Lizzy is a standout character in the acclaimed comedy-drama Instant Family, and you have likely seen the actor in other major projects. The Instant Family cast is led by Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as Pete and Ellie Wagner, a comfortable couple who feel the desire to be parents. Looking into the foster care program, they soon match with the caring yet rebellious teenager, Lizzy, as well as her two younger siblings, Juan and Lita.

Instant Family was a hit with audiences and critics when it was released, earning over $120 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo) as well as an impressive 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, years later, Instant Family has now become a hit on Netflix, with new fans being introduced to it. While Wahlberg and Byrne were the big stars of the movie when the family-friendly Instant Family was first released, it is likely that a lot of people now recognize the young actor playing Lizzy.

Instant Family’s Lizzy Is Played By Isabela Merced

The Actor Was Credited As Isabela Moner At The Time

Isabela Merced (then credited as Isabela Moner) takes on the role of Lizzy in Instant Family, delivering a performance that is one of the highlights of the movie. Lizzy is introduced as a rather blunt young woman who is a teenager in the foster care group, which means she has few expectations of finding a family to take her in. To complicate her situation, she refuses placement unless the family also takes her younger siblings with her. However, much to her surprise, the Wagners agree to the match.

Merced is excellent at playing the complexities of Lizzy. She is very protective of her younger brother and sister, serving as their parent in many ways for most of their lives. She is therefore reluctant to step aside and allow Ellie and Pete to take over as the parents. She also hopes to reunite her and her siblings with their birth mother, which makes her very reluctant to get attached to the Wagners. On top of that, she finds herself in many teenage situations, making questionable romantic choices, sneaking out with friends, and generally rebelling.

Merced shows the layers of this intelligent and conflicted young character in her performance. Merced makes Lizzy a frustrating character as she lashes out at Pete and Ellie, two people who are just trying to help her and her siblings. However, she also shows the audience why she acts out like this, making her sympathetic at all times. Merced’s performance in the climax of the movie is one of the highlights of the film.

What Isabela Merced Has Done Since Instant Family

Merced Appears In A Hit HBO Series And An Upcoming DCU Movie

Instant Family was early in her career, but Isabela Merced’s star has only risen higher since then. Even before starring in the acclaimed comedy-drama, Merced found a breakout role in the Transformers franchise, starring as Izabella in Transformers: The Last Knight, alongside future Instant Family costar Mark Wahlberg. In the same year she appeared in Instant Family, she also had a leading role in the thriller sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado as Isabel Reyes. The following year, she took on her first leading role, and an iconic one at that, starring in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

Isabela Merced’s Movies & TV Shows:

Dora and the Lost City of Gold was also the final movie in which she was credited as Isabela Moner, and her career as Isabela Merced continued to be just as promising. She appeared in the teen holiday comedy Let It Snow, played Shakespeare’s Juliet in the revisionist comedy Rosaline, and starred opposite Jason Momoa in the thriller Sweet Girl. While 2024 saw her have a disappointing introduction to the superhero world in Madame Web, it would turn around with her memorable role in the successful summer blockbuster Alien: Romulus.

2025 has already been a big year for Merced as she debuted in what has likely become her most famous role to date as Dina in The Last of Us. It seems as though her fame is only going to rise with Merced making her DCU theatrical debut in Superman as Hawkgirl, a role she is already confirmed to be reprising in season 2 of Peacemaker. Given how impressive Merced’s career has become recently, it is a lot of fun to look back at Instant Family as an early hint of the big things to come.