MARIA SALAS KEEP IT REAL Maria Salas is one busy woman—and happily so. America TeVe/Mundo Fox’s movie critic and entertainment reporter has a daily routine that others would find insurmountable, but she gets a thrill just thinking about it. When she’s not busy traveling around the world interviewing A-list celebrities and Hollywood’s biggest stars, the petite blonde with blue eyes appears on a daily basis on the one-hour talk show “Arrebatados” hosted by Maria Laria. She also does her movie reviews on the segment “3, 2, 1…Accion!” on “America Noticias” and the prime-time entertainment show “Happy Hour”. She also collaborates as a film expert on national networks such as CNN, TNT and Warner Channel Latinoamerica. Maria Salas has been part of Florida’s entertainment scene for a couple of decades, appearing on NBC 6 morning news as well as South Florida Today as entertainment reporter/film critic and on Telemundo on channel 51, again as a movie critic and entertainment reporter. She also co-hosted The Rick Sanchez Show on the same network. She also appeared on CW’s morning news. “I’m passionate about filmmaking … I go to at least five screenings a week and enjoy going to set visits and behind-the-scenes assignments. I don’t only review movies, but I get to be a part of the whole experience.” This love for television and film was instilled early on by her parents when she was a child in Puerto Rico. “I would see my dad going to Telemundo and doing his legal segment on the newscast. I would see him on different stations as a political analyst.” By age 20, Salas had her own show on Telemundo Network “Estrenos” and had a weekly segment on the national news, which was the start of a career that would find her mentoring students and being a trailblazer. “I’m the first Latina movie critic on television in the United States and the first Latina on television to be part of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. And I’m very proud of it. For me, that means so much.” In 2005, Maria Salas made her debut on the big-screen on the sci-fi thriller “Fantastic Four” alongside Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans and Ioan Gruffudd with a small cameo as an NBC reporter. In 2011 she was cast as Zombi M in the box-office hit “Warm Bodies”. Her co-stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and Rob Corddry. Salas routinely finds herself in heady company, but won’t allow any sense of ego. “The toughest thing is to be real. To be real to yourself and to be real to your audience.”