Biography
Raised on Kaua'i, the Garden Isle, Sonya Balmores grew up surfing and modeling in the islands. Her natural and exotic beauty secured her spots in print campaigns for Roxy, Rip Curl, Billabong, Hurley, and Nike, as well as covers for Women's Health, Shape, Foam, and Outside magazines. In 2004, Sonya earned the Miss Hawaii Teen USA title and was first runner-up nationally. After landing a series regular role on The N's teen surf drama Beyond the Break, she developed a passion for acting and left Hawaii Pacific University to pursue it full-time. She completed three seasons of Beyond the Break, filmed on Oahu. Sonya made her feature film debut in Soul Surfer as Malina Birch, the primary antagonist to AnnaSophia Robb's Bethany Hamilton, starring alongside Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid. In 2017, she guest-starred on HBO's Ballers with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, had a significant arc on ABC Marvel's Inhumans as Auran, a fierce assassin and royal guard, acting alongside Iwan Rheon, Ken Leung, and Anson Mount, and played the wife of 50 Cent in STX Films' bank heist movie Den of Thieves, led by Gerard Butler. Beyond TV and film, Sonya has over five years of experience in video game motion capture and voice acting, portraying Division Agent Alani Kelso in Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (Ubisoft). When not filming, she dedicates time to studying her craft, having trained at prestigious Los Angeles programs including The Groundlings, The Actors Gang, Identity School of Acting, and Shakespeare with Juilliard alum Diane Venora. Sonya graduated from The Baron Brown Acting Studio, completing a two-year Meisner program in Santa Monica, CA. In 2021, she had a recurring role on the Amazon reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, filmed in Honolulu. Upcoming in 2022, Balmores stars in Moonrise, a feature film produced by Sony/Affirm Films for PureFlix, and recently finished work on the highly anticipated third season of The Chosen, a multi-season series about Jesus Christ’s life and the largest crowdfunded media project ever, produced by VidAngel Studios.
