Warning: Spoilers ahead for On My Block Season 4.
The Netflix original series On My Block has a fresh face this season: Cesar's new girlfriend, Vero, played by Nikki Rodriguez. The show, which is in its fourth and final season, has been a big hit for Netflix, currently at #5 on the streaming site's Top 10 in the U.S. list. It follows the story of four close friends navigating the challenges of high school and the rough Los Angeles neighborhood they live in.
Season 4 sees the group's dynamics shifting as they drift apart after the passage of two years. Ruby (Jason Genao) campaigns for senior class president, while Jamal (Brett Gray) chases football dreams. Monsé (Sierra Capri) embraces her new private school life, while Cesar (Diego Tinoco) resigns himself to his place at the top of the Santos gang. Vero plays a big role in highlighting these new divides, particularly between ex-flames Cesar and Monsé. The season has her butting up against Monsé at every turn, with a full-on fight outside the school after Cesar cheats on Vero with Monsé.
Vero is played by Nikki Rodriguez, an up-and-comer who actually seems to get along quite well with Capri and her other cast-mates, based on Rodriguez's Instagram account. While On My Block is Rodriguez's first big splash, she's had a few other gigs that might make her recognizable to viewers.
Years before her appearance in season 4 of On My Block, Rodriguez's first TV role was in a 2019 episode (S3E12) of Speechless, a family dramedy streaming on Hulu, where she briefly appears as a classmate called Madison who has a very low opinion of Ray. She was also on an episode of the educational comedy series Adam Ruins Everything that same year (S3E8) as a teenager named Brie whose boyfriend accidentally hits a bicyclist with his car. Besides television, Rodriguez has also been in a few short films, most notably the 2020 short Bunny Run, written and directed by Ryan Liddicoatt, who stars in the short alongside Rodriguez and Jonathan D'Ambrosio. D'Ambrosio and Rodriguez also co-star in D'Ambrosio's own short film Roadkill, which is completed but not yet released.
Aside from TV and shorts, Rodriguez has taken a few indie film roles (Back to Lyla and The Uprising), though none as significant as her part in the cast of On My Block. The show provided a big break for the starring cast, and with Vero hitting the scene just in time for the show's final and most anticipated season, Rodriguez could become a more familiar on-screen face moving forward. Nikki Rodriguez seems to be on the rise, thanks to her role as Vero on On My Block.