Maribel Verdu

Maribel Verdú is one of the most prolific actresses in Spanish cinema. Despite her youth – she is 37 years old – the Hispanic viewer has been watching her on movie screens, on stage and on television for three decades. It is inevitable that her face and her name are among the most recognized in Spanish cinema, since she accumulates more than sixty titles. However, the national cinema had not yet recognized her work in the form of a grand prize, which has happened this year with the Goya for Best Performance for Seven French Billiard Tables .

Such a vast experience can be explained by early beginnings. Maribel was born in Madrid on October 2, 1970. She was barely a teenager when she began to participate as a model in advertisements and fashion catalogues. Little Ella had the approval of her mother, while her father was more reluctant for her to become an artist. At the age of 13, Vicente Aranda gave her her first opportunity in the television series La huella del crimen with the chapter El crimen del capitán Sánchez . Her film debut came two years after her as a minor in The Comic Order .(1986). That same year she made her debut on stage and from that moment on, she has not stopped working, in fact, at the age of 15 she dropped out to dedicate herself completely to her career as an actress.

He has the privilege of having worked with most of the most renowned directors and actors in Spanish cinema. Among his private collection of filmmakers are Montxo Armendáriz with 27 hours (1986), Eloy de la Iglesia with La estanquera de Vallecas (1987), Mario Camus with La femme et le pantin (1990), Fernando Trueba with Belle epoque (1992) – winner of the Oscar for best foreign film–, Bigas Luna with Huevos de oro (1993), José Luis Garci in Lullaby (1994), Ricardo Franco withThe Good Star (1997) and Carlos Saura with Goya in Bordeaux (1999). However, her great moment, as she admits, came from the hand of Vicente Aranda, who, in addition to giving her the first opportunity, gave her the role of the provincial Trini in Amantes (1991). The actress confesses that this film marked a before and after in her career. She shared the bill with Victoria Abril and Jorge Sanz , and with the latter some torrid sex scenes. Her professional relationship with Jorge Sanz has been long, as they have met seven times, most of which have been a couple. Starting with Lovers , the films were dedicated to exploiting her most sensual side, as happened inGolden eggs . But a year later she radically changed her image to play a young orphan who was raised in a convent in Lullaby (1994).

The interesting role of the young woman cared for by the nuns gave way to a two-year film break, in which Maribel starred in the television series Kangaroos . Returning to the movies, she played a highly praised role in The Lucky Star , where she was a disabled, abused woman. Her promising return to celluloid was diluted with a succession of minor films and uninteresting roles, something that changed when the Mexican Alfonso Cuarón called her to star in Y tu mamá también (2001). It was the first international production for the actress, who to date had only made co-productions. This film, with a plot close to that of Secondary Roads, which she had starred in in Spain, gave a new face to the acting prism of the actress. The film in which she starred with Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna once again emphasized her erotic side, but the actress was able to show a new dimension. This film can be considered the beginning of a new Verdú, something that still could not be perceived in titles like Tuno negro (2001) or Lisístrata (2002), but which reached its maximum splendor at the hands of another Mexican, Guillermo del Toro. , in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). Her good portrayal of a post-war widow focused on her young daughter was the boost to her career.

When the usual thing is that someone of her experience begins to stagnate, Maribel managed to find her best form. The Faun opened the doors for her internationally and gave her interesting roles in co-productions such as El niño de barro and La zona , both from 2007, although perhaps the most interesting door was the one she had on the other side of Francis Ford Coppola . She still excitedly recounts how the filmmaker had come to introduce himself in the United States. She stated that she had loved her work in Pan’s Labyrinth and told him that he would call her for a project. Maribel was in a cloud because the director of The Godfatherhe had spoken to her, though obviously she thought she had the wrong person. But nothing could be further from the truth, the filmmaker not only knew perfectly well who the Spanish woman was, but he called her to star in her next project, Tetro , where he will share the bill with Javier Bardem and Matt Dillon .

This international projection has not made him forget Spain, where he has participated in Oviedo Express and Siete mesas de billar francés . Her work in the latter has earned her the Goya for Best Actress, an award for which she had been nominated five more times. Something that will be repeated if she continues at this pace of work and with these good performances. She recently filmed Los girasoles ciegos with José Luis Cuerda , where she returns to being a courageous post-war mother. While preparing to shoot with Coppola, Maribel spends her few days off with her artistic family, since we must not forget that she has been married to Pedro Larrañaga for eight years., which makes her the daughter-in-law and sister-in-law of actors. A profession to which the renewed Maribel has dedicated most of her life.