Majida Issa: The Life Story Behind the Colombian Actress

San Andrés is a small island in the Caribbean Sea, far from the Colombian mainland, a place of turquoise water, white sand, and a culture that mixes Colombian, Caribbean, and English-speaking traditions. Majida Issa was born there on 27 June 1981, and she carries the island with her in her voice, in her manner, and in the music she sings. She is an actress and a singer, a woman who has played some of the most memorable characters in recent Colombian television, and who has done it with a boldness that sets her apart from other actresses of her generation.

Her most famous role is Helenita Vargas, the queen of música popular, in La ronca de oro, the 2014 Caracol series that told the life of the singer known as “the golden hoarse voice”. To play Helenita, Issa had to sing, to act, and to become a woman who was larger than life, a woman who drank, who loved, who suffered, and who sang with a voice that was rough and beautiful at the same time. She did it so well that audiences forgot they were watching an actress, and believed they were watching Helenita herself. That performance made her a star, and it proved that she could do something few actresses can do: sing and act, at the highest level, in the same role.

Since then, she has played La Diabla, the villain of Sin senos sí hay paraíso, she has played Alejandra Guzmán in the series about the Mexican rock star, and she has worked in Mexico, in the United States, and in Colombia, building a career that is as varied as it is bold. She is also a singer in her own right, releasing music and performing live, and she is a woman who speaks her mind, who lives openly, and who refuses to be put in a box. This is the story of how a girl from a small Caribbean island became one of the most distinctive actresses in Latin American television.

San Andrés, the Island, and a Girl With Two Talents

San Andrés is part of the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, a Colombian territory in the western Caribbean, closer to Nicaragua than to the Colombian mainland. It is a place where Spanish and English Creole are both spoken, where reggae and calypso mix with Colombian music, and where the sea is always present. Majida Issa was born there on 27 June 1981, and she grew up in a culture that is different from the culture of Bogotá or Medellín, a culture that is island culture, laid-back, musical, and proud of its difference.

She was a child with two talents, acting and singing, and she pursued both, studying, performing, and learning the craft in a way that was serious from the start. She moved to Bogotá to study and to work, and she began to appear in Colombian television, taking small roles that taught her the pace and the discipline of the industry. She was not a child star, and she was not an overnight sensation. She was a young woman who worked, who learned, and who waited for the role that would let her show what she could do, and she waited with a patience that would pay off.

Her background on San Andrés gave her a perspective that other actresses did not have. She understood the Caribbean, she understood music, and she understood what it meant to come from a place that is often overlooked by the rest of Colombia. She also understood the power of a voice, because on an island, music is not a luxury, it is a part of life, and a singer is a person who matters. That understanding would become central to her career, when she was asked to play a singer, and when she began to sing herself, in public, as a performer in her own right.

She also comes from a family with artistic roots. Her grandfather, or her family, has been described in Colombian press as connected to music and to the arts, and she grew up in a home where performance was valued. She has spoken about her family with love, and about the support they gave her, and about the importance of her island roots. She is proud of San Andrés, and she has spoken about the island in interviews, about its beauty, about its culture, and about the need to protect it. That pride is part of who she is, and it is part of why her fans feel that she is authentic, that she is not pretending to be someone else.

La Ronca de Oro and Becoming Helenita Vargas

In 2014, Caracol Televisión broadcast La ronca de oro, a series about the life of Helenita Vargas, the singer known as “la ronca de oro”, the golden hoarse voice, one of the most important figures in Colombian música popular. Helenita Vargas was a woman who sang with a rough, powerful voice, who lived a life of passion and excess, and who became a legend in her genre. Majida Issa was cast to play her, and the casting was a challenge, because Issa had to sing like Helenita, to act like Helenita, and to become Helenita, in a way that would convince audiences who remembered the real woman.

Issa rose to the challenge with a performance that is still talked about in Colombia. She sang the songs of Helenita Vargas, she captured her manner, her humour, and her pain, and she played her as a woman who was both strong and fragile, both joyful and self-destructive. The series was a success, and Issa’s performance was praised by critics and by audiences, and it won her awards and recognition, including honours at the India Catalina Awards, which celebrate Colombian television. She had arrived, and she had arrived in a role that required her to use both of her talents, acting and singing, at once.

