Isabela Moner will transform from 'Sicario' brawler to Latina heroine Dora the Explorer

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Exclusive trailer: 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' Benicio Del Toro's 2015 "Sicario" killer Alejandro returns in "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," and Josh Brolin's CIA operative Matt Graver has a new plan: kidnapping the daughter (Isabela Moner) of a drug cartel kingpin.

Isabela Moner fondly remembers killing time in the New Mexico desert with Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin while shooting "Sicario: Day of the Soldado."

Stuck for hours in their characters' government Humvee, the trio swapped stories ("Josh told us about meeting Barbra Streisand for the first time") or battled in fart-noise contests.

But Moner, 16, has a soft spot for the conversation with del Toro about his 2001 best-supporting actor Oscar for "Traffic."

"He goes, 'You’re going to win an Oscar (one day). I will bet you $5 you'll win an Oscar,' " Moner says, recalling that the two haggled over a time line before shaking hands on the final wager — del Toro will earn $5 if Moner takes home a gold statute before age 30. "That night I called my dad and told him, 'We made a bet on it.' "

It's a bold wager. But Moner makes impressive strides in "Day of the Soldado" (opening Friday), venturing into grittier dramatic territory after her breakout role as the plucky survivor Izabella in Michael Bay's 2017 blockbuster "Transformers: The Last Knight."

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In the new sequel to 2015's critically acclaimed drug-war drama, Moner stars as Isabel Reyes, the daughter of a Mexican drug kingpin, who's kidnapped by del Toro's mysterious assassin Alejandro. The plot is engineered by Brolin's CIA operative Matt Graver to start a war between rival cartels.

Moner dove into the dark role, enthusiastically throwing punches in an introductory scene – a playground brawl with another student at a prestigious school – that illustrates Reyes' feisty demeanor.

"I insisted on doing the punching and attacking myself. I know I can I hit," says the 5-foot-tall Moner. "I wanted it to be realistic."

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She only made contact with a disassembled punching bag on the ground, and became BFFs with the actress playing her schoolyard adversary.

"I felt bad having to swear at her in Spanish," says Moner. "She had a blood packet she'd bite on that bled outside her mouth. Kind of disgusting. But it tasted good, sugary."

Moner freaked out her cast members with her ability to hang up from iChat-ing with friends and transform instantly into the defiant kidnapped girl. "Benicio would be like, 'You're scaring me right now,' " says director Stefano Sollima.

Del Toro was fully impressed with his co-star. "It seems like Isabela has been doing this her whole life," he says. "She's definitely a talent we’re going to enjoy watching in movies, for sure."

The Peruvian-American Moner will step into the iconic animated role of Dora the Explorer in a live-action movie due out next summer, also directed by Bay. She's proud to represent the Latina character she's admired since childhood.

"We don’t have Latina heroines in theaters; I haven't seen Marvel doing it," she says. "I'm excited to play that for young audiences."

She already favors Dora's classic bob haircut, although the character's fantastical bangs will be added with extensions. Her friends gave her the nickname after Moner dressed as Dora for Halloween last year.

"My friends called me Dora for so long after that," Moner says. "And now this comes up, and they have a bigger reason to call me Dora. I love it."