Newly Engaged Valerie Cruz Goes ‘Off the Map’

By Michael Lopez

We love following actresses on the verge of stardom, and Valerie Cruz is one such actress. She's guested on True Blood, Nip/Tuck and countless other TV shows, but it's her role on the new ABC series Off the Map that's getting her the most buzz.

Instead of working in a fancy Seattle hospital or L.A. private practice, Off the Map doctors save lives deep in South America's Amazon rainforest. Valerie, born and bred in New Jersey, plays Zita Alvarez, a Latin American M.D. who no doubt butts heads with the team of American transplants looking to practice medicine on her turf.

ABC promises plenty of mysterious pasts, life-and-death moments and deep soul searching. And with Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes (one of the creative forces behind Grey's Anatomy) on board, you know it's going to be good.

And that's not all Valerie has to be excited about. The actress told Latina that she accepted a proposal from her boyfriend over the holidays.

"He's English and he's from London, so it's an interesting journey," Cruz told the magazine. "Cultural differences — they are definitely vast in some ways. But I think that Europeans in general have a more global view of the world because they are in such proximity to other countries that it enables them to travel and see other parts of the world."

Luckily, the bloke won't have to travel all the way to South America to visit his wife-to-be. Off the Map is currently filming in Hawaii.

Do you plan to watch the new series Off the Map? Comment below or @MTV3.

Tags Grey's Anatomy, Off The Map, Shonda Rhimes, Television, valerie cruz