The Ariel Award for Best Actress (Spanish: Premio Ariel a Mejor Actriz) is an award presented by the

Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas The Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences ( es, Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, AMACC) is a professional honorary organization founded on July 3, 1946, in Mexico City to promote the dissemination, research, ...

(AMACC) in Mexico. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a

leading In typography, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies. In hand typesetting, leading is the thin strips of lead (or aluminium) that were inserted between lines of type in the composing stick to incre ...

role while working within the Mexican

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

. In 1947, the 1st and 2nd Ariel Awards were held, with

Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...

and

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s an ...

winning for the films ''

Las Abandonadas ''The Abandoned'' (Spanish:''Las Abandonadas'') is a 1945 Mexican film, directed by Emilio Fernández, starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz. Plot Margarita (Dolores del Río) is a young woman abandoned by her fiancé. She is forced to p ...

'' and '' Enamorada'', respectively. With the exception of the years 1959 to 1971, when the Ariel Awards were suspended, the award has been given annually. Nominees and winners are determined by a committee formed every year consisting of academy members (active and honorary), previous winners and individuals with at least two Ariel nominations; the committee members submit their votes through the official AMACC website. Since its inception, the award has been given to 50 actresses.

Blanca Guerra Blanca Guerra Islas (born January 10, 1953) is a Mexican actress. In 1983 she was a member of the jury at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. Films * La loca de los Milagros (1975) * Pedro Páramo (1978) - Dolores Preciado * El s ...

is the most awarded performer, with four accolades; Del Río, Félix, and

María Rojo María de Lourdes Rojo e Incháustegui, commonly known as María Rojo (; born August 15, 1943 in Mexico City), is a Mexican actress and politician. She was Senator of the Republic in the upper house of Mexican Congress. She debuted during the Gol ...

had received three Ariels, each; while

Irene Azuela Irene Azuela (born October 27, 1979) is a British-born Mexican actress and producer. Career Irene Azuela began her career as an actress in 2000's in TV Azteca with three telenovelas: ''Todo por amor'', ''Amores querer con alevosía'' and ''La ...

Mónica del Carmen Monica is a female given name with many variant forms, including Mónica (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), Mônica (Brazilian Portuguese), Monique (French), Monika (German, Indian), Moonika (Estonia), and Mónika (Hungarian). History The ety ...

Marga López Catalina Margarita López Ramos (; June 21, 1924 – July 4, 2005), known professionally as Marga López, was an Argentine-born Mexican actress. Biography Born Catalina Margarita López Ramos in June 21st, 1924 in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argen ...

Silvia Pinal Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (born 12 September 1931) is a Mexican actress. She began her career in the theater, venturing into cinema in 1949. Her film work and popularity in her native country led her to work in Europe (Spain and Italy). Pinal achiev ...

Patricia Reyes Spíndola Patricia Verónica Núñez Reyes Spíndola (born 11 July 1953) is a Mexican actress, director, and producer. She has received four Ariel Awards, two for Best Actress ('' Los Motivos de Luz'' in 1985 and ''The Queen of the Night'' in 1994), and ...

and

Adriana Roel Adriana Roel (4 July 1934 – 4 August 2022) was a Mexican actress from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Her roles included the Mexican telenovela '' Huracán''. Filmography * '' No quiero dormir sola'' (She Doesn't Want to Sleep Alone) 2012 ...

, had been awarded twice. Rojo is the most nominated performer, with eight nominations. The category has resulted in a tie on four occasions: Guerra and Norma Herrera (1980), Guerra and Rojo (1988),

Ximena Ayala Ximena Ayala (born 29 December 1980) is a Mexican actress. She has appeared in more than thirty films since 1999. Selected filmography References External links * Living people Mexican film actresses 1980 births {{Mexico- ...

and

Ana Bertha Espín Ana Bertha Espín Ocampo (born 13 October 1958) is a Mexican actress. Filmography Awards and nominations References External links * 1956 births Living people Mexican telenovela actresses Mexican television actresses Mexican fi ...

(2001), and

Elizabeth Cervantes Elizabeth Cervantes (; born August 1, 1973) is a Mexican actress of films and soap operas. She studied acting in Casa del Teatro and Centro de Formacion Actoral of TV Azteca. Filmography Cine * '' El Infierno'' - La Lupe (2010) *Oscura Sedu ...

and

Maribel Verdú María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...

