Isabela Merced Biography 2026: Actress, Age, Height, The Last of Us, Superman & Net Worth

Isabela Merced is an American actress and singer who turned a Nickelodeon childhood into one of the busiest careers in modern Hollywood. Born Isabela Yolanda Moner in Cleveland, Ohio, she first became known as the star of 100 Things to Do Before High School, then moved into studio films with Transformers: The Last Knight, Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

Her adult career took off in 2024 with Madame Web, Turtles All the Way Down and the sci-fi horror hit Alien: Romulus. In 2025 she joined HBO’s The Last of Us as Dina and played Hawkgirl in James Gunn’s Superman, then reprised the role in Peacemaker. She is now set to lead the film adaptation of The House of the Dead, making 2026 another major year for the young star.

Quick Facts

Related Names: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, David Corenswet, James Gunn, Kyle Chandler, Sydney Chandler, Rachel Zegler, Xolo Maridueña.

Early Life & Education

Isabela Merced was born on July 10, 2001, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Katerine, is a nurse from Lima, Peru, and her father, Patrick Moner, is a firefighter from Louisiana. Spanish was her first language, and she has said she struggled with English when she started grade school. She has described herself as “half Peruvian and half from Ohio,” and much of her public identity is built around that bilingual, bicultural upbringing.

Her entry into performing came from an unexpected place. When she was a young child, her family’s home was damaged by fire, and her parents enrolled her in acting classes as a way to help her cope with the disruption. What began as a distraction quickly became a vocation. She trained at the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory in Cleveland, appearing in local theatre productions and discovering that she loved the discipline of rehearsal.

Those classes led to auditions in New York, where she eventually booked commercial work and began travelling between Ohio and the East Coast. By her early teens she was auditioning for television, and the family relocated to support her career. She has spoken about how unusual that childhood was, balancing schoolwork with callbacks and call times while her classmates had ordinary schedules.

Rather than attending a traditional high school full time, she was largely educated on set and through tutors, a common arrangement for young actors working in Los Angeles. That flexible schooling let her take bigger roles without pausing her education entirely, and it prepared her for the long hours that come with series television.

Career Journey

Broadway and Voice Work (2010–2014)

Merced made her Broadway debut as a child in the revival of Evita, performing alongside Ricky Martin and sharing a stage with one of the most demanding scores in musical theatre. The experience taught her how to hold a room and how to protect her voice — lessons she still references when talking about stamina.

She moved into voice acting as Kate in Nickelodeon’s animated series Dora and Friends: Into the City!, her first sustained job in the franchise she would later headline in live action. Voice work gave her a steady credit and a feel for performance without costumes or cameras.

Nickelodeon Breakout (2014–2016)

Her breakthrough came as CJ Martin, the lead of Nickelodeon’s 100 Things to Do Before High School. The show ran from 2014 to 2016 and made her a recognizable face to a generation of younger viewers. Playing an energetic, list-making middle schooler required comic timing and physical energy, and it established her as a likable lead rather than a supporting player.

During this period she also appeared in the Nickelodeon television film Splitting Adam and continued building a resume that mixed comedy with family entertainment. She was still a teenager, but she was already working at the pace of a full-time professional.

Film Breakthrough (2017–2019)

Merced transitioned into studio filmmaking with Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), playing Izabella opposite Mark Wahlberg. The role put her in one of the biggest franchise machines in Hollywood and taught her how blockbusters are assembled on set.

She followed it with Instant Family (2018), a family comedy-drama with Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne, and Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), a far darker crime thriller with Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin. The two films could hardly be more different, and critics noted how comfortably she moved between warmth and tension.

In 2019 she carried Dora and the Lost City of Gold as the title character, a live-action reinvention of the animated series. The film asked her to be funny, physical and sincere at once, and it proved she could anchor a studio release rather than support one.

Reinvention and Music (2019–2021)

In 2019 she changed her professional name from Isabela Moner to Isabela Merced, a decision she framed as a way to separate her personal identity from her work. The change came with a shift in ambition: she began releasing music under the new name, starting with the single “Papi” and the EP the better half of me.

Her music sits in the pop lane but leans on the same emotional directness she brings to acting. She writes and plays ukulele, and she has described songwriting as a private counterweight to auditioning, where the material and the outcome are never hers to control.

She also voiced Lucky Prescott in DreamWorks’ Spirit Untamed (2021) and appeared in the thriller Sweet Girl opposite Jason Momoa, keeping both animation and live-action work moving while her music took shape.

Blockbuster Era (2022–2024)

The 2024 slate was the busiest of her career. She played Anya Corazon in Sony’s Madame Web, appeared as Aza Holmes in the adaptation of John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down, and took on the role of Kay in Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez’s instalment of the sci-fi horror franchise.

Alien: Romulus was the breakout of the group. Shot with practical effects and a claustrophobic set, it put her in a cast of young actors carrying a legacy franchise, and the film’s strong reception raised her profile with both horror fans and general audiences.

The Last of Us, Superman and Peacemaker (2025)

In 2025 Merced joined the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us as Dina, Ellie’s girlfriend and partner in the story’s bleakest chapters. The role brought her to one of the most-watched prestige dramas on television and introduced her to an audience that had never seen her Nickelodeon work.

