Melissa Barrera Martínez (born 4 July 1990) is a Mexican actress and singer. In Mexico, she is known for roles in the telenovelas Siempre tuya Acapulco (2013), Tanto amor (2015), and the Netflix series Club de Cuervos (2017). Outside of Mexico, she is known for her lead roles in the Starz drama series Vida (2018–2020), the musical film In the Heights (2021), and the slasher films Scream (2022) and Scream 6 (2023).[1][3][4]

Melissa Barrera
Barrera in 2013
Born	Melissa Barrera Martínez[1] (1990-07-04) 4 July 1990 (age 32) Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	2011–present
Spouse	Paco Zazueta ​ (m. 2019)​ [2]

Early life

Barrera was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. She studied musical theater at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Music

She attended the American School Foundation of Monterrey where she appeared in the school's musical productions including Grease, Aida and Footloose. Her television debut was on the Mexican reality show La Academia in 2011, where she showed off her talent for singing.[5] In 2013, she was part of the duet Melissa y Sebastian, with whom she recorded her first album and had her first top ten radio hit with their debut single "Mamma Maria", a cover of Ricchi e Poveri's song from the 1980s. In 2015, she recorded the theme song "Volver a caer" alongside the Mexican singer Kalimba, for her telenovela Tanto amor.[6]

Acting

In 2010, while still in college (New York University), she participated in the film L for Leisure. In 2012, she participated in two telenovelas, La mujer de Judas and La otra cara del alma.[7] In 2014, she obtained her first starring role in the telenovela Siempre tuya Acapulco.[8] In 2015, she starred in the last telenovela produced by TV Azteca, Tanto amor.[9] Barrera was cast in the lead role of Lyn on the Starz drama series Vida in 2018.

In August 2020, Barrera was cast as Sam Carpenter on the fifth Scream film, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.[10] The film was released on 14 January 2022.[11][12]

In 2021, Barrera starred as Vanessa, an aspiring fashion designer and love interest of the narrator, Usnavi, in the Jon M. Chu directed musical film In the Heights, an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage musical.[13] The film earned widespread critical acclaim, with Monica Castillo of The Wrap praising Barrera's performance: "Vanessa's upbeat salsa anthem, 'It Won't Be Long Now', is perhaps one of the more underrated sequences: It's an impressive showcase for Barrera's talents, giving her a wide range of emotions to move through in one number and one of the few moments in the musical to belt out."[14]

Upcoming projects

In November 2019, Barrera was cast in a musical film adaptation of the Frank Wildhorn musical based on the novella Carmen. Barrera was cast in the title role of Carmen. The film will be directed by French choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied in his directorial film debut.[15]

Personal life

Barrera married longtime boyfriend and musical artist Paco Zazueta, in February 2019.[16][17] The pair first met on the set of La Academia in 2011, and performed a rendition of Enrique Iglesias' "Cuando Me Enamoro" for its fourth episode.[18][19][20] They shortly began dating in September of that year.[19] The pair announced their engagement via Instagram in June 2017.[21]

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Melissa Barrera at IMDb

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