Danna Paola Rivera Munguía (born 23 June 1995) is a Mexican singer, model and actress.
She gained popularity as a child actress and singer, starring in dozens of television projects throughout her early childhood and adolescence.
Danna Paola was born and raised in Mexico City.
She is the daughter of Patricia Munguía and Juan José Rivera Arellano, the former singer of Grupo Ciclón and Los Caminantes.
Her parents divorced during her childhood.
She has an older sister, Vania Rivera Munguía.
1999
Danna Paola's acting career began in 1999 when at age 4 she and her sister attended Televisa's casting call in Mexico City for Plaza Sésamo, the Mexican version of Sesame Street.
Both were later cast on the show and appeared in several episodes.
2004
In 2004, she was chosen as the lead in the successful children's series Amy, la niña de la mochila azul.
Her second studio album, Océano, soon followed.
A year later, she was the female lead of Pablo y Andrea, the television adaptation of the classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Over the next several years, she earned parts in multiple television series produced by Televisa.
2009
In 2009, she was cast as "Patito" in Atrévete a Soñar, the Mexican remake of the popular Argentine children's telenovela Patito Feo.
Danna Paola filmed two seasons of the show and production was concluded in late 2009.
Atrévete a Soñar marked Paola's transition from children's to teen telenovelas.
Paola and the cast of the telenovela recorded two soundtracks and toured across Mexico in order to promote the show.
The telenovela and its soundtrack were commercially successful throughout Mexico and Latin America.
The soundtrack was certified double platinum in Mexico.
2010
In late 2010, she voiced Rapunzel for the Latin American Spanish-language dubbing of the Disney film Tangled and participated in the film's Spanish-language soundtrack.
2013
In May 2013, Danna Paola auditioned for the first Spanish-language production of the Broadway musical Wicked in Mexico City.
She auditioned for both Glinda and Elphaba, performing "Popular" and "Defying Gravity".
Later that same month, the final cast for the Mexican production was announced, with Danna Paola cast as Elphaba.
The production opened in Mexico City at Teatro Telcel on 17 October 2013 and closed on 18 January 2015.
Critics in Mexico, as well as the play's original composer, Stephen Schwartz, praised her performance.
In addition to being well received by critics, the play was also a commercial success in Mexico City.
During its first 10 weeks, Wicked sold over 100,000 tickets and had more than 100 performances; it broke a box office record, making it one of the most successful theatre productions in Mexico's history.
At the age of 18, Danna Paola was the youngest person to play the role of Elphaba in a professional theatre production.
Danna Paola appeared in over 300 performances of Wicked from 2013 to early 2015.
Following the conclusion of Wicked, she was invited by producer Alex Gou to join the cast of the musical Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, where she played the lead role of Maria and went on tour throughout Mexico.
2014
In January 2014, Danna Paola was cast in the movie Saving Sara Cruz, a modern-day remake of the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
Production on the film never began and the project was later shelved.
In March 2014, Danna, debuted as fashion designer collaborating with the popular Mexican clothing brand Sexy Jeans.
Her line, "Danna Paola, by Sexy Jeans", was commercially successful, with products selling out across Mexico.
In August 2014, Danna participated in the ABBA tribute album Dancing Queens, recording a cover of "Take A Chance On Me".
"Take A Chance On Me" was released as single on 2 September 2014 and debuted at number 1 on iTunes México.
On 29 October 2014, she performed "No hay bien", the Spanish-language version of "No Good Deed", to a sold-out crowd at the Auditorio Nacional for the Lunas del Auditorio award show.
That night, Wicked received an award in the "Broadway Show" category.
2015
In August 2015, she recorded the duet "Mientras Me Enamoras" with Mexican singer Lalo Brito.
A music video was also filmed, and it premiered on Brito's YouTube channel in September 2015.
In mid-2015, Paola moved to Miami to film the telenovela drama ¿Quién es quién?.
