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Valencia was born and raised in Hollywood Hills, the second of two children in a 3rd generation Hispanic-American family. Her father, Alfonse Diego-Cortez, is a well-known cinematographer and her mother owned a catering business that had a lot of contracts with various studios prior to her death a few years back. Valencia started out in commercials when she was a child but got her first big break playing a vixen/temptress on a Telenovela following graduation from High School, easily slipping into the role because she was bilingual. She took the gig because it was her Abuelita's favorite Soap. Eight years later, she finally landed a small role as the paramour of a villain in an American film and her career exploded overnight. Lenci was driven, constantly working her way up the ladder and while she was always a bit type-cast as the temptress/vixen or 'femme fatale' the paychecks were beyond good.
After wrapping her 2nd American feature film, she shocked the world with the announcement of her marriage to the equally rising football star, Gavin Matthews. Matthews was Mr. All-American on the outside and drafted to play Offensive Line with the Atlanta Falcons. In the public eye, the pair seemed like one hell of a power couple and match made in photogenic paparazzi heaven. Lenci's career was on a meteoric rise with one film after the next, such blockbuster hits as: 'Aces High', 'First Degree', and 'Widowmaker'. She eventually became a member of the DAP universe when she was cast as Yesenia Hartwood, the ill-fated love interest to the film's lead, played by Daniel Adams-Pierce himself in the cult hit 'High Stakes'. A film which earned her a fan following of her own. Valencia was finally legitimized.
Her career was on a high, as the studios had publicly announced her casting as the next Bond girl. Then suddenly, at the very height of her career scandal shook both the entertainment and sports industries in the course of one night. Gavin Matthews had been brutally murdered, stabbed repeatedly with a kitchen knife in their home, following a very heated and public fight between the two of them leaving an awards banquet held at Georgia Tech. The investigation lasted less than a week and Valencia was brought up on charges. Overnight, the offer for the Bond role was withdrawn. Within weeks other contracts were pulled as well. The career that took her years to build was destroyed within a matter of a single month. She spent the next two years under house arrest between the time awaiting trial and actual court proceedings. Death threats, vandalism, hate mail -- the paparazzi that had once adored the woman had become her worst enemy. In light of her fame, her legal team was able to secure a closed trial and due to the circumstances surrounding the extreme prejudice against her and undeniable bias towards her deceased spouse, they were able to get the trial moved to a different jurisdiction. After two very grueling years, she was miraculously acquitted of the murder and free to try and pick up the pieces of her life. Whatever pieces might be left.
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