(2007). In two instances an actress has been nominated twice the same year: in 1983, Rojo was nominated for '' La Pachanga'' and '' La Víspera'', and lost the award to

Beatriz Sheridan Elizabeth Ann Sheridan Scarbrough, better known as Beatriz Sheridan (25 June 1934 – 30 April 2006) was a Mexican actress and director. A pioneer of the Mexican telenovelas and prominent figure of the Mexican theater of the 20th century, sh ...

for ''Confidencias''; and at the 38th Ariel Awards,

was nominated twice in the category for ''

La Reina de la Noche ''The Queen of the Night'' ( es, La reina de la noche) is a 1994 Mexican drama film directed by Arturo Ripstein. It was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Lucha Reyes * Alberto Estrella as Pedro Cald ...

'' and ''Mujeres Insumisas'', and won for the former film. In 1984,

Isela Vega Isela Vega Durazo (5 November 1939 – 9 March 2021) was a Mexican actress,Televisa ...

won for '' La Viuda Negra'', filmed in 1977 and censored seven years because of its content. Nine films have featured two nominated performances for Best Actress, the episode "Nosotros" from the

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

''Tú, Yo, Nosotros'' (

Julissa Julissa (born Julia Isabel de Llano Macedo; 8 April 1944 in Mexico City, D.F., Mexico) is a Mexican actress, producer and singer. She is the daughter of radio and television personality Luis de Llano Palmer and actress Rita Macedo. Her childr ...

and

Rita Macedo Rita Macedo (April 21, 1925 – December 5, 1993) was a Mexican actress and dressmaker. She was nominated for an Ariel Award for her 1956 performance in "Ensayo de un crimen" and in 1991 for a TVyNovelas Prize for "Alcanzar una estrella". She wo ...

), ''De Todos Modos Juan Te Llamas'' (Patricia Aspillaga and Rocío Brambila), ''Naufragio'' ( Ana Ofelia Murguía and María Rojo), ''

Veneno Para Las Hadas '' Veneno para las hadas'' (''Poison for the Fairies'') is a 1984 Mexican supernatural horror film that was written and directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada. Plot Veronica is a young orphan living alone in a dilapidated villa with her invalid gr ...

'' (Elsa María Gutiérrez and

Ana Patricia Rojo Ana Patricia Rojo Stein (born February 13, 1974) is a Mexican actress and singer. She is famous for her participation in many telenovelas of Televisa, like '' María la del barrio'' as Penelope Linares (1995), '' Esmeralda'' as Georgina Pérez- ...

), '' Como Agua Para Chocolate'' ( Lumi Cavazos and

Regina Torné Rosa Vierben del Pilar Marina Incháustegui Anaya (born 2 October 1945), known as Regina Torné, is a Mexican actress, singer and television presenter. Telenovelas and series *2014 - Siempre Tuya Acapulco - Soraya Patiño *2011 - Cielo ...

), '' Principio y Fin'' (

Julieta Egurrola Julieta Egurrola (born 13 June 1953, Mexico City) is a Mexican actress. She studied acting at ''Centro Universitario de Teatro'' and has participated in more than 41 theater plays. Trajectory Telenovelas TV Azteca * Los Rey (2012) ... ...

and Lucía Muñoz), ''Novia Que Te Vea'' (Claudette Maillé and Maya Mishalska), ''

El Callejón de los Milagros ''Midaq Alley'' ( es, El callejón de los milagros, also released as ''The Alley of Miracles'') is a 1995 Mexican film adapted from the novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, written by Vicente Leñero and directed by Jorge Fons. The film dea ...

'' (

Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...

and Margarita Sanz), and ''

Nicotina ''Nicotina'' ( en, Nicotine) is a six-time Ariel Award winning and six-time nominated 2003 Mexican- Argentine gangster film produced by the same team as the 2000 acclaimed film Amores perros. It is a " real time movie". Plot Lolo is a male ...

'' (

Rosa María Bianchi Rosa María Bianchi (born February 18, 1948, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentinean-born Mexican actress. Personal life Bianchi was married with director of theater Luis de Tavira. They have two sons, José María (b. 1983) & Julián. ...

and Carmen Madrid); Macedo, Brambila, Rojo, Torné, Muñoz, Sanz and Bianchi won the award. 14 performers have won both the Ariel Award for Best Actress and the accolade for Best Supporting Actress; Margarita Sanz and Patricia Reyes Spíndola had received the aforementioned awards and the Ariel for Best Actress in a Minor Role. Ana Ofelia Murguía is the most nominated actress without a win, with five unsuccessful nominations. As of the 2022 ceremony, Mónica del Carmen is the most recent winner in this category for her role in '' Una Película de Policías''.