20-plus years into her career, Danna is making her debut.

Formerly Danna Paola, the Mexican actress and pop star dropped her last name to usher in a new creative era. Through her latest album, Childstar, she reflects on how a lifelong spent in the public eye and under the control of others impacted her mental health—and, more importantly, how she found healing and reclaimed her voice through making music that’s more authentic to herself.

At just 28, Danna is already a veteran of the entertainment industry, having evolved from a 4-year-old Sesame Street guest star to a children’s telenovela lead (Amy, La Niña De La Mochila Azul, Atrévete A Soñar) to Broadway star (Wicked) to Netflix darling (Elite)—all the while releasing album after album and amassing millions of streams on Spotify with hits like “Oye Pablo” and “Mala Fama,” which hit back at media scrutiny about her.

But even someone of Danna’s pedigree couldn’t avoid the strings that are often attached to fame. Despite the fact that Danna earned her first Latin Grammy nomination in 2021, the management team she’d been working with that year—as Danna would later reveal in the Calle y Poché podcast — was hyper-controlling of her career and especially her image. They allegedly forced her to dye her naturally dark hair blonde (which she did not want to do) in 2021. So she took a hiatus the following year to find a team that supported her vision as an artist. Even more so, she wanted to find herself.

Now, while re-emerging as a first-name-only entity, Danna is putting out her most personal and hands-on album yet. She co-produced the euphoric “XT4S1S” and the introspective “Tenemos Que Hablar” from the album—the first time she’s had a hand in the production of her own music. She also recently became a global brand ambassador for MAC Cosmetics. These changes are clearly resonating with her fans; last year, she kicked off a world tour with 30 dates booked throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

In March, we caught up with Danna before her performance at Mexico’s Tecate Pa’l Norte music festival, where she was top-billed on a lineup that included Kendrick Lamar, Blink-182, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Imagine Dragons. Her pop spectacle channeled 2000s-era Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera with fierce choreography and powerhouse vocals. It drew an audience of more than 50,000 people.

Backstage, just before said spectacle, Danna appeared at ease in her futuristic vaquera outfit that nodded to her Mexican roots. Here, she opened up to Allure about her artistic rebirth, recovering from long-term hair damage, and the skin care products she can’t put down.