Talisa's parents imigrated from Puerto Rico in the 1950's and settled in Brooklyn, New York where she was born. Her parents moved to Massachusetts when she was just a child. Talisa's family was one of the few Puerto Rican families in her neighborhood. She was raised and educated there but, she felt that people were prejudiced against her and she became a loner. Talisa landed her first modeling job in 1982, when she was 15 years old. In 1985, she tried to sign up with the "Ford Modeling Agency" but, was rejected because she looked too "Latina". Talisa then went and signed with "Click Model Management" and headed for Europe. She established herself as one of the 1980's top model and was very busy modeling in Italy and France. She appeared on the covers of "Vogue", "Mademoiselle", "Glamour" and "Self" magazines.
Talisa has also made two T.V. guest appearances in "C-16: FBI".
Talisa married Costas Mandylor, in 1997 and they were divorced in 2000. She fell in love with Benjamin Bratt, whom she met while filming "Piñero". They were married on April 13, 2002 and on December 6, 2002, she gave birth to their daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt. Talisa Soto lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.