Masiela Lusha was an audience favorite as the passionate rebel Carmen Lopez in George Lopez’s self-titled ABC sitcom for five seasons. The role even earned her a few awards, including two Young Artist Awards for a leading female role in a comedy. So good was her performance that some people thought she really was the Mexican-American comedian’s real daughter.

Well, needless to say, she wasn’t. George's real-life daughter Mayan Lopez later starred in a series with her dad, but she wasn't his daughter on George Lopez. Not only that, Masiela Lusha is not even Latina; she is a European-born actress whom George Lopez cast as his daughter. How did George Lopez wind up casting an Albanian actress to play his Latina daughter—and why didn't anyone notice?

UPDATE: 2023/03/12 15:56 EST BY LANE VASQUEZ

Masiela Lusha Portrayed Carmen Lopez So Well, No One Noticed She Wasn't Latina

George Lopez cast Masiela Lusha as his daughter, despite her not being Latina, but it turned out that didn't necessarily matter back in 2002.

8 Who Played George Lopez's Daughter On His Show?

Masiela Lusha played George Lopez's daughter on his show George Lopez. Because it was George Lopez’s show, he had the liberty to cast whomever he wanted in the roles that he saw fit. Lusha auditioned, met Lopez’s standards, and got the role. It’s as simple as that.

The pair was not intentionally planning together, looking for a way to deny the role to Mexican-American actresses. Lusha just did well when she auditioned and that should not be held against her.

That said, it's unclear who else may have auditioned for the series and missed out on the role because of Masiela's great performance.

7 Cross-Racial Casting Wasn’t As Controversial At The Time

Another fact to remember is that George Lopez began airing in 2002. To be blunt, 2002 was a different time. In the early 2000s, cross-racial casting was not nearly as controversial as it is today.

Granted, there were still advocates and activists who were demanding Hollywood increase representation in casting, but the cries were not nearly as loud as they are today.

Today, the public is often unhappy about casting choices that cross racial lines, whether the race of a character has anything to do with the storyline or not—such as complaints about Halle Bailey portraying Ariel in the Little Mermaid remake.

In 2002, less was said—and it was harder to Google actors and actresses to learn about their backgrounds!

Related: 10 Little-Known Facts About George Lopez's Family

6 No One Noticed That Carmen Lopez Wasn't Latina

Because cross-racial casting was not as controversial in 2002, and because Lusha gave such a good performance as Carmen Lopez, no one noticed, or cared, that Lusha was European. If the Mexican American showrunner didn’t care, if the audience didn’t care, and if the actress didn’t care, why would anyone else have? Not to mention, Lusha even earned Young Artist Awards for her portrayal of Carmen Lopez, as well as for a voiceover role.

It was not until recently that questions about casting like this became controversial, therefore it was only recently that people began to connect the dots that Lusha isn’t Latina.

5 Masiela Lusha Needed The Work

Masiela Lusha simply auditioned and got the part, and the fact she was playing a Latina did not bother her. Before landing her role on George Lopez, Lusha's resume was scant. She had only worked on an unknown film titled A Father’s Love and had a bit role in Hillary Duff’s Disney Channel classic Lizzy McGuire.

However, she had already portrayed someone with a different background than her own; her role in 2002's Las muertas de Jaurez had her portraying a character named Aracelli.

Related: Here's How Much The Cast Of The 'George Lopez' Show Is Worth Today

4 Lusha's Background Did Not Negatively Affect The Show

As mentioned above, Lusha’s performance was good enough that few people realized she was not Mexican-American and it took a bit of digging to find out she was actually born in Albania. Because cross-racial casting was less of an issue in 2002 because the show was popular enough, and because she gave her best performance, fans never really cared.

In fact, the decision to cast Lusha had no negative effect on the show whatsoever. It became a globally syndicated show and it remains in syndication to this day.

3 Why Was Carmen Written Out Of George Lopez?

Eventually, Masiela Lusha did leave George Lopez, but it had nothing to do with her ethnic background. Rather, it was said that there were "creative" differences.

Distractify reported that while some claim Masiela called George "rude," she never said anything negative about the comedian or his show after her departure. She also declined to give a specific reason for her leaving, only saying it was "for the best" and "essential."

Masiela also explained that she had watched "every episode" and thought the series went in a "great direction."

When Masiela left, Aimee Garcia, an actress with Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, was written in as Veronica Palmero, a cousin of the Lopez kids.

Related: Why George Lopez Attacked Another Comedian

2 What Other Roles Did Masiela Lusha Act In?

When Masiela was on George Lopez, she also picked up work as a voice actress on Clifford's Puppy Days, ironically enough as a Hispanic character named Nina Flores.

She also appeared in a number of films after leaving the sitcom, in which she played all manner of characters in different time periods.

But in 2019, she appeared in a TV film as the character Bella Vega, however, it's unclear what background that character was meant to have.

1 What Is Masiela Lusha Doing Now?

Lusha has a lot to be grateful for thanks to George Lopez’s decision to cast her.

When Lusha was cast as Carmen, she was privately schooled on set; she later graduated high school at 15. By the time she was 18, Masiela was entering college (as a junior) and earned a creative writing degree that would later come in handy.

Since the show’s end, she has branched off into a few more films, and found work in the campy Sharknado series, but most surprisingly thanks to the name recognition she earned from the show, she branched into the literary realm as well.

Lusha is a published author of five poetry books, one novel, and two children’s books. She continues to act, like the rest of her George Lopez costars, but mostly for cable films like Sharknado or Lifetime original films.

Lusha is also a married mom of two; her husband is a financier named Ramzi Habibi.