Barbara Mori was born February 2, 1978 in Montevideo, Uruguay. At the age of 3, when her Japanese-Uruguayan father and her Mexican mother divorced, Mori moved to Mexico. While working as a waitress at the age of 14, fashion designer Marcos Toledo invited her to work as a model. She later studied acting in El Centro de Estudios de Formación Actoral. Mori first acted in the telenovela, "Al Norte del Corazón".

In 1998, she got her first leading role as Azul in the series "Azul Tequila". A year later she filmed the series "Me Muero por Tí" in Miami. She participated in her first movie in 2000, in the Mexican comedy "Inspiración" opposite 'Arath De La Torre'. Later, she acted in various other telenovelas including, "Amor Descarado" and the high rated Mexican soap "Rubí".
Two siblings; actress Kenya Mori and Kintaro Mori. Her favorite actors are Sean Penn, Meryl Streep. Her favorite movie is _21 Grams_. One of her hobbies is singing. Barbara Mori also has a son with actor, Sergio Mayer. Her paternal grandfather was Japanese. She has confessed that one of her most cherished dreams is to work with Francis Ford Coppola. The actress has her own lingerie line, and uses her image to support charitable causes such as the fight against breast cancer in Mexico.