Person Biography:
Born and raised on the picturesque island of Kaua'i, Sonya Balmores was immersed in a life of surfing and modeling from a young age. Her striking natural beauty soon landed her on prominent print campaigns for renowned brands such as Roxy, Rip Curl, Billabong, Hurley, and Nike. Moreover, she graced the covers of esteemed publications like Women's Health, Shape, Foam, and Outside magazines.
In 2004, Sonya's exotic charm earned her the title of Miss Hawaii Teen USA, and she went on to place first runner-up on the national stage. This impressive achievement was followed by a series regular role on The N's (Nickelodeon's) teen surf drama Beyond the Break, where she fell deeply in love with acting and eventually dropped out of her studies at Hawaii Pacific University.
Sonya's experience on Beyond the Break, shot on location on the island of Oahu, laid the foundation for her subsequent acting endeavors. She then made her feature film debut in Soul Surfer, playing the role of Malina Birch, the main antagonist to Anna Sophia Robb's portrayal of shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, alongside Academy Award winner Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid.
In 2017, Sonya guest-starred on HBO's Ballers alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and went on to complete a significant arc on ABC Marvel's Inhumans as Auran, a fierce assassin and royal guard, opposite Game of Thrones alum Iwan Rheon, Lost alumni Ken Leung, and Hell on Wheels star Anson Mount. She also supported 50 Cent as his wife in STX Films' bank heist film Den of Thieves, led by Gerard Butler.
Apart from her work in TV and film, Sonya has over five years of experience in Video Game Motion Capture and Voice Over, playing the no-nonsense Division Agent Alani Kelso for Tom Clancy's: The Division 2 (Ubisoft). When not on set, Sonya is passionate about studying her craft, having had the privilege of training at numerous esteemed programs in Los Angeles, including The Groundlings, The Actors Gang, Identity School of Acting, and Shakespeare with Juilliard alum Diane Venora.
Sonya is a graduate of The Baron Brown Acting Studio, a two-year Meisner program in Santa Monica, CA. In 2021, she completed a recurring role on the Amazon reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii. Coming in 2022, Balmores stars in Moonrise, a feature film produced by Sony/Affirm Films for PureFlix, and has recently completed production on the highly anticipated third season of The Chosen, a multi-season series about the life of Jesus Christ and the largest crowd-funded media project of all time, produced by VidAngel Studios.
