Rosa Salazar

Biography

Rosa Salazar is an American actress known for her work in film and television. She was born on July 16, 1985, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland. She became interested in performing at a young age and later moved to New York City, where she appeared in comedy sketches before relocating to Los Angeles and pursuing a professional acting career.

Salazar began gaining recognition through television roles in Parenthood and American Horror Story: Murder House. She later appeared in films including The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Kindergarten Teacher, Bird Box, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

Her breakthrough came with the title role in Alita: Battle Angel (2019), where she portrayed the technologically enhanced heroine Alita through motion-capture performance. The role brought her several acting and performance awards and established her as a leading performer in science-fiction cinema.

Salazar also became widely recognized for her work in the animated series Undone (2019–2022), in which she voiced and performed the lead character Alma Winograd-Diaz. She also served as a producer on the series. She subsequently starred as Lisa Nova in the Netflix horror miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021), which she co-produced.

Other notable credits include Wedding Season, Big Mouth, Star Trek: Short Treks, A Million Miles Away, and Win or Lose. Beyond acting, Salazar has also worked as a director, including directing the short film Good Crazy. In 2023, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

With performances ranging from science fiction and animation to horror, comedy, and drama, Rosa Salazar has established herself as a versatile performer with a distinctive presence in both film and television.