Rosa Salazar (; born July 16, 1985) is an American actress. She had roles in the NBC series Parenthood (2011âÂÂ2012) and the FX anthology series ' (2011). She made her breakthrough as the title character of the film ' (2019) and starred in the series Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021), which she also co-produced.
Salazar appeared in ' (2015), ' (2015), and ' (2018) and also appeared in the Netflix films The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) and Bird Box (2018). She starred in the Amazon series Undone (2019âÂÂ2022).
Salazar was born on July 16, 1985, in Washington, D.C. to Luis and Marilynne Salazar. Her father is Peruvian and her mother is French-Canadian. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and nearby Greenbelt, Maryland. She attended Greenbelt Middle School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, where she was active in the theatre program.
Salazar enjoyed entertaining others from the age of fifteen and became serious about becoming an actress after moving to New York City as a young adult. There she appeared in several CollegeHumor sketches. Shortly after relocating to Los Angeles in 2009, she made her film debut playing the character Crystal in Jamesy Boy, written and directed by Trevor White. She then landed recurring roles on two hit TV series: ' and Parenthood. In 2015, she co-starred in various sequels: ' as Lynn, and ' as Brenda.
In 2016, Salazar directed and starred in the short film Good Crazy, a story of a social crusader. It was nominated for a Short Film Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2018, she reprised her role as Brenda in '.
In 2019, she made her major studio lead debut with the film ', an adaptation of the manga Gunnm directed by Robert Rodriguez. It brought Salazar numerous awards, including "Best Visual Effects or Animated Performance" from the Hollywood Critics Association and "Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance" from the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics. That year, it was announced that Salazar would have a main role on the Netflix horror drama miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor. It was released on August 13, 2021.
In 2023, Salazar was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 2025, Salazar signed on to CBS series Einstein, but dropped out shortly after.
In 2026, she performed on stage as Helen Ramirez in 'High Noon'.