Leslie Grace Gets Real About Batgirl, Bachata & Being Dominican-American

Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Dominican-American singer, actress, and Latin Grammy-nominated artist Leslie Grace for a wide-ranging conversation about music, movies, and what it means to be Latino in Hollywood today. Leslie traces her journey from recording a Christian album in her family's closet at 14, to breaking out as a bachata star alongside Romeo Santos and Prince Royce, to landing her film debut as Nina in Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights — a role she spent seven years of self-tapes working toward. She opens up about Batgirl, the HBO Max film she starred in that was shelved by Warner Bros. before release, and how that experience pushed her toward indie filmmaking — including Sundance Prize winner In the Summers, and two SXSW premieres: Stages and Campeón Gabacho, directed by Jonas Cuarón. Plus: what it's like to be a female artist in a male-dominated genre, the hardest thing to learn about the music industry in the streaming era, and her take on Latinidad — and what it looks like to just exist without having to prove it. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. 🎙 De Los Podcast drops new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. From the Los Angeles Times and Sonoro comes the De Los Podcast — a weekly conversation where music, pop culture and Latinidad collide. Hosted by De Los editors Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito, the show pulls back the curtain on the stories, people and cultural moments shaping the Latino experience in the U.S. and beyond. Every episode is a front-row seat to conversations with the artists, actors, filmmakers and thinkers who are moving the culture forward — not just talking about it. Guests include Leslie Grace, Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, Xolo Maridueña, Fabrizio Guido, producer and singer Empress Of, among others. Think of it as the cultural conversation that major American media rarely makes room for — a space where Latinos get to talk, unfiltered, about what they create and who they are. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. New episodes every week — available on YouTube and all major podcasts.