Rosa Salazar (; born July 16, 1985) is an American actress. She had roles in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series '' Parenthood'' (2011–2012) and the FX anthology series '' American Horror Story: Murder House'' (2011). She made her breakthrough as the title character of the film '' Alita: Battle Angel'' (2019) and starred in the series '' Brand New Cherry Flavor'' (2021), which she also co-produced. Salazar appeared in '' The Divergent Series: Insurgent'' (2015), '' Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials'' (2015), and '' Maze Runner: The Death Cure'' (2018) and also appeared in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

films '' The Kindergarten Teacher'' (2018) and '' Bird Box'' (2018). She stars in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

series ''

Undone Undone may refer to: Literature * ''Undone'' (Colapinto novel), a 2015 novel by John Colapinto * ''Undone'' (Humphreys novel), a 2013 ''Amoveo Legend'' novel by Sara Humphreys * ''Undone'' (Slaughter novel), a 2009 ''Will Trent'' and ''Grand C ...

'' (2019–2022).

Early life

Salazar was born on July 16, 1985, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to Luis and Marilynne Salazar. Her father is

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

and her mother is

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and nearby

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental ...

. She attended Greenbelt Middle School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, where she was active in the theatre program. She attended

Prince George's Community College Prince George's Community College (PGCC) is a Public college, public community college in Largo, Maryland, Largo in Prince George's County, Maryland. The college serves Prince George's County and surrounding areas, including Washington, D.C. H ...

, where she studied drama, then continued drama studies at

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, ...

, where she practiced method acting, improvisation and performance.

Career

Salazar enjoyed entertaining others from the age of fifteen and became serious about becoming an actress after moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as a young adult. There she appeared in several

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

sketches. Shortly after relocating to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2009, she made her film debut playing the character Crystal in '' Jamesy Boy'', written and directed by Trevor White. She then landed recurring roles on two hit TV series: '' American Horror Story: Murder House'' and '' Parenthood''. In 2015, she co-starred in various sequels: '' The Divergent Series: Insurgent'' as Lynn, and '' Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials'' as Brenda. In 2016, Salazar directed and starred in the short film '' Good Crazy,'' a story of a social crusader. It was nominated for a Short Film Grand Jury prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. In 2018, she reprised her role as Brenda in '' Maze Runner: The Death Cure''. In 2019, she made her

major studio Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, t ...

lead debut with the film '' Alita: Battle Angel'', an adaptation of the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

'' Gunnm'' directed by

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

. It brought Salazar numerous awards, including "Best Visual Effects or Animated Performance" from the Hollywood Critics Association and "Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance" from the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics. That year, it was announced that Salazar would have a main role on the

horror drama miniseries '' Brand New Cherry Flavor''. It was released on August 13, 2021. In 2023, Salazar was invited to become a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salazar, Rosa 1985 births Actresses from Washington, D.C. Living people American film actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American people of Peruvian descent American people of French-Canadian descent American voice actresses Hispanic and Latino American actresses 21st-century American actresses