Playing a real person is always difficult, and playing a singer is doubly difficult, because the audience knows the voice, knows the songs, and knows the story. Issa had to be faithful to Helenita Vargas, and she had to make the character her own, and she did both, by studying Helenita’s music, by listening to her recordings, and by finding the woman behind the legend. She has spoken about the responsibility of playing Helenita, about the pressure, and about the joy of singing her songs, and about the way the role changed her, as an actress and as a singer. It taught her that she could carry a series on her shoulders, and that she could sing in public, not only as an actress playing a singer, but as a singer herself.

The success of La ronca de oro also introduced Issa to a wider audience, people who had never seen her work before, and who now knew her as Helenita. It gave her a career, and it gave her a reputation, as an actress who could play a real, difficult, larger-than-life woman, and who could sing while doing it. That reputation has followed her ever since, and it is the foundation of everything she has done since.

La Diabla, Alejandra Guzmán, and the Art of Playing Difficult Women

After La ronca de oro, Majida Issa took on a series of roles that showed her range, and her willingness to play women who are difficult, controversial, and unforgettable. In Sin senos sí hay paraíso, the sequel to Sin senos no hay paraíso, she played Yésica Beltrán, known as La Diabla, a villain who is cunning, ruthless, and dangerous, and who becomes one of the most hated and most loved characters in the series. La Diabla is a woman who will do anything to get what she wants, and Issa played her with a cold, controlled menace that made audiences love to hate her. The role was a complete change from Helenita Vargas, and it proved that Issa could play a villain as convincingly as she could play a heroine.

In 2019, she took on another real person, playing Alejandra Guzmán, the Mexican rock star, in the series La Guzmán, which told the life of the singer known as “la reina del rock”. To play Guzmán, Issa had to sing rock, to act like a Mexican star, and to capture the energy and the rebellion of a woman who is very different from Helenita Vargas. She did it, and the series was watched in Mexico and across Latin America, and it introduced her to a Mexican audience, who welcomed her as a performer who could play their icon with respect and with power. Playing two real singers, Helenita Vargas and Alejandra Guzmán, in the space of five years, is a remarkable achievement, and it shows a performer who is not afraid of a challenge.

She has also worked in other series, including El Chapo, in which she played a role in the story of the Mexican drug lord, and in Operación Pacífico, and in La piloto, showing that she can work in crime dramas, in action series, and in different kinds of stories. She has worked in Mexico, in Colombia, and in the United States, and she has built a career that is international, varied, and bold. She does not choose safe roles. She chooses roles that are difficult, that require singing, that require a transformation, and that allow her to show a different side of herself.

Her work as a singer has also grown alongside her acting. She has released music, she has performed live, and she has sung in a style that mixes música popular, rock, and her own voice, which is strong, rough, and emotional. She is not a singer who acts. She is an actress who sings, and a singer who acts, and the two talents feed each other, in a way that is rare and that makes her performances distinctive. When she sings on screen, the audience believes her, because she is a singer, and when she acts, the audience believes her, because she is an actress, and that double belief is her greatest strength.

A Singer in Her Own Right and a Woman Who Speaks Her Mind

Majida Issa has never been a quiet star. She speaks her mind in interviews, on social media, and in public, about her work, about her life, and about the issues she cares about. She has spoken about the difficulty of being a woman in the entertainment industry, about the pressure to look a certain way, and about the importance of being true to oneself. She has also spoken about her island roots, about San Andrés, and about the need to protect the island’s culture and environment. She is a woman who has opinions, and who is not afraid to share them, and that directness is part of why her fans love her.

She has also lived her personal life openly, speaking about her relationships, about her family, and about the choices she has made, with a candour that is refreshing in an industry where many stars hide behind publicists. She has been married, she has divorced, and she has spoken about those experiences with honesty, about the pain and about the learning, and about the importance of moving forward. She does not present herself as a perfect person, and she does not ask her audience to think she is perfect. She presents herself as a real person, with real feelings, and that honesty is part of her appeal.

Her music career has continued to develop, and she has performed at concerts and festivals, singing songs that reflect her own taste, her own history, and her own voice. She has also collaborated with other artists, and she has used her platform to promote Colombian music, and to promote the music of the Caribbean. She is a performer who is comfortable on a stage, with a microphone, in front of a live audience, and that comfort comes from years of acting and singing, and from a confidence that is earned, not assumed.

In recent years, she has continued to work in television and in music, taking on new roles and new projects, and she has remained a prominent figure in Colombian entertainment. She is a woman who is still growing, still learning, and still challenging herself, and that growth is visible in her work, which has become more confident, more varied, and more personal over time. She is not an actress who has settled into a single kind of role. She is an actress who is still exploring, and that exploration is what makes her interesting to watch.

