Biography
Isabela Merced performs as both an actor and vocalist, specializing in upbeat dance-pop rendered in English alongside Spanish. Early exposure on Nickelodeon gave way to wider recognition through her lead performance in the 2019 feature Dora and the Lost City of Gold, the same year she issued her first single, “Papi.”
Born Isabela Moner in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2001, she was raised in a bilingual home by an American father and a mother originally from Peru. When she was six, a fire destroyed the family residence; in an effort to occupy her during the rebuilding period, her parents arranged an audition for a neighborhood staging of The Wizard of Oz. Performing soon became a passion, and she went on to appear in more than twenty-five local productions, among them Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.
A director at one of those shows urged her parents to bring her to New York for Broadway opportunities. At ten she landed a role opposite Ricky Martin in Evita, an experience that opened doors in Hollywood. She took the part of CJ Martin on the Nickelodeon series 100 Things to Do Before High School, which aired from 2014 to 2016, voiced Kate on the animated program Dora and Friends: Into the City!, and starred in several Nickelodeon movies such as Splitting Adam and Legends of the Hidden Temple. In 2015 she also put out the covers collection Stopping Time, which contained the original track “Dream About Me.” Returning to the screen, she joined the cast of Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017 and supplied the voice of Heather for The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. The following year she appeared in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Instant Family. Her profile rose sharply, however, with the title role in the 2019 live-action Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
Until then she had performed under her given name, Isabela Moner. In 2019 she adopted the professional surname Merced in honor of her late grandmother, Yolanda Merced Salazar Pittman. That October she released her debut single under the new name, “Papi,” which she co-wrote with Justin Tranter. The Better Half of Me EP followed in May 2020, and in October she issued the single “Don't Go,” a collaboration with Danna Paola.
Born Isabela Moner in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2001, she was raised in a bilingual home by an American father and a mother originally from Peru. When she was six, a fire destroyed the family residence; in an effort to occupy her during the rebuilding period, her parents arranged an audition for a neighborhood staging of The Wizard of Oz. Performing soon became a passion, and she went on to appear in more than twenty-five local productions, among them Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.
A director at one of those shows urged her parents to bring her to New York for Broadway opportunities. At ten she landed a role opposite Ricky Martin in Evita, an experience that opened doors in Hollywood. She took the part of CJ Martin on the Nickelodeon series 100 Things to Do Before High School, which aired from 2014 to 2016, voiced Kate on the animated program Dora and Friends: Into the City!, and starred in several Nickelodeon movies such as Splitting Adam and Legends of the Hidden Temple. In 2015 she also put out the covers collection Stopping Time, which contained the original track “Dream About Me.” Returning to the screen, she joined the cast of Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017 and supplied the voice of Heather for The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. The following year she appeared in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Instant Family. Her profile rose sharply, however, with the title role in the 2019 live-action Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
Until then she had performed under her given name, Isabela Moner. In 2019 she adopted the professional surname Merced in honor of her late grandmother, Yolanda Merced Salazar Pittman. That October she released her debut single under the new name, “Papi,” which she co-wrote with Justin Tranter. The Better Half of Me EP followed in May 2020, and in October she issued the single “Don't Go,” a collaboration with Danna Paola.
Albums
Singles
