Blanca Portillo

Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco (born 15 June 1963) is a Spanish film, television, and stage actress. She has also worked as theatre director and producer. She made her feature film debut in ''Entre rojas'' (1995). She became popular for her portrayal of Carlota in sitcom television series '' Siete vidas''. Portillo is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Goya Award for Best Actress.

Life and career

Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco was born in Madrid on 15 June 1963.

Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions. She earned a degree in drama from the RESAD.

One of her most important performances afterwards was her role of Carol in '' Oleanna'' by David Mamet, directed by Joaquín Kremel in 1994.

She made her feature film debut in ''Entre rojas'' (1995). In 1996, Luis San Narciso cast her for the hit Telecinco series ''7 vidas'',. The series lasted for ten years and ran for 204 episodes. Portillo played the role of Carlota, an insecure but brassy hairdresser who married Gonzalo, the owner of a bar which functioned as the central set of the show.

She played a mother in '' The Color of the Clouds'' (1997). Her performance in the film earned her a nomination to the Goya Award for Best New Actress. She also participated in the European Spanish dubbing of ''Finding Nemo''. In spite of her success in film and television, she has continued taking part in stage plays both as an actress and as a director.

In 2004, she left ''7 vidas'' to undertake a theatrical project in Argentina named ''La hija del aire'' (''The daughter of Air'') based on a book by Calderón de la Barca. She combined her work on this play with the film '' Elsa y Fred'' (2005) in which she plays a woman suspicious of the relationship between her elderly father and his Argentinian neighbor.

In the 2005 film '' Alatriste'', based on a book by Arturo Pérez Reverte, she played a male role, specifically that of a member of the Spanish Inquisition. She shaved her head for the role. The following year, Pedro Almodóvar cast her in his 2006 film ''Volver''. She played Agustina, a friend of the central family who is terminally ill and looking for her missing mother.

She then appeared in '' Goya's Ghosts'' by Miloš Forman, playing 18th-century consort Maria Luisa of Parma, and landed her first starring role in a movie in Gracia Querejeta's film '' Seven Billiard Tables''. Here she played the lover of the owner of a billiard club and the daughter of Amparo Baró, her former co-star from ''7 Vidas''. In 2009, she featured again in a film by Pedro Almodóvar, ''Broken Embraces'' playing the role of Judit.

Her work in recent years has seen a return to Spanish television, including a role in ''Hospital Central'', and directing roles in the theater. She had a small role in the 2011 film '' As Luck Would Have It'', starring alongside Salma Hayek.

She starred in the 2016 film '' Boy Missing''.

Filmography

Film

Television

*''7 vidas'' (1999–2004)
*'' Acusados'' (2009–2010)
*'' Promesas de arena'' (2019)
*'' Días mejores'' (2022)
*'' La ley del mar'' (2024)

Theatre credits

Actress

Director
* ''La avería'' (2011)
*Siglo XX... que estás en los cielos (2006)
*''Desorientados'' (2004)
*''Shakespeare a pedazos'' (1999)
*''Hay amores que hablan'' (1997)

Accolades

Candidatura al premio de Mejor Actriz Revelación (1997).
Unión de Actores
*Candidata al Premio a la Mejor Actriz de Televisión (2002).
Fotogramas de Plata
*Candidata al premio de Mejor Actriz de Teatro (2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portillo, Blanca
1963 births
Living people
Actresses from Madrid
Spanish television actresses
Spanish film actresses
Spanish stage actresses
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners
20th-century Spanish actresses
21st-century Spanish actresses
Spanish women theatre directors