Vannessa Vasquez

Early life and education

Vasquez's family is from Monterrey, Mexico, but grew in the small town of Richmond, Texas surrounding Houston, Texas. Vannessa was raised by her single mother and grandmother until the age of 10. Since money was scarce for any extra curricular activities she began acting at the age of 6, performing skits for her family while living at grandmother's house. When her mother got married she moved away to the East side of town into Sugar Land, TX. Having to deal with the adversities of growing up in a new town, an integrated home and new stepfather she took part in whatever activities grade school offered. In sixth grade, she read for the role of Becky in the play The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. From there she took dance in middle school and high school along with theatre. She was raised by her mother and step father until the age of 18. At the age of 18 she set off to Mexico to find her biological father. Since then she has worked to maintain a relationship with her father in Mexico. Through love and forgiveness she has built a strong relationship with the both her stepfather and biological father.

Being the first in her family to attend college she new the importance of having an education. Even though her dreams were in Hollywood, Vasquez went on to study theater and psychology at the University of Houston, graduating with a B.A. in social sciences and liberal arts. After college and unhealthy romanitc she set out after her dreams to be an actress and ran away to Hollywood. Not knowing how she was going to pay for acting classes or where she was going to live she set out west in faith. She found shelter couch surfing with acquaintances until she got a job a Mel's diner in Hollywood as a waitress across the street from her dream acting school Stella Adler Academy. She then received a scholarship to the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles.

Career

Vasquez began her career by working with singer-songwriter Frankie J on the reggaeton mix of his Billboard Hot 100 hit "Obsessions (No Es Amor)". She was the lead actress in the independent horror and thriller film "Sorrow", as well as an associate producer. She starred as Magdalena Cruz in "Sins of a Call Girl" and as Esperanza in "Narca", directed by R. Ellis Frazier. She co-starred as Gracie in the action film "Misfire", alongside Gary Daniels.

In 2014, Vasquez became one of the lead actresses in Hulu’s East Los High series, the first English-language Hulu series with an all-Latino cast. She plays Camila Barrios, a Mexican teenager dealing with the trials and tribulations of growing up in East Los Angeles.

Vasquez has appeared on the 102.7 KISS FM radio show On Air with Ryan Seacrest and on Noches con Platanito, a popular Spanish talk show on Estrella TV, where she discussed her role on East Los High and participated in a Spanish-language game.

Personal life

Vasquez is a member of Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority. She is a dancer, with training in bachata, salsa, cumbia, merengue and hip-hop. She is also fluent in Spanish. In the fall of 2014, Alegria Magazine named her one of its "Top 10 Latinas making waves in Hollywood". In 2016 she was named one the top 8 leading ladies for TV y Novelas Magazine.