Surely, María Gabriela de Faría's face looks familiar. If you grew up in Latin America, the actress was likely a part of your afternoons years ago, with her starring in the teen Venezuelan telenovela "Isa TKM" on Nickelodeon. María Gabriela was the protagonist of that beloved story, where she played the unforgettable Isabella Pasquali. More than 17 years later, Maria Gabriela has had a banner year for her career, starring in one of the biggest movies of 2025.
María Gabriela de Faría is a Venezuelan actress, singer, and philanthropist, born on September 11, 1992, in Caracas, Venezuela. María Gabriela admits she grew up before the small screen, developing a love for melodramas and acting.
© Getty Images for The Business of"I was raised by telenovelas. My parents were very young when they had me; my mom was 15 and my dad 17, and they were working a lot. So I was raised by telenovelas, and I did a lot of them. That's all I did from the time I was 5 until I was 15, when I left Venezuela, so I love them," she said on DC's podcast.
In 2006, De Faría got the role of Wendy in the RCTV television series "Tukiti, crecí de una." Two years later came her big break, with "Isa TKM." After the overwhelming success of the teen telenovela came the sequel "Isa TK+," with De Faria involved in the show's soundtrack and performing alongside some of the bands that were involved in the series. Thanks to the success of the show, De Faría became one of her generation's teen idols.
Other TV projects followed over the years, including "Grachi" in 2011, where she played Mía Novoa in the show's second and third seasons. She worked on other teen series, including "Yo Soy Franky," and in 2014, shifted towards more adult telenovelas, like the role of Juana Perez in "La Virgen de La Calle."
© WWD via Getty ImagesIn 2017, she began developing her career outside of Latin America. She traveled to Miami to film a few episodes of the telenovela "Vikki RPM," where she played a guest star role as Francesca Ortiz. She also starred in "Deadly Class," a superhero TV series where she starred alongside Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, and Benedict Wong.
A year later, she made the film "Plan V" and shortly after was cast in the series "The Moodys." In 2021, she starred in the horror film "The Exorcism of God." Two years later, she premiered "The Duel." However, the major moment in her U.S. career came in 2023, when DC Comics set its sights on her and selected her to play one of the main villains in "Superman," the first film in the DC Universe's new project made up of movies and shows featuring its historic and beloved comic book characters.
In November 2023, De Faria was cast as Angela Spica, also known as "The Engineer." "Superman" premiered in July of this year, becoming one of the year's biggest blockbuster, with a sequel already greenlit. Despite the great success María Gabriela found with the film, she recently admitted at the Platino Awards in Madrid, Spain, that she didn't want to audition because she thought being Latina meant she wouldn't get the role.
"I didn't want to audition. I said, 'They're not going to hire me. They're not going to cast a Latina as a superhero.' At the end of the day, why do I think that? Because I haven't seen Latina superheroes out there," she said.
© Warner Bros. via Getty Images"For me, I feel like this is representation, and representation is important. I believe that every little thing we do opens doors for other people. And before me, others did the same, so it's wonderful," she said. As for her personal life, in January 2020, she married fellow actor Christian McGaffney after a seven years relationship. The two often share adorable photos and videos together on their social media.
