NAYA Vazquez is a character in the 2024 Netflix film Rob Peace, who is played by Fifth Harmony superstar Camila Cabello.
Camila’s character is the girlfriend of the film’s titular character, who was based on the real-life Yale graduate who turned to drug dealing to support his father.
Rob’s movie girlfriend
Naya is not believed to be a real person, but her character is based on the people that Rob was in a relationship with during his time at Yale.
In the film, Camila’s character is from Brazil which prompts Rob to try and learn Portuguese so he can get to know her better.
The pair click instantly and they are quickly caught up in a whirlwind romance.
However, things fall apart when Rob’s drug dealing begins to get in the way of his personal life.
Although Naya reminds him that he doesn’t “have to live like this”, Rob refuses to listen.
The real-life story
Rob grew up in Orange, New Jersey, where his mother Jackie tried to nurture his incredible intelligence.
By the age of three, he had been nicknamed “the professor” and she knew that the schools around their home would not be able to meet his needs.
Skeet, Rob’s father, was a small-time drug dealer who was eventually jailed for murdering two people but Jackie was determined to ensure that Rob maintained a good relationship with his dad.
Eventually, Rob went to Yale and met Jeff Hobbs who would later write his biography entitled The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.
Rob’s cousin Syreeta Lum You said that he “had friends from all over”.
She added: “He didn’t care whether you were black, white, Hispanic.
“Whether you spoke English or not, he was going to learn the language and he was going to speak it with the right accent.”
Reportedly, Rob wanted to visit Brazil after he graduated and this dream helped inspire Camila’s character Naya in the movie based on his life.
While he was at university, he began selling cannabis to fund his father’s legal battle and was eventually successful in getting his sentence overturned.
However, the state intervened and, eventually, Skeet’s sentence was reinstated.
Tragically, Skeet passed away in prison after a long battle with cancer.
Despite his father’s death, Rob continued to sell drugs which isolated him from his peers at the prestigious university.
After graduation, he landed a job at his former high school. St Benedict, where he was given a teacher of the year award.
Sadly, a real-estate venture gone-wrong landed Rob in financial dire straits and he decided to return to drug dealing.
He was killed on May 18, 2011, in a drug-related incident.
A movie about Rob’s life
The academy award nominated actor and director Chiwetel Ejiofor was selected to write and direct a movie about Rob’s life.
Camila was chosen to portray Rob’s love interest in the movie, but she’s not the only Hollywood superstar in the cast.
Mary J. Blige plays Jackie, Rob’s mother, opposite Chiwetel who plays Skeet.
The movie will be available for streaming on Netflix from November 11, 2024.
