On-screen and off, Maria Quezada inspires young girls all over the world. Charming, sweet, funny, and headstrong, the teen has managed to give her audience the feeling of knowing her for a lifetime.

Quezada was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. After moving to Florida with her family at the age of four, she was then surrounded by Dominican culture . Maria grew up with an innate sense of pride and awareness of her Dominican and Cuban roots. Now a teenager, Maria continues to embrace her background, using her newly found stardom as a platform to introduce minority culture into mainstream media and inspire youth to strive to reach their goals.

Maria’s interest in theater began at an early age. Writing fictional stories of her own, she fell in love with the idea of using her imagination and portraying roles of unique characters. 


“When I was younger, I’d watch a lot of tv and I fell in love with the idea of playing different types of people. I’d use my imagination a lot while writing stories of my own, so I wanted to actually begin practicing using my creative skills to play the roles of other people.”


At 12 years of age, Maria booked one of her first professional roles in a short film titled “For Family’s Sake,” which received the NYC International Film Festival award for Best Narrative Short and Best Leading Role in a Short Film. The following year, Maria made her debut in the Latin community with her role in the Motion Picture short film “Aqui Estoy, Di no Al Bullying.” Breaking into the mainstream teen genre, she appeared on the Disney Channel series “Every Witch Way.”

Maria later landed the leading role as Talia in the hit Nickelodeon sitcom “Talia in The Kitchen”. The show followed 14-year-old ‘Talia’ as her passion for cooking becomes intertwined with the world of magic. 
Talia was a character that didn’t let the odds she had against stop her from achieving her goals. She inspired young girls everywhere that you can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it.”, Maria told Kontrol. After 40 episodes , “Talia in the Kitchen” was cancelled by Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon Halo Awards 2016

” I’m sad it came to an end, but I’m also very grateful for the experience and to have had the opportunity to reach youth of many cultures all over the world while playing Talia. The show also taught people that it is acceptable to be original, so they should embrace who they really are and not change for the sake of anyone else or anything”



With all of the rising stardom and success, the young actress notes that she doesn’t allow her heavy workload, or the pressure of being a role model model, get to her. 
” I love what I do, and I tend to think of this job as a responsibility rather than pressure. I want to do this to inspire people everywhere. I want people to know that you should dream as big as you can, and go after any and everything that you want in life”.
 

Gearing up to start attending school, the teen star is more focused than ever. She has also done a lot of charity work as well. Giving back to her community each and everyday she can.“Giving back and using my platform to the best of my abilities is so important to me. That’s one of the main things I want to gain from my career is the opportunity to give back and help in each and ever way as much as I could”

As for the future, Maria simply plans to grow within her craft, and while also becoming the ultimate philanthropist, giving back each and every one she can. The actress also told Kontrol that she dreams of one day working with actress Jennifer Lawrence one day.

” I love all of her work, and how she strong she is as a women on and off screen. She is very talented and all of her films are so different from one another!”

Can’t wait to see what’s to come of Maria Quezada in the future!