Leslie Grace

Leslie Grace Martínez (born January 7, 1995) is a Dominican American singer-songwriter and actress.[1][2] She starred as Nina Rosario in Jon M. Chu's In the Heights (2021).[2] She was the youngest woman in the world to top the Latin Airplay chart.[3] Her first hit was "Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow?"[3] She was going to play Batgirl/Barbara Gordon in the cancelled DC Extended Universe HBO Max movie Batgirl.[4][5]

Leslie Grace
Teletón 2018 33.jpg
Grace in December 2018
Background information
Birth nameLeslie Grace Martínez
Born (1995-01-07) January 7, 1995 (age 29)
The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
OriginDavie, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2009–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitelesliegrace.net

Early Life

Martínez was born on January 7,1995 in New York.[6] Her family lived in the Bronx.[6] She had six older brothers and sisters.[6]

She moved to Davie, Florida when she was ten years old and then raised there. She is a Dominican American.[2]

Career

Martínez always liked performing. She started working as a singer. Her first album was released in 2009. It was called Pasión.

Martínez was the youngest female artist to have a number one hit on the Latin Airplay Chart and Billboard Tropical Songs chart.[3][6] In 2012 she was seventeen years and nine month old when "Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow?" became popular.[3] She was the fourth youngest person overall. She was only older than Pablo Portillo, Florentino Primera, and Luis Miguel.[2]

She received three Latin Grammy Award nominations for her music.[4] The first was for her 2013 album, Leslie Grace.[6]

Martínez's first acting role was the movie In the Heights.[7] She played Nina Rosario.[6]

Martínez then landed the part of Batgirl.[8] She will be in the new Batgirl movie that will be released in 2022.[8] For this movie, she had to learn to fight.[8] Her teacher, Ming Qiu, taught her fighting skills.[8]

References

  1. "CD Baby – Leslie Grace". CDBaby.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 McCarthy, Esther (2021-06-17). "In the Heights: Leslie Grace on Her Staring Role in the Lin-Manuel Miranda Story". Irish Examiner – via ProQuest.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ramirez, Rauly (2012-10-16). "Leslie Grace Youngest Woman To Top Latin Airplay Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (July 21, 2021). "'Batgirl' Casts 'In The Heights' Star Leslie Grace as Superhero". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  5. Roiz, Jessica; Roiz, Jessica (2021-10-06). "'Bachatica' & 'Batgirl': Leslie Grace Talks First Solo Song in Five Years & 'Fight-Training' For Movie Role" (in en-US). Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/leslie-grace-bachatica-batgirl-interview-9641384/. Retrieved 2022-03-01. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Leslie Grace Talks Humble Beginnings and Larger-Than-Life Hollywood Roles (Exclusive) | Entertainment Tonight". www.etonline.com. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  7. Roiz, Jessica; Roiz, Jessica (2021-06-09). "Leslie Grace & Melissa Barrera of 'In the Heights' Obsess Over Broadway Classics: Watch" (in en-US). Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/in-the-heights-leslie-grace-melissa-barrera-video-9584830/. Retrieved 2022-03-01. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Roiz, Jessica; Roiz, Jessica (2021-10-06). "'Bachatica' & 'Batgirl': Leslie Grace Talks First Solo Song in Five Years & 'Fight-Training' For Movie Role" (in en-US). Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/leslie-grace-bachatica-batgirl-interview-9641384/. Retrieved 2022-03-01.