Isabela Merced: Broadway Star Turned Superman Heroine

There’s a crop of incredible young talent emerging in Hollywood as of late. Some may say the days of the genuine “movie star” are over, as major films are usually all about capitalizing on intellectual property as opposed to promoting whoever the star is. Yet Sydney Sweeney has branched out in the aftermath of “Euphoria,” while Glen Powell has entertained audiences from “Spy Kids 3” to “Twisters.” Another rising star audiences should keep an eye out for is Isabela Merced, whom you’ve undoubtedly seen in plenty of projects and is bound to break out even more in the coming years.

Merced’s journey to the big screen can be traced back to a traumatic event. When she was a child, a fire destroyed her family’s Cleveland home. She told Elle how her parents didn’t want her to focus on the loss and suggested she audition for a play — “The Wizard of Oz.” It proved to be just the ticket, and even though she wanted to be Dorothy, Merced admitted, “I ended up playing a Munchkin, but it was still a good time.”

Merced may have lost out on playing Dorothy all those years ago, but it didn’t take long until she was nabbing lead roles in TV shows and movies alike. One might even say Merced’s career is a true phoenix, rising from the ashes of that fire all those years ago.

Isabela Merced went by Isabela Moner for the early part of her career, but officially changed her stage name to Isabela Merced in 2019. She discovered a knack for acting at a young age and even attended Ohio’s Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory. It was there she came into contact with Fred Sternfeld, a Broadway producer working at the school, who encouraged her mother to develop Merced’s talent and see if she could find any success in New York. Her mother decided to take a chance, and after going to the Big Apple, Merced appeared in a Claritin commercial and starred opposite Ricky Martin on a Broadway revival of “Evita” when she was only 10.

“Evita,” with its South American backdrop, was a chance for Merced to dive into her Hispanic roots. Her mother is Peruvian, and growing up, she was surrounded by elements of that heritage. Spanish was even her first language, although that made it difficult to adjust to the English spoken at school. She felt as though she had to hide who she was, as she said in a video uploaded to YouTube. “For a while, I refused to speak Spanish with anyone and only spoke English,” she explained. “And I wish I hadn’t.”

Today, Merced is proud of her roots and has inspired others through things like speaking at Unicef’s World Children’s Day. Throughout her career, beginning in earnest with “Evita,” she brought greater Hispanic representation to the masses while showing that she’s a singular talent regardless of the medium.

Debuting on Broadway at just 10 years old was already a major accomplishment, and Isabela Merced pushed full steam ahead with making acting into a reality. Her first film role came in 2013 with “The House That Jack Built” (not the 2018 serial killer film of the same name directed by Lars von Trier).

This New York-centric movie follows a drug dealer, Jack Maldonado (E.J. Bonilla), who purchases an entire apartment building so that his whole family can live there. While he has good intentions, things quickly descend into dysfunction, both in terms of Jack’s true business ventures as well as his family not always getting along. He tries to keep those worlds separate, but a collision is inevitable.

Merced plays a younger version of Jack’s sister, Nadia, with Rosal Colon playing the adult version. Merced’s appearance is brief, but it still marks the start of her screen career. Plus it continues the trajectory she began with “Evita” on Broadway of getting roles where Hispanic culture is front and center.

A bit part in a movie is one thing, but it didn’t take long for Isabela Merced to enter lead actor status thanks to the Nickelodeon series “100 Things To Do Before High School.” The show follows a group of three middle school friends, led by Merced’s CJ Martin, who have big plans for themselves before they get to high school. Most importantly, CJ wants to be certain that the three of them don’t grow apart as they transition into this new phase of life, which tends to happen to everyone as they get older.

In fact, Merced related a lot to her character, telling Variety Latino, “I feel like I can relate because we really care about our friends and relationships. I also believe that you should be kind to everyone no matter what. I think that everyone deserves a chance.” The show debuted with a special 43-minute episode in 2014 before the first season kicked off in earnest in 2015.

“100 Things To Do Before High School” only lasted for one season, but it helped launch Merced’s career in more ways than one. In addition to acting, she sang the show’s theme song, “Brand New Day.” That, combined with her musical theater roots, also kickstarted a budding singing career for Merced.

Around the time of “100 Things To Do Before High School,” Isabela Merced embarked on a singing career in addition to acting. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Merced’s a phenomenal singer given her theatre background. Her debut album, “Stopping Time,” was released in 2015, and she continued putting out music videos on YouTube over the years and even came out with an EP in 2020, “The Better Half of Me.”

Merced revealed to YouTuber Zoe Cannella that music actually called to her first before acting. “I always was writing songs from a very young age,” she explained. “I feel like music was my first love.” She went on to discuss how she discovered acting, which really took off, forcing music to go to the sidelines. However, around 2015, the time was right for her to get back into music.

Merced attributes much of her passion to late singer Selena Quintanilla, as well as the movie “Selena,” which starred Jennifer Lopez in a largely accurate portrayal of the singer’s life. Merced once told Teen Vogue, “I don’t think I would have been as confident as a little Latina going into Hollywood with the sharks, so thank you, Selena.”

Isabela Merced joined one of the biggest franchises of the 21st century when she landed the part of Izabella in 2017’s “Transformers: The Last Knight.” Izabella is a street-wise youth who comes of age in the wreckage of a destroyed Chicago with her Transformer pal, Sqweeks (voiced by Reno Wilson). She ends up teaming up with Cade (Mark Wahlberg) and Bumblebee while bringing a youthful energy and unique perspective to the story. Merced told ScreenRant about her character, “Not only was she raised by humans but also lived with Transformers, and it’s beautiful because in a world where it’s humans vs. Transformers here we have this kind of like in between.”

“Transformers: The Last Knight” was the last “Transformers” movie directed by Michael Bay, and Izabella’s presence almost makes it feel like a return to the style of 2007’s “Transformers.” That film featured Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) as the teenage protagonist, while the then-teenage Merced’s turn as Izabella feels like an attempt to return to that energy.

Before even turning 18, Merced got to act alongside some big names in Hollywood, like Wahlberg. That turned into a fruitful partnership, as Merced and Wahlberg would reunite in 2018’s “Instant Family.”

By pure coincidence, Isabela Merced starred in yet another sequel where she plays a character with a similar name to her own. 2018 saw her appear in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” which, in the same vein as the first “Sicario,” finds the United States government attempting to reign in Mexican cartels. Part of this entails Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) kidnapping Isabel Reyes (Merced), the daughter of a major kingpin. However, when Isabel witnesses the American government killing Mexican police officers, Graver is ordered to kill her, and the first film’s Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) goes rogue to protect her.

“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is primarily an action movie, but it definitely deals with heavier subject matter than something like “Transformers,” such as human trafficking. Merced told HelloGiggles that she managed to handle the dark subject matter thanks to a dog being brought on set, as well as some support from her A-list co-stars. “Benicio was really proud of me and told me that I had a lot of heart,” she stated. “He was very, very, very kind, and he didn’t have to be.”

“Sicario 3” is reportedly in development, and the working title, “Sicario: Capos,” could tease big things for del Toro’s character. It’s less clear if Merced would be able to return, and given how much her star has grown over the past few years, she may be too busy for this particular franchise.