What Majida Issa Leaves Behind in Colombian Television

Majida Issa’s place in Colombian television is secure, and it rests, above all, on La ronca de oro, and on her performances as Helenita Vargas, as La Diabla, and as Alejandra Guzmán. Those three roles, played in the space of a few years, show a performer of remarkable range, a woman who can play a singer, a villain, and a rock star, and who can sing in each of those roles, and who can make each of them feel real. That range is rare, and it is the reason she is respected by her colleagues and loved by her audience.

She has also shown that an actress from San Andrés, from a small island far from the mainland, can become a star in Colombian television, and can work in Mexico and in the United States, without losing her identity. She is proud of her island, and she brings it with her, in her voice, in her manner, and in her music, and that pride is part of her legacy. Young actresses from San Andrés, from Providencia, and from the Caribbean coast can look at her and see that it is possible to come from an island and to conquer a continent, and that is a powerful message.

Her influence as a singer is also significant. She has shown that an actress can sing, and that a singer can act, and that the two talents can be combined in a way that is greater than either one alone. Her performances as Helenita Vargas and as Alejandra Guzmán are not only acting. They are singing, and they are a tribute to the singers she played, and they have introduced those singers to new audiences, who have discovered their music through her performances. That is a gift, and it is a legacy that will last.

As she continues to work, her story is still being written, and it is a story that will be told for many years, by fans who remember Helenita, by viewers who love La Diabla, and by young performers from the Caribbean who see in her a proof that talent, courage, and an island voice can take you far. She came from San Andrés with two talents, and she turned them into a career that is bold, varied, and unforgettable. That is a remarkable life, and it is a remarkable career.

Singing on Screen: How Majida Learned to Carry a Song and a Scene

There is a particular challenge in playing a singer on screen, and it is one that Majida Issa has faced twice, as Helenita Vargas and as Alejandra Guzmán, and that she has met with a skill that deserves to be understood. An actress who plays a singer must do two things at once: she must act, and she must sing, and she must make both of them feel real, in the same scene, at the same time. If she acts well but sings badly, the audience will not believe her. If she sings well but acts badly, the audience will not care. Issa does both well, and that is why her performances as Helenita and as Alejandra work, and why they are remembered.

She learned to sing as a child, on San Andrés, where music is part of life, and she learned to act as a young woman, in Bogotá, where theatre and television taught her the craft. When she was asked to play Helenita Vargas, she brought both of those learnings together, studying Helenita’s recordings, listening to her voice, and finding the woman behind the songs. Helenita’s voice was rough, hoarse, and powerful, a voice that sounded like it had lived, and Issa had to find that roughness in her own voice, without imitating it exactly, and without losing herself. She did it by singing with her whole body, by letting the emotion of the song come through, and by trusting that the audience would hear the truth in her voice, even if it was not Helenita’s voice exactly.

Playing Alejandra Guzmán required a different kind of singing, rock, with a different energy, a different attitude, and a different sound. Guzmán is a rock star, a rebel, a woman who sings with anger and with joy, and Issa had to find that energy in herself, and to sing rock in a way that was convincing to a Mexican audience, who knew Guzmán’s voice by heart. She did it, and the series was a success, and it proved that her voice was versatile, that she could sing música popular and rock, and that she could make both of them feel like her own. That versatility is rare, and it is the reason directors trust her with roles that require singing, because they know she can do it, and that she will do it well.

Her own music, released outside of her acting roles, is a third kind of singing, a music that is hers, not Helenita’s, not Alejandra’s, but Majida’s, and it is a music that mixes the styles she has learned, música popular, rock, and her own voice, which is strong, rough, and emotional. She has performed that music live, at concerts and at festivals, and she has shown that she is not only an actress who sings on screen, but a singer who performs on stage, in front of a live audience, with a microphone, and with a band. That is a different skill, and it is one she has mastered, and it is one that makes her performances distinctive, because when she sings on screen, the audience believes her, because she is a singer, and when she acts, the audience believes her, because she is an actress, and that double belief is her greatest strength.

My Take:

I think Majida Issa is one of the most exciting actresses in Latin American television, and I say that because she does things that other actresses do not do, and she does them with a boldness that is thrilling to watch. She sings, she acts, she plays real people, she plays villains, and she does it all with a confidence that makes you believe her. I have watched her as Helenita Vargas, as La Diabla, and as Alejandra Guzmán, and in each role I have seen a different woman, and I have believed in each one. That is a rare talent, and it is a talent that deserves to be celebrated more than it is.

