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Melissa Barrera continues making it big, and Hollywood, and now the Latina actress is recognized by IMDb with a “Fan Favorite” STARmeter Award. According to the platform, the In the Heights and Scream star consistently trends on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart after her recent role as a plane crash survivor in the Netflix miniseries Keep Breathing.
Born Melissa Barrera Martínez in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, the singer and actress got her start with roles in the telenovelas Siempre tuya Acapulco in 2013, Tanto amor in 2015, and the Netflix series Club de Cuervos in 2017.
Barrera’s career gained even more traction when she landed the lead role in the Starz drama series Vida, which ran from 2018–2020. After that, she went on to star as Vanessa in the musical film In the Heights in 2021, introducing her to a global audience. She also starred as Sam Carpenter in the slasher horror film Scream in 2022, and has already been announced as part of the upcoming sequel, Scream 6.
Aside from her acting career, Melissa also has a history with music, attending the American School Foundation of Monterrey. There, she appeared in the school’s musical productions including MUN’s Voices, Grease, Aida and Footloose. She also showcased her singing during her television debut on the Mexican reality show La Academia in 2011.
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.” In 2015, she recorded the theme song “Volver a caer” alongside the Mexican singer Kalimba, for her telenovela Tanto amor.
Since then, Barrera has left singing on the backburner as she persues her acting career, though she’s proven she has the ability to do it all. With a growing film and television resume, it’s only up from here, and Melissa is undoubtedly on the rise.