1. Isabela Merced played the lead role in the Nickelodeon television series 100 Things to Do Before High School, and went on to feature in the films Transformers: The Last Knight, Instant Family, and Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
20 Facts About Isabela Merced
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Isabela Merced starred as the titular character in the adventure film Dora and the Lost City of Gold and played main roles in the romantic drama film Turtles All the Way Down and the horror film Alien: Romulus.
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Isabela Merced is the daughter of Katherine, who was born in Lima, Peru, and Patrick Moner, who was born in Louisiana.
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Isabela Merced began acting after her family's Cleveland home was destroyed by a fire.
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Isabela Merced was a Judy Garland fan, so her parents, in an attempt to distract her from the loss, encouraged Merced to audition for a local production of The Wizard of Oz.
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Isabela Merced attended the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory, led by Broadway producer Fred Sternfeld, who tried to persuade Merced's mother into taking her to New York to pursue auditions.
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Isabela Merced has said that she wanted to be an actress from a young age, inspired by movies featuring Shirley Temple and Judy Garland and starting in local community theatre at age six.
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Isabela Merced booked her first job, a Claritin commercial, on what was supposed to be her last day in New York City during the summer she spent auditioning there.
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Isabela Merced made her Broadway debut at age ten in a production of Evita, in which she sang in Spanish with Ricky Martin.
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Isabela Merced's first starring performance was as CJ Martin, the lead role on the Nickelodeon television series 100 Things to Do Before High School, from 2014 to 2016.
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In May 2016, Isabela Merced was cast in the film Transformers: The Last Knight, which was released in June 2017.
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Isabela Merced voiced Heather in the animated film The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, which was theatrically released on August 11,2017.
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In 2018, Isabela Merced had a major role in Sicario: Day of the Soldado, playing the daughter of a drug cartel head, in a performance lauded by critics.
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In 2019, Isabela Merced starred as the title character in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, a live action film adaptation of the animated series, and was cast in the Christmas romantic comedy ensemble film Let It Snow.
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Isabela Merced later explained that she retained her legal name, saying that Isabela Merced would remain "just a stage name but it's got a deeper meaning".
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On May 22,2020, Isabela Merced released her debut EP, The Better Half of Me, through Republic Records and was named one of Billboard's top 15 new Peruvian artists to listen to in July 2020.
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In January 2024, Isabela Merced was cast as Dina in season 2 of The Last of Us.
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Isabela Merced describes herself as having "been queer my whole life".
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Isabela Merced has polycystic ovary syndrome, and has attended therapy and openly discussed her struggles with anxiety.
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Isabela Merced's mother has battled breast cancer for an unknown period of time.