Born in Coral Gables, Florida, she is a stage and screen actress who was born to a Catalan father and Ecuadorian-American mother. Her grandparents are of Spanish-Catalan and English decent. She is the eldest of four and has three younger siblings who are all boys. Her parents separated shortly after she was born and at age 8, she spent two years in Quito, Ecuador where she learned to read and write in Spanish. Though she often traveled to both Spain and Switzerland because her father lives there, she has lived in the States for most her life.Her love for entertaining and acting seemed to have come naturally and at an early age. She began singing at age 10. Her first major public performance was at age 15, at Carnegie Music Hall in New York City. Recognized as an empath and comedic young girl by those around her, her teachers were compelled, and strongly encouraged her to pursue a career in acting. She auditioned for a competitive dramatic arts magnet high school in Miami, Florida and was consequently accepted into the program. Upon graduating, at age 18, she moved to New York City and received formal training in both music and acting.She attended one semester of Second City when she first arrived to Los Angeles though now attends the iO West (formerly known as the "Improv Olympic West"), the Los Angeles branch of the iO in Chicago, founded by Del Close and Charna Halpern. Cristina recently played Wendla in a professional theater company production of Spring Awakening. Show less «