Daniela Melchior

Daniela Melchior dos Reis Lopes Pereira (; born 1 November 1996) is a Portuguese actress. She started her career in 2014 with a recurring role in telenovela , followed by the teen drama Massa Fresca. In 2017, she was cast in a leading role in the award-winning telenovela Ouro Verde. She appeared in other telenovelas, such as A Herdeira (2018), Valor da Vida (2018) and (2021). Melchior made her film debut in 2018 with The Black Book. She provided the Portuguese dubbing for Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and was cast in the comedy drama Parque Mayer in the same year. Her performance in the latter earned her a nomination for the Sophia Award Best Actress.

Melchior's first international casting was as Cleo Cazo in the DCEU film The Suicide Squad (2021), which earned her a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Portuguese Golden Globes. Subsequently, she took on minor and supporting roles in English-language films, including Marlowe (2022), Assassin Club (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Fast X (2023), Road House (2024), American Sweatshop (2025) and Anaconda (2025). In 2024, she joined the cast of Balls Up, and in 2025 of Violent Night 2.

Early life Daniela Melchior dos Reis Lopes Pereira was born on 1 November 1996 in Almada, Portugal. From a young age, she showed a strong interest in acting, aspiring to become a film star. She attended a convent school and later did a vocational course in performing arts in high school. During her school years, she participated in local and school theatre productions. Portuguese telenovela Ouro Verde (2017), establishing her as one of Portugal's most promising young actresses. She also participated in other Portuguese film and television productions, such as telenovelas A Herdeira (2018), Valor da Vida (2018) and (2021) and feature-length films The Black Book (2018) and comedy drama Parque Mayer (2018). Her performance in Mayer earned her a Sophia Awards nomination for Best Actress. After a representative from the United States saw the trailer for Mayer, they offered to represent her, prompting her eventual move to pursue roles abroad. She also provided the Portuguese voice for Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, earning recognition among the comic book fan community in Brazil. Melchior as Cleo Cazo marked the first portrayal by a Portuguese actress in a DC Extended Universe film. Gunn described Melchior as "the heart of the film." Critics identified Melchior as the film's standout, describing her as "luminous", "wonderfully guileless", and "the film's secret weapon." In March 2022, she joined the cast of the tenth Fast & Furious film titled, Fast X, with Vin Diesel offering her the role after seeing her performance in The Suicide Squad. In June 2022, it was announced that she would collaborate for the second time with James Gunn in his MCU film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, making her the first Portuguese actress to appear in an MCU film. Gunn is reported to have written the character, Ura, specifically for Melchior. In August 2022, she joined the action film Road House, a remake of the 1989 film. In 2024, she joined the cast of action comedy Balls Up, directed by Peter Farrelly. In August 2025, she starred in the mystery thriller American Sweatshop; with critics saying that Melchior was underused in the movie. In October 2025, it was announced that Melchior would star in the comedy horror Anaconda, a remake of the 1997 film, and in the action comedy Violent Night 2.

In 2023, Melchior went to Paris Fashion Week as a Balmain's muse. On International Women's Day, French fashion company ba&sh invited Melchior for their new campaign.

Activism and advocacy Melchior has been involved in various activist movements, particularly those focused on anti-racism. In 2020, she participated in Blackout Tuesday, a global wave of protests after the murder of George Floyd, and took part in an anti-racism protest in Lisbon. Personal life Before the filming of The Suicide Squad, Melchior suffered from health issues due to the anxiety she felt working with high-profile actors on the shoot such as Margot Robbie and Idris Elba. Melchior has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety.

Filmography Film +Key Denotes films that have not yet been released Year Title Role Notes 2018 The Black Book La Fille Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman Portuguese dubs Parque Mayer Deolinda 2021 The Suicide Squad Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2 2022 Marlowe Lynn Peterson 2023 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Ura Assassin Club Sophie Fast X Isabel Neves 2024 Road House Ellie 2025 American Sweatshop Ava Lopez Anaconda Ana Almeida 2026 Balls Up Isabella Costa Violent Night 2

Television Year Title Role Notes Ref 2014–15 Mulheres Viviana Gomes 316 episodes 2016 Massa Fresca Carminho Santiago 68 episodes 2017 Ouro Verde Cláudia Andrade 221 episodes 2018 A Herdeira Ariana Franco 190 episodes 2018–19 Valor da Vida Isabel Vasconcellos 203 episodes 2021 Pecado Maria Manuela 6 episodes

Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult Ref 2019 Sophia Awards Best Actress Parque Mayer CinEuphoria Awards Best Actress - National Competition Best Ensemble - National Competition 2021 Portuguese Golden Globes Best Newcomer The Suicide Squad