Former UAlbany Great Dane meets Spider-man!
Spider-Man fans have been in a frenzy this week following the release of Spider-Man Brand New Day in theaters. In just one week it has already broken multiple records in revenue, including the highest grossing opening night in history, and has already reached over $1 billion at the box office. Some UAlbany alumni recognized a familiar face playing the police ally of Spidey, detective Jean DeWolff.
DeWolff was played by none other than former UAlbany Great Dane Liza Colon-Zayas. Originally from The Bronx, she received her bachelor's degree in theater from the University at Albany in 1989. Since then, she has appeared in numerous other works of art throughout her career and has made a name for herself in the acting world.
Colon-Zayas began her career off Broadway, breaking into mainstream theatre when she wrote, produced, and starred in a one-woman show titled Sistah Supreme, a semi-autobiographical play in which she discusses growing up as a Latina woman in New York during the 1970s and 1980s.
Since then she has been in a number of other productions during her time as a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company, a New York based traveling actors' group, since the group's founding in 1992.
In 2022, she skyrocketed to significant fame after starring in Hulu's series The Bear as the cynical cook Tina Marrero. She received plenty of praise for her performance and was awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award, Imagen Award, and a Primetime Emmy award.
It was announced in May 2025 that Colon-Zayas would join the cast of Spider-Man Brand New Day as the detective and ally to Tom Holland''s Spider-Man. Brand New Day released on July 31st, and as mentioned has already become a massive success.