Originally published on ProWrestlingSheet.

Paying your dues ain't easy, especially when you've already done it somewhere else -- but that's not stopping "Lucha Underground" star Catrina from working 24/7 to achieve her dream.

Karlee Perez -- a.k.a. Catrina -- tells Pro Wrestling Sheet she fell in love with character development while training in FCW under Dusty Rhodes and left WWE in 2012 to become "the next version of The Rock" by using what she had learned.

The former NXT wrestler says she was relentless about getting noticed and started getting call backs for roles on shows like "Orange is the New Black" and "Gotham" after signing with a manager.

So far, no luck on landing the big one quite yet ... but Perez says her role on "Lucha Underground" helped her land an agent and now she's going out on auditions weekly. It also helps being under the learning tree of the show's Executive Producer Robert Rodriguez.

With pilot season right around the corner, Karlee tells us she's hoping to land a gig that might showcase her acting skills on an even bigger stage.  Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Break a leg! (Unless that leg belongs to Ivelisse.  She needs it this season.)