Maria Canals-Barrera (; born September 28, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Theresa Russo in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

series '' Wizards of Waverly Place'' (2007–2012), Connie Torres in '' Camp Rock'' (2008) and '' Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam'' (2010), and Daniela in the ABC comedy series '' Cristela'' (2014–2015). Canals-Barrera has voiced Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl in a lead role in '' Justice League'' (2001–2004) and ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics univers ...

'' (2004–2006) and in a guest appearance in '' Static Shock'' as part of the DC Animated Universe, Sunset Boulevardez in '' The Proud Family'' (2001–2005) and Paulina in ''

Danny Phantom ''Danny Phantom'' is an American animated superhero action adventure television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows Danny Fenton, a teenage boy who, after an accident with an unpredictable portal between the h ...

'' (2004–2007).

Early life

Canals-Barrera was born and raised in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, to Cuban parents of

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

descent. Canals-Barrera also speaks Spanish and took drama classes in junior high school. Canals-Barrera graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School before winning a theatrical scholarship to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

Career

In her early years, Canals-Barrera worked extensively in theater in both Miami and Los Angeles. In 1990, she starred as Amanda in a production of ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...

''. In 1992, she starred in a production of Brian Michael Riley's ''A Cradle of Sparrows''. The same year, she began starring on

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

Spanish-language telenovela '' Marielena''. She later had the recurring role in the short-lived 1993 Fox comedy-drama series, ''

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

''. During the 1990s, Canals-Barrera also guest starred in a number of television series, such as '' 21 Jump Street'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

'', '' Almost Perfect'', and '' Caroline in the City''. In 1996, she starred as the title character in a production of ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

''. The next year she played Digna in a production of Guillermo Reyes' ''Chilean Holiday''. Her first regular role was on the short-lived NBC sitcom '' The Tony Danza Show'' in 1997. In early 2000s, Canals-Barrera had supporting roles in films '' America's Sweethearts'', '' The Master of Disguise'' and '' Imagining Argentina''. She has gained much recognition with comic book fans in recent years for her role as Hawkgirl/Shayera Hol on Bruce Timm's '' Justice League'' animated series (2001–04) and ''

'' (2005–06). She also had a recurring role in '' Static Shock'' as news reporter Shelly Sandoval, and in ''

'' as Paulina, the title character's high school crush. She also performed the voice of Mercedes "Meche" Colomar in the 1998 video game ''

Grim Fandango ''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static background ...

''. Canals-Barrera also played incidental characters in two episodes on the TV series ''

The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band * ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...

'' ("Grandad's Fight" and "Home Alone"). From 2007 to 2012, Canals-Barrera co-starred as Theresa Russo, the mother of lead character Alex Russo (played by Selena Gomez), in the

family sitcom '' Wizards of Waverly Place''. She also co-starred in '' Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie'', a 2009 Disney Channel Original movie based on series. Canals-Barrera also appeared in the

Disney Channel Original Movie Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner na ...

s '' Camp Rock'' (2008) and '' Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam'' (2010) as Connie Torres, the mother of

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series '' Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for p ...

's character. In 2011, she appeared opposite

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

and Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy film '' Larry Crowne''. In 2014, Canals-Barrera was cast as Hilda, the house manager of the country club where most of the action takes place, in the ABC soapy comedy-drama series '' Members Only'' created by Susannah Grant. However, it got cancelled by the network before its premiere. Later in that year she joined the cast of ABC comedy series '' Cristela'', as Cristela Alonzo's character sister. On August 27, 2018, it was revealed by TVLine that Canals-Barrera was cast as the mother of Fernando Hernandez-Guerrero-Fernandez-Guerrero on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series '' Fuller House''.

Personal life

Barrera has been married to actor

David Barrera David Joel Barrera (born December 28, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gunnery Sgt. Ray 'Casey Kasem' Griego in ''Generation Kill''. He has appeared in television series including ''Grimm'', ''Heroes'', '' CSI: Miami'' ...

since 1999, with whom she has two daughters.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canals-Barrera, Maria 1966 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Miami American entertainers of Cuban descent American film actresses American people of Catalan descent American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses Hispanic and Latino American actresses