on the ABC show.

“Somehow I managed to do it, but it wasn’t pretty,” she says. “There were days that I would show up to work and come out the side of my face to people who didn’t deserve it.”

5.) She hasn’t kicked the theatre bug. Being a TV star hasn’t helped the Tony-Award winning star get over her first love: Theatre.

"I consider New York and theater my home base, where I sort of grew up," she said. "I miss it and I hope they'll have me back whether it's a musical - it doesn't have to be on Broadway - or a play. I miss the theater, the whole symbiotic relationship between actor and audience and being on stage. The live factor."

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro

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