Esmeralda Pimentel

Esmeralda Pimentel, born Maria Esmeralda Pimentel, is a Mexican actress and model. She is known for her work in Mexican television commercials and various telenovelas.

Pimentel was born in The Bronx, New York, on September 8, 1989, to a Dominican father and a Mexican mother. She lived in New York City until she was six months old, at which point her mother moved with her back to Mexico. She grew up in Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco.

She entered modeling at the age of nineteen, appearing in television commercials for Mexican clothing brands. In 2007, she represented Zapotlán in Nuestra Belleza Jalisco at age 18 and placed as the first runner-up. Later that year, on October 6, 2007, she represented Jalisco alongside Lupita González in Nuestra Belleza México 2007, where she was awarded the title of second runner-up behind winner Elisa Nájera.

Following her pageant participation, Pimentel trained as an actress at the Centro de Educación Artística de Televisa (CEA). Her media career began in 2009 with commercials and television promotions, leading to her television acting debut that same year when producer Pedro Damián cast her as Ada in the telenovela Verano de amor.

In 2012, Pimentel portrayed Kenia Jasso Navarro in Angelli Nesma Medina's production Abismo de pasión alongside Angelique Boyer and David Zepeda, a performance that earned her a Bravo Prize for Best New Actress. That same year, producers Roberto Gómez Fernández and Giselle González cast her as the antagonist Mara, a journalist, in Cachito de cielo starring Maite Perroni, Pedro Fernández, and Jorge Poza. In 2013, she played an antagonist in Lucero Suárez's De que te quiero, te quiero alongside Livia Brito and Juan Diego Covarrubias.

Pimentel secured her first starring role in 2014 in El color de la pasión, produced by Roberto Gómez Fernández and co-starring Erick Elías and Claudia Ramírez. In 2015, she reunited with Lucero Suárez to star in La vecina, marking her second lead role and second project with Juan Diego Covarrubias. She later starred in Enamorándome de Ramón alongside José Ron and in La bella y las bestias alongside Osvaldo Benavides.

After her lead roles in those series, Pimentel departed from Televisa and ended her contract with the company. She chose to leave in order to pursue greater creative freedom in her artistic and acting career through various theater, television, and film projects.