What impresses me most is La ronca de oro, because it is a role that requires everything an actress can give. She had to sing like Helenita Vargas, a singer with a rough, powerful voice, she had to act like a woman who lived a life of passion and excess, and she had to make the audience forget that they were watching an actress. She did all of that, and she did it so well that the series became a success, and her performance became a talking point across Colombia. I think about how hard that must have been, to sing in public, as a real singer, in front of people who knew Helenita’s voice by heart, and to be judged against that voice. Issa was judged, and she passed, and that takes a courage that I admire enormously.

I also think about La Diabla, and about what it takes to play a villain that audiences love to hate. La Diabla is a woman who is cunning, ruthless, and dangerous, and Issa played her with a coldness that was chilling, and with a charm that was seductive, and the combination made her unforgettable. I have watched villains in telenovelas who are cartoonish, who are evil for the sake of being evil, and La Diabla is not one of those. She is a person, with motives, with intelligence, and with a will, and Issa played her as a person. That is a harder thing to do than playing a heroine, because a heroine has the audience on her side from the start. A villain has to earn the audience’s attention, and Issa earned it, by being interesting, by being smart, and by being fearless.

Playing Alejandra Guzmán is another achievement that I want to highlight, because it shows a performer who is willing to cross borders, to play a Mexican icon, and to sing rock, a style very different from música popular. She did it, and she did it well, and she introduced herself to a Mexican audience, who welcomed her. I think that takes a particular kind of confidence, the confidence of a woman who knows she can sing, who knows she can act, and who is not afraid to try something new. Many actresses would have stayed in Colombia, playing the same kind of role, and Issa did not. She went to Mexico, she played a rock star, and she proved that her talent travels. I respect that deeply.

I also admire her background, and the fact that she comes from San Andrés. The island is a small, beautiful, overlooked place, and it produces artists who are different, who carry the Caribbean with them, and who see the world from an island perspective. Issa is one of those artists, and she brings the island to her work, in her voice, in her rhythm, and in her pride. I wish more attention were paid to the artists of San Andrés and Providencia, and I think Issa’s career is a good reason to pay it. She did not come from Bogotá or Medellín. She came from an island, and she made the mainland listen, and that is a story worth telling.

Her openness about her life also impresses me. She speaks about her relationships, about her divorce, about her family, and about her opinions, with a candour that is refreshing. She does not hide behind a publicist, and she does not pretend to be perfect. She is a real person, with real feelings, and she shares them, and that honesty is part of why her fans trust her. I think that trust is valuable, and I think it is earned, because she has been honest even when honesty was difficult. In an industry where many stars are careful and guarded, she is direct, and I like that.

I think about her as a singer, too, and about the fact that she is not only an actress who sings on screen, but a singer in her own right, who releases music and performs live. That double talent is rare, and it is a gift, and I hope she uses it more, because her voice is strong, rough, and emotional, and it deserves to be heard on its own, not only as part of a character. She has the voice of a singer who has lived, and that is a voice that people want to hear. I hope she records more, performs more, and lets her own music be heard, because it is a part of her that is still growing, and it is a part that I want to hear more of.

If I could ask her one question, I would ask her what Helenita Vargas taught her, about singing, about life, and about being a woman who refuses to be small. I suspect she would say that Helenita taught her to sing with her whole heart, to live with passion, and to not apologise for being loud, rough, and real. I think that is good advice, and I think it is advice that Issa has taken to heart, because she lives it, in her acting, in her singing, and in her public life. She is loud, rough, and real, and I think that is a wonderful thing to be.

In the end, I come back to the simple fact that Majida Issa is a performer who takes risks, and who makes those risks pay off. She played a singer, she played a villain, she played a rock star, and she sang in all of those roles, and she did it with a boldness that is rare. She came from San Andrés, from a small island, and she became a star, and she did it by being herself, by singing, by acting, and by refusing to be put in a box. That is a life worth celebrating, and it is a career worth watching, because I suspect she has not finished surprising us yet.

I also think about the difficulty of playing a real person, and about what it asks of an actress. When you play a fictional character, you can invent her, you can make her your own, and no one can say you got her wrong. When you play Helenita Vargas, or Alejandra Guzmán, the audience knows the real woman, they know her voice, her manner, and her story, and they will judge you against her. Issa accepted that judgement, twice, and she passed it, twice, and that takes a courage that I admire enormously. She did not hide from the comparison. She embraced it, she studied the real women, and she found a way to be faithful to them, and to be herself, at the same time. That is a difficult balance, and she struck it, and that is why her performances are remembered.

