Issue #86: Features

Issue #86:
Raising Melonie Diaz

Tagged the queen of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, the 24-yearold actress Melonie Diaz is as real as they come. Starring in four films (American Son, Assassination of a High School President, Be Kind Rewind, and Hamlet 2) all shown at the festival, the petite Puerto Riqueña from New York’s Lower East Side knew that the art of entertaining was something that came naturally to her at a very young age. From breakdancing at family gatherings to attending New York’s Professional Performing Arts High School – alma mater to Alicia Keys – Melonie was on the road to success, even if she didn’t know it herself.