Traveling the world is no easy feat. Jumping into a comic book and entering an imagined universe is immeasurably harder. Following years of hard work and training, actress and stuntwoman Yessenia Cossio is making her way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe one stunt at a time.
Yessenia Cossio was born on December 31, 1988, in Miami, Florida. At only nine years old, she expressed an interest in singing and the arts. She developed her passion in the school chorus and local church but knew early on that it was not what she would do for the rest of her life.
It was a while later, in 2006, that she would discover an opened door lying in wait. After performing her first dialogue script about women’s rights, Yessenia was encouraged by her teacher and classmates to join a drama class. Due to her financial situation, however, the talented teen could not do so and started working for a telemarketing company to pursue her dreams.
Her portfolio in the corporate world included work as a computer technical support specialist, human resource employee, and part-time jobs in medical billing, selling small kitchen appliances, and as a special events dancer.
After seven long years of struggling to check both paying bills and taking acting classes on her to-do list, Yessenia had to make a difficult decision. She decided that it would be best to remain temporarily unemployed and risk losing everything than stay in the limbo that she found herself in.
It was to be the best choice she had ever made. In January 2013, Yessenia Cossio joined The Miami Acting Studio, where her life completely changed. While working side jobs as a brand ambassador and enrolling in acting and parkour classes, her career began to skyrocket. By August of that year, she was training to compete in the bikini division of the National Physique Committee.
She later secured 16th place in her first bodybuilding competition before rising to the second spot in the next. Although she was starting to gain recognition in the field, Yessenia was adamant in her determination to make her way in the world as an actress.
Following her passion, she joined an Acting Table Meeting in Davie, Florida, where she met varying industry artists who made up a significant part of her reliable network when she expressed her interest in performing stunts.
In December 2013, she was connected with one of South Florida’s most prominent stunt directors and later shot her first stunt the month after. The memorable experience helped Yessenia find a happy medium between acting and performing stunts.
Committed to her craft, she explored all aspects of stunt work and quickly became proficient in the art. Her steadfast dedication and continually improving skills led to her big break as Dynamite on the competitive FOX TV show Ultimate Tag. From there, her career officially took off.
She starred in the Warner Bros. film Dune and performed stunts in the fan-favorite Marvel TV Show Punisher on Netflix. Her work in the latter elevated her reputation and fueled her drive to work harder to return to the Universe as a cast member.
“I remember working in Best Buy as a retail employee, watching “The Avengers” in action playing on one of the TVs on a loop, and telling myself, ‘One day, I will be there. I will work for Marvel,’ and six years later, I’m seeing my dream come true on the Netflix Marvel TV Show The Punisher,” she shares.
Pursuing her dreams has proven gratifying for the rising star. Her growing success in her endeavors has inspired Yessenia to give back to the community. In her free time, the sought-after stunt woman dresses up as superheroes and visits children’s hospitals, homeless shelters, and elderly homes.
She invests and heavily donates to various causes such as cancer, epidermolysis bullosa, autism, shelters, and more. In 2019, she was given the Humanitarian Award from her sponsor World Freerunning and Parkour Federation (WFPF).
Whether onscreen or off, Yessenia Cossio hopes to serve as an inspiration to dream and give back. Learn more about Yessenia by visiting her official website.
