Elisa Milena Smit Márquez is a Spanish film and television actress. Her acting debut in the feature film ''

Cross the Line ''Cross the Line'' () is a 2020 Spanish thriller film directed by . It stars Mario Casas alongside Milena Smit and Elisabeth Larena. The film won the Goya Award for Best Actor (Casas) from a total of three nominations at the 35th Goya Awards. ...

'' (2020) earned her a nomination for the

Goya Award for Best New Actress The Goya Award for Best New Actress () is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. Since its inception, the award has been given to 30 actresses. At the 9th Goya Awards ceremony held in 1995, Ruth Gabriel was the first winn ...

Early life and education

Elisa Milena Smit Márquez was born in

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

, Spain. She was raised in

Torrevieja Torrevieja (; is a Mediterranean-seaside city and municipality on the Costa Blanca, in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, in southeastern Spain. The city is in one of the only Spanish-speaking areas of the Valencian Community. Tor ...

Torre de la Horadada Torre de la Horadada is a Spanish town located on the Mediterranean Sea with an estimated population of 2.676 inhabitants and comes under the jurisdiction of Pilar de la Horadada, which in turn has a total population of 22.967 according to the Nat ...

, and

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. Her father is Dutch and mother is Spanish. She first started working as a fashion model when she was 15 years old. She trained as an actress at the Cristina Rota acting school and was taught by Bernard Hiller, an acting coach of such actors as

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

and

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

. Before becoming an actress, she was a waitress, shop assistant, babysitter, and information assistant on the subway. She moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in search of career opportunities.

Career

Smit's first film appearances were in various short films such as ''Diagonales'', ''Innermost'', ''Chimichanga'', and ''Adentro''. In 2020, she appeared in her first feature film, ''

'', directed by David Victori with

Mario Casas Mario Casas Sierra (born 12 June 1986) is a Spanish film and television actor. Known for his roles in Spanish cinema and television, he has received various accolades including a Goya Award, a Gaudí Award, and three Feroz Awards. In 2006, ...

. For her work on the film, she was nominated for the

. The film's casting team discovered the actress via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. After her participation in ''Cross the Line'', she was signed by

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

for his film ''

Parallel Mothers ''Parallel Mothers'' () is a 2021 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film centers on Janis, played by Penélope Cruz, and Ana ( Milena Smit) who give birth on the same day in a hospital. Their lives become intertwi ...

'' with

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

and

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón Aitana Sánchez-Gijón de Angelis (born 5 November 1968) is a Spanish and Italian film actress. Early life Aitana Sánchez-Gijón was born in Rome on 5 November 1968, to a Spanish father , a history lecturer exiled from Francoism, and an It ...

. In the film, Smit and Cruz play women who become pregnant by accident and befriend each other in the maternity ward. Both characters give birth to girls on the same day. On her performance in the film, director Almodóvar said: "she has an emotional intelligence and a sincerity not learned in any school". Smit received a Goya Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the role. Smit is one of the leads in the 2021 Netflix original series '' The Girl in the Mirror'', directed by Sergio G. Sánchez. Smit also appeared in Luc Knowles's debut feature ''

Dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

'' (2022) alongside Olivia Baglivi, performing the role of Cata. In July 2021, filming began on the horror film ''

Tin&Tina ''Tin & Tina'' is a 2023 psychological horror-thriller film directed by Rubin Stein, which stars Milena Smit and Jaime Lorente alongside Carlos González Morollón and Anastasia Russo. It is an adaptation of the 2013 short film of the same name. ...

'' (released 2023), in which she appears with

Jaime Lorente Jaime Lorente López (born 12 December 1991) is a Spanish actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Denver in ''Money Heist'' and Nano in ''Elite''. Education Born on 12 December 1991, Jaime Lorente López studied Dramatic Art at The ...

. Smit plays a lead role as reporter Miren Rojo in the 2023 Netflix crime series '' La chica de nieve''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Milena 21st-century Spanish actresses Spanish film actresses Spanish television actresses People from Elche Spanish people of Dutch descent Living people 1996 births