Herizen F. Guardiola

Bursting onto the scene with a breakout role in the series "The Get Down" (Netflix, 2016-), Herizen Guardiola was no stranger to performing when she landed her part on the show. Born in Miami, Florida, Guardiola's father was a reggae musician. He was known to bring his daughter on stage and into the recording booth to sing backup vocals when she was as young as six, and he also instilled in her a love of music. By her teens, Guardiola was writing and performing her own songs for YouTube, and began modeling in order to help support her burgeoning career. Eventually, the young performer had a whim to see what her agency's theatrical wing could offer her, and soon found herself auditioning for the hotly anticipated show, created by legendary film director Baz Luhrmann. The audition called for Guardiola to sing, and this presented little challenge. She impressed producers with a moving rendition of Alicia Keys' "Falling" and soon found herself cast in the role of Mylene, a teenaged girl living in the late-'70s Bronx with a dream of becoming a disco star and a strictly religious father who doesn't approve. The part immediately made Guardiola a celebrity as well as a fashion icon, as her appearance at the 2016 Met Gala in a green Monique Lhuillier gown graced the pages of Vogue and Vanity Fair.