Leonor Magdalena Varela Palma (; born 29 December 1972) is a Chilean actress. She played the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

in the 1999 television film '' Cleopatra'', and

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

princess Nyssa Damaskinos in the 2002 Marvel Comics film ''

Blade II ''Blade II'' is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by David S. Goyer. A sequel to ''Blade'' (1998), it is the second installment in the ''Blade'' franchise, foll ...

''.

Early life

Varela was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Chile, the daughter of Leonor Palma-Keller, a massage therapist, and biologist and cognitive neuroscientist Francisco Varela García. She has a sister, Alejandra, and two brothers, Javier and Gabriel. When Varela was a child, her family fled Chile after the 1973 military coup d'état. In the early 1980s, her parents moved back to Chile while she remained in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where she studied acting at the ''

Niels Arestrup Niels Arestrup (; born 8 February 1949) is a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards. Biography Arestrup was born in Paris into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his mother was Br ...

School'', ''L'École du Passage'', and ''Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris''.

Career

Varela's first acting job was in 1995, playing Anette in ''Pony Trek'', a children's film. Filming was in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and Leonor was riding horses for three months. Then, referred to a French filmmaker by her dentist, she played in '' Shooting Stars'' (1997). Varela found her popularity on the rise at home when she was cast in the Chilean

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

''Tic Tac''. After appearing in a few more television productions in the late 1990s, Varela was cast in a small role in '' The Man in the Iron Mask''. In 1999, she played the title character in the TV movie '' Cleopatra''. She had roles in '' The Tailor of Panama'' and '' Texas Rangers'' (both in 2001) shortly thereafter, then played

princess Nyssa in the 2002 blockbuster film ''

''. After that she appeared in ''Paraíso B'' and ''Pas Si Grave''. Varela also had a short recurring role in the

Fox Television The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

series ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for ''

Innocent Voices ''Voces Inocentes'' (English title: ''Innocent Voices'') is a 2004 war film directed by Luis Mandoki. The plot is set during the Salvadoran Civil War, and is based on writer Óscar Torres's childhood. The film serves as a general commentary on t ...

'' (2004). She also had a non-recurring role in '' Stargate: Atlantis''. She appeared in '' Americano'' and played journalist Jordana Garcia in the film '' Goal II: Living the Dream''. In 2012, she appeared as Marta Del Sol on the

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

television series ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

''.

Personal life

Varela was engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star in the 1999 television film '' Cleopatra'', from 1999 to 2001. She began dating producer Lucas Akoskin in 2011, and they married in April 2013. In November 2012, Varela and Akoskin welcomed their first child together, a son named Matteo. Their daughter, Luna Mae, was born on February 25, 2015. Matteo was diagnosed with leukodystrophy (specifically an AGS) shortly after his birth. He died at the age of 5 on November 16, 2018. Varela, a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

, is a marine life activist who is concerned with the welfare of whales, working with groups such as Save The Whales Again.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Leonor 1972 births Chilean television actresses Chilean female models Chilean film actresses Living people People from Santiago Actresses from Santiago 20th-century Chilean actresses 21st-century Chilean actresses Naturalized citizens of the United States