Her work in El Chapo and in other crime dramas also interests me, because it shows a different side of her, a woman who can play in a world of violence, of power, and of danger, and who can hold her own in a story that is dominated by men. She does not play a victim in those series. She plays a woman who is strong, who is intelligent, and who is dangerous in her own way, and that is a refreshing change from the roles that are often offered to women in crime dramas. I think she chooses those roles deliberately, because she wants to play women who are complex, who are not only wives or girlfriends, but people with their own motives, their own power, and their own stories. I respect that choice, and I hope she keeps making it, because those are the roles that show what she can really do.

I think about San Andrés, too, and about what it means for an island to produce an actress like Issa. San Andrés is a small place, far from the mainland, and it is often overlooked by the rest of Colombia, but it has a culture that is rich, musical, and proud, and Issa carries that culture with her, in her voice, in her rhythm, and in her pride. She speaks about the island often, about its beauty, about its music, and about the need to protect it, and that pride is part of who she is. I wish more attention were paid to the artists of San Andrés and Providencia, and I think Issa’s career is a good reason to pay it, because she proves that talent can come from an island, and that it can conquer a continent, and that it does not have to lose its island sound to do it.

Her openness about her personal life also impresses me, because she speaks about her relationships, about her divorce, and about her family, with a candour that is refreshing in an industry where many stars hide behind publicists. She does not pretend to be perfect, and she does not ask her audience to think she is perfect. She presents herself as a real person, with real feelings, and that honesty is part of why her fans trust her. I think that trust is valuable, and I think it is earned, because she has been honest even when honesty was difficult, and because she has shown that a woman can be strong, can be vulnerable, and can be herself, all at once, without apologising for any of it.

I also reflect on her as a singer in her own right, and on the fact that she releases music, performs live, and sings in a style that is hers, not Helenita’s, not Alejandra’s, but Majida’s. That music deserves more attention than it gets, because her voice is strong, rough, and emotional, and it is a voice that has lived, and that is a voice that people want to hear. I hope she records more, performs more, and lets her own music be heard, because it is a part of her that is still growing, and it is a part that I want to hear more of. She is not only an actress who sings on screen. She is a singer, and she should be heard as one, on her own terms, in her own voice.

Finally, I want to say something about the future, and about what I hope for her. I hope she gets more roles that challenge her, more roles that require her to sing, more roles that are difficult, controversial, and unforgettable, because those are the roles she does best, and those are the roles that show her talent most clearly. I hope she continues to work in Mexico, in Colombia, and in the United States, and I hope she continues to speak her mind, to live openly, and to be herself, because that self is bold, talented, and worth watching. She came from San Andrés with two talents, and she turned them into a career that is bold, varied, and unforgettable, and I suspect she has not finished surprising us yet, and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

I also think about the costumes, the dresses, and the way Issa wears them, because Helenita Vargas was known for her style, for her wide skirts, for her flowers, and for a presence that filled a stage, and Issa captured that, not by copying a costume, but by wearing it as if it were her own, with a confidence that made the audience believe in the woman inside the dress, and in the voice that came from her.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Majida Issa born and what are her talents?

Majida Issa was born on San Andrés island, Colombia, on 27 June 1981. She is both an actress and a singer, and she has built her career on combining those two talents in roles that require her to sing and act at the same time.

Who did Majida Issa play in La ronca de oro?

She played Helenita Vargas, the singer known as “la ronca de oro”, the golden hoarse voice, in the 2014 Caracol series about the queen of música popular. Her singing and acting in the role made her a star and won her awards.

Who is La Diabla and did Majida Issa play her?

La Diabla is Yésica Beltrán, the villain of Sin senos sí hay paraíso, the sequel to Sin senos no hay paraíso. Majida Issa played her with a cold, cunning menace that made the character one of the most hated and loved villains in the series.

Did Majida Issa play Alejandra Guzmán?

Yes, in 2019 she played the Mexican rock star Alejandra Guzmán in the series La Guzmán, which told the singer’s life story. The role required her to sing rock and to capture Guzmán’s rebellious energy.

Is Majida Issa also a singer outside of acting?

Yes, she releases music and performs live as a singer in her own right, in a style that mixes música popular, rock, and her own strong, emotional voice. Her singing career has grown alongside her acting career.

What makes Majida Issa different from other Colombian actresses?

She combines acting and singing at a high level, she plays real people and difficult villains, and she comes from San Andrés island, bringing a Caribbean perspective to Colombian television. Her bold, direct manner also sets her apart.