Victoria April

Born in the capital of Spain on July 4, 1959, Victoria Mérida Rojas spent most of her childhood in Malaga. She studied classical ballet from a very young age, and her teacher encouraged her to take all kinds of tests for film and television. She made her debut in the series Los libros , followed by the comedy Fascinación , and an episodic appearance in the romantic film Robin and Marian , where she was Queen Elizabeth, wife of Juan Sin tierra, although she can barely be seen on screen for a few seconds. “Compared to the great effort it took to dance, making movies seemed like the world of laziness. I felt no physical pain, I just had to just say what was in the script. It was very easy for me,” said the actress.

In 1976 she was recruited for the famous television contest “One, two, three… answer again”, where she was one of the “secretaries”, distinguishable by her round glasses. Along with Lydia Bosch and Silvia Marsó , Victoria Abril – who was in charge of counting the money earned by the participants with her answers – became one of the most popular.

On the big screen, Victoria Abril was established with the controversial Change of sex , by Vicente Aranda , where she plays a teenager who wants to become a transsexual. It was the actress’s first collaboration with this filmmaker, specialized in erotic films, which would make her the protagonist of several of his best-known titles, such as The Girl with the Golden Panties , Silent Time , El Lute: walk or burst , Lovers , Libertarias or Tirante the white .

She performed one of her best works, the prostitute Engracia, under the orders of José Luis Borau in Río Abajo , with David Carradine . Julita, the girl who agrees to go with her boyfriend to a sordid house in La colmena , by Mario Camus , and worked with other prestigious Spanish filmmakers, such as Jaime Chávarri ( Bicycles are for the summer ), Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón ( La most beautiful night ), Emilio Martínez Lázaro (The funniest game), Eduardo Campoy ( A solas contigo ), Antonio Banderas (The path of the English ) and Carlos Saura ( The 7th day ).

Present in an anecdotal role in La ley del deseo , by Pedro Almodóvar , when the man from La Mancha professionally ‘divorced’ Carmen Maura , he adopted Victoria Abril as a leading actress. He starred at his command From him Tie me up! , High Heels and Kika . She especially highlights her careful interpretation of the prostitute Gloria Duque, in No one will talk about us when we have died , by Agustín Díaz Yanes , who later recovered her character in the unsuccessful I just want to walk .

Divorced from the Chilean soccer player Gustavo Laube, she had two children with the prestigious cinematographer Gérard de Battista , Martín and Félix, with whom she went to live in Paris at the end of the 1980s. “I left because they can’t photograph them and make idiots out of them, until they deserve it. I was about to die for leaving the press behind with them and I almost had a car accident, like that princess. She was also romantically linked to French producer Pierre Edelman. She is very integrated into the French film industry, she does not stop filming titles there such as Maldito Doormat , Casque bleu , The Cosmonaut’s Woman or Mom, introduce me to Dad! of uneven quality.

The Madrid interpreter came to work under the orders of the Japanese Nagisa Oshima , in Max, my love , playing a servant. Victoria Abril also undertook the American adventure with Jimmy Hollywood , by Barrry Levinson, but the poor artistic and box office results, and the fact that the actress’s English is not as good as her French or Italian, put an end to her aspirations in the mecca of cinema.