That same year she played Kendra Saunders, better known as Hawkgirl, in James Gunn’s Superman, the first film of the new DC Universe. She later reprised the part in the Peacemaker series, making her one of the few performers to appear across both the film and television sides of the new DC slate.

By the end of 2025 she had topped IMDb’s list of the year’s most popular stars, a measure driven by page views rather than critics’ votes. For an actor who started in children’s television, the ranking was a striking marker of how far her reach had grown.

2026: The House of the Dead and Beyond

In February 2026, Merced was announced as the lead of the film adaptation of Sega’s arcade horror classic The House of the Dead. The project places her at the centre of a zombie franchise with a cult following, and it marks her first outright lead in a horror property after supporting turns in Alien: Romulus.

Beyond that film she continues to appear in the DC Universe and remains attached to future The Last of Us material. She also keeps writing music, and she has been clear that she does not intend to choose between acting and songwriting.

Career Stats

• Years active: 2014–present
• Broadway debut: Evita, as a child performer
• Nickelodeon lead: 100 Things to Do Before High School (2014–2016)
• Major franchises: Transformers, Alien, DC Universe, The Last of Us, Dora
• Music releases: Single ‘Papi’; EP the better half of me
• 2025 honor: IMDb’s most popular star of the year
• Upcoming lead: The House of the Dead (2026)

Personal Life

• Relationship status: Private. She has not publicly named a partner.
• Sexuality: She has spoken openly about being queer, describing it as part of her life for as long as she can remember.
• Health: She has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and has discussed anxiety and therapy in interviews.
• Family: Peruvian mother, American father, and brothers who largely stay out of the public eye.
• Faith: Raised Catholic; she has spoken about the tension between that upbringing and her identity.
• Home base: Los Angeles, California.

Dating History and Affairs

Merced has never confirmed a public relationship. She has been photographed with friends and collaborators, and fan speculation has occasionally attached her to co-stars, but none of it has been verified by her or by the people involved.

What she has discussed is the difficulty of dating while working constantly and of being read as a character rather than a person. She has said that privacy is a form of self-protection, particularly after growing up on camera, and she prefers to keep her romantic life out of interviews.

Controversies

Merced has avoided serious scandal through 2026. The closest thing to controversy has been the ordinary internet noise that follows any young actress with a large franchise role — casting complaints, body commentary and the occasional misreported rumour, none of which has stuck.

She has been candid rather than defensive when difficult topics come up. Her comments about her queer identity, her PCOS diagnosis and her mental health have been received positively, and she has used interviews to push back gently on the idea that a young actress must be publicly legible at all times.

Awards & Achievements

• Named IMDb’s most popular star of 2025
• Cast as Hawkgirl in the DC Universe’s Superman (2025)
• Lead role in Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
• Star of HBO’s The Last of Us season 2 as Dina (2025)
• Lead of The House of the Dead film adaptation (2026)

Physical Statistics

• Height: Private
• Weight: Private
• Hair Color: Dark brown
• Eye Color: Brown
• Build: Petite and athletic
• Distinguishing Features: Dark expressive eyes and a wide, open smile

Quotes

“I’m half Peruvian and half from Ohio. I wish I could say I’m 100% Peruvian; I’ve always felt that way.” — Isabela Merced on her heritage

“I’ve been queer my whole life.” — Isabela Merced on her identity

Favorites

• Favourite Genre: Sci-fi, fantasy and horror
• Favourite Art Form: Music and musical theatre
• Favourite Instrument: Ukulele
• Favourite Pastime: Writing songs and dancing
• Favourite Kind of Role: Characters with an edge she has to earn

Earnings

Isabela Merced’s estimated net worth is around $3 million USD. Her income comes from a mix of studio film work, HBO and DC television appearances, voice acting and her recorded music.

Because she is still in the early phase of her adult career, her earnings are expected to climb sharply if The House of the Dead performs well and her DC appearances continue. Endorsement work and music royalties add smaller but steady streams on top of her acting fees.

Interesting Facts

• She began acting after her family home was damaged by fire.
• She made her Broadway debut as a child in Evita.
• She voiced Kate in Dora and Friends before playing Dora in live action.
• She is a singer-songwriter who plays the ukulele.
• She and her Superman co-star David Corenswet both joined the DC Universe in its first film.

Did You Know Already?

• She dropped her birth surname, Moner, for Merced in 2019.
• She filmed Superman and The Last of Us season 2 in overlapping periods.
• Spanish was her first language, not English.
• She has spoken publicly about living with PCOS.

Social Media Links

• Instagram: @isabelamerced
• IMDb: Isabela Merced

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Isabela Merced has built one of the most varied young careers in Hollywood, moving from Broadway and Nickelodeon to zombie thrillers and superhero blockbusters without losing her footing. Her willingness to talk honestly about identity, health and anxiety has made her as recognizable off screen as on it. With The House of the Dead ahead and a growing music catalogue behind her, 2026 is only the beginning. If you found this biography helpful, please share it with fellow The Last of Us and Superman fans!