The Best Hispanic & Latina Actresses

Ranker Film
Updated August 15, 2023 50.7K votes 6.0K voters 317.0K views
Over 6.0K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Hispanic & Latina Actresses
Voting Rules
Vote up your favorite Latina and Hispanic actresses based on their English-language work
Latest additions: Angelica , Jessica Marie Garcia, Lee Rodriguez
Most divisive: Alexis Bledel

This list ranks the best Hispanic and Latina actresses in American and English-speaking film history, ranked by your votes. Throughout the history of Hollywood, movies have featured talented Hispanic and Latina actresses. These leading ladies of Latina and Hispanic origin have starred in every genre of film from musicals and comedies to dark dramatic roles. Several of these Latina actresses have even won Academy Awards for their work.

Who are some of the best Hispanic actresses? Jessica Alba made our list. She has starred in great movies like Sin City and Little Fockers. Jennifer Lopez also appears on this list of the best Latina actresses. J Lo first received rave reviews in Selena before starring in comedies like The Wedding Planner and Monster-in-Law.

Rita Moreno won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in West Side Story. She later appeared in the HBO series Oz. 25th Hour actress Rosario Dawson made this list, as did the iconic Foxy Brown actress, Pam Grier.

Who do you think is the best Hispanic actress in the history of film? Vote on this list and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Ranked by
  • Salma Hayek
    1

    Salma Hayek

    Age: 57
    2,842 votes
    • Birthplace: Mexico, Coatzacoalcos
    • Height: 5'1"
    Salma Hayek Pinault (, Spanish: [ˈsalma ˈxaʝek]; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American film actress and producer. She began her career in Mexico starring in the telenovela Teresa and starred in the film El Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley) for which she was nominated for an Ariel Award. In 1991, Hayek moved to Hollywood and came to prominence with roles in films such as Desperado (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Wild Wild West, and Dogma (both 1999). Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 film Frida, as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, for which she was nominated for Best Actress for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. This movie received widespread attention and was a critical and commercial success. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special for The Maldonado Miracle in 2004 and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series after guest-starring in the ABC television comedy-drama Ugly Betty in 2007. She also guest-starred on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock from 2009 to 2013. In 2017, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Beatriz at Dinner.Hayek's recent films include Grown Ups (2010), Puss in Boots (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013), Tale of Tales (2015) and The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017).
  • Penélope Cruz
    2

    Penélope Cruz

    Age: 49
    1,976 votes
    • Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
    • Height: 5'6"
    Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; Spanish: [peˈnelope kɾuθ ˈsantʃeθ]; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress and model. Signed by an agent at the age of 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television, and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s included Belle Epoque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000) and Woman on Top (2000). Cruz achieved recognition for her lead roles in the 2001 films Vanilla Sky, All the Pretty Horses, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Blow. She has since appeared in films in a range of genres, including the comedy Waking Up in Reno (2002), the thriller Gothika (2003), the Christmas film Noel (2004), the action-adventure films Sahara (2005) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), the romantic comedy To Rome with Love (2012), the crime drama The Counselor (2013) and the mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017). She was praised for her roles in Volver (2006) and Nine (2009), receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for each. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for playing volatile painter María Elena in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award, as well as the first Spanish actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2018, Cruz made her American television debut as Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace in the FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. Cruz has modelled for Mango, Ralph Lauren, Chanel and L'Oréal, and along with her younger sister Mónica Cruz, has designed clothing for Mango. Cruz has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission.
  • Sofía Vergara
    3

    Sofía Vergara

    Age: 51
    2,005 votes
    • Birthplace: Barranquilla, Colombia
    • Height: 5'6"
    Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian-American actress, model, and comedian. Vergara rose to prominence while co-hosting two television shows for Spanish-language television network Univisión in the late 1990s. Her first notable acting job in English was in the film Chasing Papi (2003). Subsequently, she appeared in other films, including Four Brothers (2005) and two Tyler Perry films: Meet the Browns (2008) and Madea Goes to Jail (2009), receiving an ALMA Award nomination for the latter. Vergara's success on television has earned her roles in films The Smurfs (2011), New Year's Eve (2011), The Three Stooges (2012), Machete Kills (2013), Chef (2014), and Hot Pursuit (2015); and voice-over roles in Happy Feet Two (2011), Escape from Planet Earth (2013) and The Emoji Movie (2017). In 2012, 2013, and 2016, she was the top-earning actress on US television.Vergara stars on the ABC series Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards.
  • Eva Mendes
    4

    Eva Mendes

    Age: 49
    1,681 votes
    • Birthplace: USA, Florida, Miami
    • Height: 5'6"
    Eva de la Caridad Méndez (born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes (), is an American actress, model and businesswoman. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in B films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000). Mendes's performance in Training Day (2001) marked a turning point in her career, and led to parts in the commercially successful films 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Hitch (2005), the latter of which made her one of the first minority actors to play the lead in a mainstream romantic comedy. She starred in Ghost Rider (2007) and The Spirit (2008), both film adaptations of comics, and ventured into more dramatic territory with We Own the Night (2007), Bad Lieutenant (2009), Last Night (2010), and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012). Her other films include Out of Time (2003), The Women (2008), The Other Guys (2010), and Girl in Progress (2012). Mendes has appeared in several music videos for artists like Will Smith, and has also been an ambassador for brands, including Calvin Klein, Cartier, Reebok, Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg. She has designed for New York & Company and is the creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a makeup line sold at Walgreens.
  • Jessica Alba
    5

    Jessica Alba

    Age: 42
    1,888 votes
    • Birthplace: Pomona, California, USA
    • Height: 5'6"
    Jessica Marie Alba (; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994), but rose to prominence at 19, as the lead actress of the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.Her big screen breakthrough came in Honey (2003). She soon established herself as a Hollywood actress, and has starred in numerous box office hits throughout her career, including Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Good Luck Chuck (2007), The Eye (2008), Valentine's Day (2010), Little Fockers (2010), and Mechanic: Resurrection (2016). She is a frequent collaborator of director Robert Rodriguez, having starred in Sin City (2005), Machete (2010), Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011), Machete Kills (2013), and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). Since 2019, Alba stars in the Spectrum action crime series L.A.'s Finest. Alba co-founded The Honest Company, a consumer goods company that sells baby, personal and household products. Magazines including Men's Health, Vanity Fair and FHM have included her on their lists of the world's most beautiful women.
  • Zoe Saldaña
    6

    Zoe Saldaña

    Age: 45
    1,709 votes
    • Birthplace: Passaic, New Jersey, USA
    • Height: 5'6"
    Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario is an American actress. Following her performances with the theater group Faces, Saldana made her screen debut in a 1999 episode of Law & Order. Her film career began a year later with Center Stage (2000), where she played a struggling ballet dancer. Saldana became known for her work in science fiction films, beginning in 2009 with her first of multiple appearances as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek film series and her first appearance as Neytiri in the Avatar film series. She has also played Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Due to her appearances in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as Avatar, and Avengers Endgame, she is the second highest-grossing film actress of all time. Her films having collectively grossed more than $4 billion worldwide.