Where Are They Now? the Shocking Real-Life Fates of the María Mercedes Cast
The venomous rivalry between María Mercedes and the scheming Malvina del Olmo remains one of the highlights of 1990s television. Playing Malvina was Laura Zapata, Thalía’s real-life maternal half-sister. Zapata brought an icy, theatrical cruelty to the role, delivering verbal lashings that became cultural memes before the internet era even existed. Spanish actress Inés Morales complemented this toxicity as the equally snobbish Lillian, giving viewers a pair of formidable antagonists.
Off-screen, the relationship between Zapata and Thalía deteriorated into high-profile discord. In September 2002, Laura Zapata and their sister Ernestina Sodi were brazenly kidnapped after leaving a theater performance in Mexico City. The sisters were held captive for weeks by an organized crime gang demanding millions in ransom. The trauma permanently fractured the family dynamic.
Subsequent public arguments over financial responsibilities regarding their maternal grandmother, Eva Mange, kept the sisters on front-page tabloids for over a decade. When Mange passed away in June 2022 at the age of 104, the rift became complete. Zapata publicly criticized her sisters, ending any realistic hope of a family reconciliation or on-screen reunion.
