Catarina Meira de Sousa was born on March 8, in Melbourne, Australia to an Angolan architect, and Portuguese journalist/teacher. Raised in Portugal since the age of two. At the age of twenty, she moved to Los Angeles to study filmmaking. She graduated from the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, having directed her first short film, Caged. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles, having graduated from the two year method acting conservatory.