Ana Brenda Contreras

**Ana Brenda Contreras** is a main actress on The CW's *Dynasty*, portraying the role of Cristal Jennings in season two.

## Biography

### Early life

Contreras was born in McAllen, Texas, on 24 December 1986, to Mexican parents Blanca Pérez and Efrain Contreras Puente. Contreras grew up in Río Bravo, Tamaulipas. She speaks both English and Spanish. She moved to Mexico City in 2002 at age 15 to join the reality show *Pop Stars*, in which she was a finalist and member of a group, *T'detila*, who released an album with the same name. In 2003, she took acting classes in the Televisa's Centro de Educación Artística (CEA) in Mexico City.

### Career

In 2005, Contreras portrayed Juanita Sánchez in her debut telenovela, *Barrera de amor*. In 2006, she participated in a production of *Grease*. That same year, Contreras played Claudia in the telenovela *Duelo de Pasiones*. In 2008, she starred in the film *Divina Confusion*, directed by Salvador Garcini. From 2008 to 2009, Contreras also starred as Violeta Madrigal in the telenovela *Juro que te amo*. In 2009, she played Maura Albarrán in the telenovela *Sortilegio*. That same year, she appeared as Marcela Garrido in an episode of the TV series *Mujeres asesinas* and had a special participation in the original Fox series, *Tiempo final*.

From 2010 to 2011, Contreras played the lead role of Aurora Alcázar on *Teresa*. She also played Carol in the musical *Timbiriche*. Contreras later starred in the telenovela *La que no podía amar* as Ana Paula Carmona from 2011 to 2012.

In 2013, she portrayed Maricruz Olivarez in the telenovela *Corazón indomable*, a remake of *Marimar* which achieved international success. In 2014, Contreras appeared in the Mexican film *Volando bajo*, directed by Beto Gómez. That same year, she was host of the *Premios Juventud*. In 2015, Contreras played the lead role of Verónica Prado Castelo in the telenovela *Lo imperdonable*. She sang "Como perdonar", the telenovela's theme, on the soundtrack.

In 2015, Contreras appeared in the movie *Tunnel 19*. She later starred as Goyita Vera in *Blue Demon* in 2016 and as Alejandra Ponce in *Por amar sin ley* in 2018.

From 2018 to 2019, Contreras starred as Cristal Jennings in the second season of The CW's prime time soap opera reboot, *Dynasty*, in her first English language role. In July 2019, Daniella Alonso was announced to be replacing Contreras in the role of Cristal, who executive producer Josh Reims cited to be leaving the show for "personal reasons."

### Personal life

Contreras divides her time living between Mexico City and Los Angeles. She married Alejandro Amaya in a civil ceremony in Las Vegas on April 4, 2013. On May 14, 2014, she sent out a press release announcing their permanent separation.

## Trivia

* Being Mexican American, she is fluent in English and Spanish.
* After news broke of her getting cast on Dynasty, both Ana Brenda and Rafael de La Fuente revealed they have grown close to each other and called themselves the Latin Mafia.
* She's Nathalie Kelley's successor as announced officially by The CW in August of 2018.
	+ She is Daniella's predecessor for the role of Cristal Jennings.
* On Sunday, September 23, 2018 Ana Brenda hosted a dinner where mole, a traditional Mexican dish and homemade tortillas were cooked and invited the Dynasty cast.

## Gallery

* Season 2
* General

## External Links

* Ana Brenda Contreras on Internet Movie Database
* Elizabeth Gillies on Wikipedia
* Ana Brenda Contreras on Facebook
* Ana Brenda Contreras on Instagram
* Ana Brenda Contreras on TikTok
* Ana Brenda Contreras on Twitter
* Ana Brenda Contreras on YouTube

## References

1. ↑  https://www.instagram.com/p/BmKKJfdA5vd/?hl=en&taken-by=anabreco