Vanessa Hidalgo

Vanessa Hidalgo was born on March 1, 1980, in Fontana, California. She is the only daughter of Mexican immigrants, Isidro Hidalgo, a self-made construction worker, and Teresa Hidalgo, a long time college administrator. Vanessa's love for the performing arts began at age three when she would play and dance as a ballerina while watching movies in her parent's living room. At five, she realized that she would grow up to be an actress after seeing the film "Return to Oz" starring Fairuza Balk. Although a shy child, Vanessa appeared in her first play at Sycamore Elementary school when she was nine. And at thirteen, she began her first drama class at El Roble middle school in Claremont, CA with then classmate, Jessica Alba. Vanessa came into her own as a young theater actress at Upland High School, where she played lead roles alongside fellow classmates, Michael Steger, Andrew Cisneros and Ginger Kinison which landed her Kaleidoscope Awards for "Best Actress Overall" two years in a row. Vanessa then moved to Los Angeles where she earned a Bachelor's degree in theater from Occidental College. During this period, she also studied abroad in London with tutors from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her role of "Mother" in Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding earned her praise as a talented actress. After graduating Occidental College in 2002, Vanessa took a break from the stage to work with children in social services, and later real estate. In 2005, Vanessa attended a motivational conference and her love for acting was rekindled. That same year, she made her first film appearance in the HBO television film, "Walk Out"(2005)_ directed by Edward James Olmos. Vanessa moved back to Los Angeles in 2006 and began a 2-year intensive training at the acclaimed Sandford Meisner Center in North Hollywood with teachers Martin Barter and Alex Taylor. Since graduating in 2008, Vanessa landed a leading role in the short film "Culebra" (2009) written and directed by 'Sean Carter(I)' which earned her an award for Best Actress in a short at the 2010 Method Film Festival. She recently just finished shooting the feature film "The Shifting" (2010) directed by 'Julio Saldarriaga', whose cast included 'Martin Morales', 'David Fernandez (v)', and 'Mauricio Mendoza' to name a few. She will begin production for the crime thriller "Figment" (2010) directed by 'Alexander Kane' this fall. Some of her recent credits include the television pilot "Rising Above" (2010), comedy pilot "Well Traveled", "The Glitch" (2007) starring Jason Biggs, and several other roles in television & independent film. Vanessa starred in her first music video for The Killers opposite Luke Perry in the Christmas song "Happy Birthday Guadalupe" which aired December 1, 2009. Vanessa is excited about her career as a film actress and sees it as a vehicle to make a positive impact on the world. As an avid animal rights activist, and vegan, she started her own clown company called "The Compassionate Clown Company" which provides vegan face paint alternatives. With upcoming projects lined up, Vanessa's intention is to let her light shine and encourages others to do the same.