Cadena was born in the State of Mexico, but grew up in Minatitlán, Veracruz. She studied a bachelor's degree in psychology and later a master's degree after graduating with a degree in acting. She began her training at the CasAzul Artes Escénicas Argos Academy in Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico. She started acting in some plays such as Enemigo de Clase by Sebastián Zurita, Las lágrimas de Edipo by Wajdi Mouawad by Hugo Arrevillaga, Manual De Desuso by Edurne Goded, In Memoriam by José Caballero, Los Motivos del Lobo by Rodolfo Obregón, and Gardenia Club by Lila Áviles, among others.Mabel jumped to television in 2012, playing the role of Adela Rosa Chávez in the television series Capadocia for HBO Latin America. Her career continued in television in productions such as Camelia la Texana (2014), El Señor de los Cielos (2014), Érase una Vez (2017), Las Malcriadas (2017), El Vato (2017), Ingobernable (2017), Por la Máscara (2018), La Bandida (2018), Monarca (2019) and Hernán (2019).Cadena ventures into film with the production Los adioses (2016), La diosa del asfalto (2020) by Julián Hernández Pérez and El baile de los 41 (2020) by David Pablos, a role that made her popular in Mexico when she played Amada Díaz, stepdaughter of Porfirio Díaz. Among the short films in which she has participated are Menage à trois (2015), Fight Back (2017), Cuatro minutos (2021), among others.Mabel makes her Hollywood debut in 2022 with the Marvel Studios film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in the role of Namora, Namor's cousin. Before getting the role for the film, she did not speak English and did not know she was auditioning for a Marvel film. Three months later, the production asked her to record a video showing her physical skills, such as boxing, horseback riding and acrobatics. A week later the actress received a call from the production announcing her integration to the project. After the news, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent nine months taking English classes and preparing physically for the character. The actress shared scenes with Tenoch Huerta.
