Leslie Grace Martínez

Dominican descent singer and actress Leslie Grace grew up in Florida to become a star. While attending the Indian Ridge Middle School and Western High School, the Bronx native participated in musicals, talent shows, and choral performances.

Today, the 26-year-old three-time Latin Grammy Award-nominated star is known for her music and role as Nina Rosario in Jon M. Chu‘s film adaptation of In the Heights (2021), based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical. Her fantastic performance also secured her role as the next Barbara Gordon / Batgirl in the upcoming Batgirl film on HBO Max.

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Leslie’s first love is music. Her mainstream debut came after releasing a bilingual cover of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” a 1961 Shirelles hit. Her rendition with bachata flare peaked at number one, making her the youngest female artist to have a single on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart and Billboard Latin Airplay charts at the same time.

Although she is a soloist, Leslie also has successful featuring songs, including “Aire” with Maluma, a reggaeton-style cover of Selena’s song, “Si Una Vez” featuring Play-N-Skillz, Wisin, and Frankie J and she collaborated with Korean boyband Super Junior in the song and music video of “Lo Siento.”

Like most Latinas, Leslie Grace says that her success is thanks to the support she receives from her parents. The star took her mom and dad on a trip to Times Square in New York City to see the In the Heights billboard during the summer. Leslie shared the heartwarming moment with her parents, who were visibly moved and excited to see their daughter starring in the critically acclaimed film musical.

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“When you realize your dream is a reality, and you owe it all to the ones who came before you and risked it all on a sueñito,”

Leslie wrote. “Some gratitude to end this week... this moment is STILL so surreal. If it weren’t for you ma + pa… I really couldn’t have ever dreamt this big. Thank you for giving my dreams wings and always fanning the flame,” the star added in the caption.