Vanessa Villanueva is a Mexican-American actress and entrepreneur best known as the former wife of Grammy-winning guitarist Chris Pérez of the Tejano band Selena y Los Dinos.
After her marriage ended in 2008, she pursued a career in entertainment and later built a business in the beauty industry.
Who is Vanessa Villanueva?
Vanessa Villanueva is an American actress and business owner with Mexican-American roots.
She grew up in Texas, the daughter of parents who emigrated from Mexico, and spent most of her life in the Corpus Christi and Portland, Texas area.
Her name entered the public eye through her marriage to Chris Pérez, one of Latin music’s most recognized guitarists.
Before and after that marriage, she built her own professional path: working as a model, a crew member in film production, an actress, and eventually an entrepreneur in the nail and beauty industry.
She prefers a private life and keeps most personal details away from the public. Despite that, her connection to Chris Pérez and Selena’s legacy has kept her in the public conversation for years.
Chris Pérez’s Ex-Wife Vanessa Villanueva
Vanessa Villanueva and Chris Pérez met in 1998 through a mutual friend named John Garza.
At that time, Chris was still processing the trauma of losing his first wife, Selena Quintanilla, who was killed in 1995.
Their relationship developed over three years before they married on October 26, 2001. The two kept their personal life largely private throughout their time together.
Chris Pérez is best known as the lead guitarist for the Tejano band Selena y Los Dinos.
He later formed the Chris Pérez Band, whose debut album Resurrection won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.
His relationship with Selena Quintanilla and her tragic death remained one of the most talked-about stories in Latin music.
Vanessa and Chris stayed married for seven years. Their divorce was finalized in 2008.
Multiple reports indicated that personal struggles on Chris’s part, including the lasting emotional toll of Selena’s death, contributed to the end of the marriage.
Vanessa has never publicly detailed the reasons. Since the divorce, the two have maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship for the sake of their children.
Early Life of Vanessa Villanueva
Vanessa Villanueva was born in 1971 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her parents originally came from Mexico and moved to the United States before she was born.
She grew up in a Mexican-American household in Texas and spent most of her childhood there.
Before she entered the entertainment world, Vanessa worked as a tutor and instructor.
She served detained men and immigrant college and high school students in that role.
The work showed a different side of her public persona, separate from the celebrity association that later made her known.
Her parents’ background and her upbringing in a Latino community in Texas shaped her cultural identity throughout her life. She has remained in Texas, currently living in Portland, Texas.
Vanessa Villanueva Age / Birthday
Vanessa Villanueva was born in 1971, which makes her 54 or 55 years old as of 2026. Her exact birth date has not been publicly confirmed.
She currently lives in Portland, Texas, where she runs her nail business and co-parents her two children.
Vanessa Villanueva Ethnicity and Nationality
Vanessa holds American nationality, born in the United States to parents from Mexico.
She is of Mexican-American ethnicity, with deep roots in the Latino community of Texas.
That background has shaped both her personal identity and her approach to her work in the community.
Vanessa Villanueva Height and Weight
Vanessa Villanueva stands approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, which is around 1.7 metres.
Her weight is reported to be around 121 pounds, or 55 kilograms. She has a slim build with dark hair and brown eyes.
Vanessa Villanueva Education
Vanessa attended the University of California and earned a bachelor’s degree. Her academic background gave her a foundation that supported her early career as a tutor and instructor working with immigrant and formerly detained students.
Vanessa Villanueva Career
Vanessa Villanueva’s career has moved through several phases, from community education work to film production and acting, and then into entrepreneurship.
Each shift reflected her willingness to reinvent herself rather than remain tied to a single identity.
Early Work and Film Production (2008–2011)
Before her acting career, Vanessa worked as a tutor and instructor, helping formerly incarcerated men and immigrant students pursue higher education.
That work predated her marriage and continued in the background of her personal life.
After her divorce from Chris Pérez in 2008, she moved into the entertainment industry.
Her first listed credit came in 2011 with Memphis Rising: Elvis Returns, a low-budget comedy in which an Elvis impersonator enters a Las Vegas contest.
Vanessa served in the camera and electrical department on that production as a unit electrician rather than as a performer.
The film was directed by Marv Z. Silverman and featured a cast of character actors. Her technical contribution to that project opened the door to further work in entertainment.
Acting Career: Forgotten Memories (2015)
Vanessa’s most visible on-screen role came in 2015 with the TV series Forgotten Memories.
She played the character Gaby Valdez in the production, which marked her first prominent acting credit in front of the camera rather than behind it.
Forgotten Memories did not continue past its first episode, limiting the exposure that role could have generated.
Still, it established her as someone who had made the leap from crew work to performance.
Since that project, she has not taken on additional public acting work. Her career path shifted away from entertainment entirely in the years following.
Beauty and Nail Business (Present)
Vanessa has since built a business in the nail and beauty industry. She operates a nail business in the Portland, Texas area, where she currently lives with her husband Henry Soliz.
This shift into entrepreneurship mirrors a pattern common among people who exit a high-profile personal relationship and choose to focus on a private, stable career.
Her business in beauty and wellness keeps her active professionally while allowing her to stay out of the entertainment press.
Vanessa Villanueva’s Husband Henry Soliz
After her divorce from Chris Pérez, Vanessa began a relationship with Henry Soliz. The two reportedly started dating in 2012 and married in 2018.
Henry Soliz is a Texas-based man with a known interest in motorcycles, particularly Harley Davidson bikes.
He has been connected to Corpus Christi Army Depot. The couple lives together in Portland, Texas.
Vanessa has kept her current marriage largely private, and neither she nor Henry Soliz maintains a public social media presence that shares details about their life together.
Vanessa Villanueva’s Kids
Vanessa Villanueva has two children with her former husband Chris Pérez: a daughter named Cassie Gabrielle Pérez and a son named Noah Pérez.
Cassie was born on December 23, 1998, in San Antonio, Texas, several years before her parents officially married.
She attended Del Mar College in Corpus Christi and later worked as a medical aesthetician. Cassie has also run her own small beauty business called Ethereal Beauty.
Noah Pérez was born in 2005. Both children grew up primarily with their mother following the 2008 divorce.
Vanessa has remained the primary caregiver, and she and Chris have maintained an amicable co-parenting arrangement.
Vanessa Villanueva Net Worth
Vanessa Villanueva’s exact net worth is not publicly disclosed. She has worked as a model, actress, and beauty entrepreneur over the years, but she has never shared specific financial details.
Her income comes from her nail and beauty business in Portland, Texas, as well as from her earlier work in film production and acting.
As the former spouse of Chris Pérez, she also received assets as part of their divorce settlement in 2008. The specific terms of that settlement were not made public.
Chris Pérez, for comparison, has an estimated net worth built from decades of performing and recording.
His Grammy-winning debut album with the Chris Pérez Band and his memoir To Selena, with Love contributed to his profile.
Vanessa’s own financial picture has remained private throughout her post-divorce years.
Conclusion
Vanessa Villanueva built a recognizable name through her marriage to Chris Pérez, but her own story stretches well beyond that chapter, from community education work to film production and a current career in the beauty industry.
She lives quietly in Portland, Texas, focused on her business, her children, and her marriage to Henry Soliz.