Her breakout role was as Katie Vega on Cane, daughter of the lead character played by Jimmy Smits. Esco wrote, directed and starred in Free the Nipple, a film about feminist activists fighting laws which make going topless a crime for women, but not men.
She played SWAT officer Chris Alonso on S.W.A.T. (2017), who also struggles with being in a male-dominated profession. Her role also explored other issues facing women and LGBT+ people (as Chris is a bisexual woman).
Esco is an activist who has backed the Free the Nipple campaign (as her film above was about), passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, the #Me Too movement (she has stated Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed her) and charitable efforts against dolphin slaughter. She has also been open about twice being raped in the past.
Selected Filmography:
- London (2005) as Kelly (her very first role)
- Cane (2007) as Katie Vega
- LOL (2012) as Janice
- Free the Nipple (2014) as With
- Flaked as Kara (2016)
- S.W.A.T. (2017) as Chris Alonso (2017-2022)
Tropes in her work include:
- Action Girl: Chris on S.W.A.T. is a consummate example, as a highly trained police officer (she's also the team's sniper, so with a particular specialty).
- Actor-Shared Background: She frequently plays Latina characters, and speaks Spanish in some of her roles.
- Ambiguously Brown: Some of her characters' ethnicities are never mentioned, with no indication whether they're Latina like her or something else.
- Boyish Short Hair: Esco has had a pageboy haircut for years, and thus her characters do too, which fits into them often being The Lad-ette.
- The Lad-ette: In a number of her roles, she's a tomboy who acts like "just one of the guys" most times, notably as Chris on S.W.A.T..
- Ms. Fanservice: She hasn't been shy about going topless (with her film Free the Nipple completely centering on this) or doing sex scenes.
