<P> Nina Lisandrello is an American actress, known for her role as Tess Vargas in the television series Beauty & The Beast . She has guest starred in Law & Order, Conviction and Nurse Jackie . </P> <P> Lisandrello was born in Encino, a district of Los Angeles, California . During her childhood days she constantly traveled around Europe due to her mother's singing career . At the age of 10 years she did a TV commercial for Levi's directed by David Fincher . This commercial is what later helped her to become a SAG Foundation member . As a teenager she settled in New York City where she remained for many years . </P> <P> About 10 years after acting in her first TV commercial, Lisandrello decided that she wanted to become an actress . She graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she majored in Film Production . She first appeared on TV screens playing Serena Mallory in the short lived TV series Conviction . She went on to guest star in some other TV shows such as Law & Order, Mercy, Nurse Jackie, and a made - for - TV movie called Washingtonienne . Parallel to her work in television she has also been seen in some films: in the indie Pre, in the comedy The Best and the Brightest, and in the horror movie The Bleeding House . </P> <P> Her big break came when she was cast as Tess Vargas in The CW's remake of Beauty & the Beast . Even though the series has received "generally unfavorable" reviews, Lisandrello is so far the only star in the show to receive positive feedback from a TV critic . Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times said "the only point of light is provided by Catherine's partner, Tess, who, as played with great common - sense appeal by Nina Lisandrello, clearly deserves to be on a better show ." On January 21, 2013 in Brazil, she won Best Supporting Actress in a Best of 2012 Awards promoted by Brazilian cable channel Universal Channel . </P>

Who plays tess on beauty and the beast