This page uses content from the Leonor Varela biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Leonor Varela (born December 29, 1972) is an actress from Chile.

She was born in Santiago, Chile. Her parents are the famous Chilean biologist Francisco Varela and Leonor Palma, a French-Hungarian dancer. She has one sister Alejandra and two brothers, Javier and Gabriel.

Varela's family fled to Costa Rica in her early childhood when her homeland was overtaken by a military regime. She subsequently resided in Germany, the U.S., and France. In the early 1990s her parents moved back to Chile, while she remained in Paris where she studied acting at the Neils Arestrup's School, The Ecole de Passage, and Conservatoire Superieur de Paris.

Her first job was in 1995, playing Anette in Pony Trek, a children's film. Filming was in Iceland and Leonor was riding horses for three months. Then, referred to a French filmmaker by her dentist, she played in The Shooting Stars (1997). Varela found her popularity on the rise at home when she was cast in the Chilean TV series 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 hit the screen as Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen. She fell in love with actor Billy Zane (Mark Antony) on the set, but they split up two years later.

Roles in The Tailor of Panama and Texas Rangers (both in 2001) followed shortly thereafter, and as the fanged vampire princess in the action film Blade II. After that came Paraíso B and Pas Si Grave.

Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television series Arrested Development as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for Innocent Voices (2004). She also had a non-recurring role in Stargate: Atlantis.

Her latest projects are Americano, Caleuche:The call of the sea, Casas de Cartón and Gigola where she plays feminist Laure Charpentier.

Filmography

• Pony Trek (1995) - Anette
• Sous le soleil (1996) - Jeanne
• Tic Tac (1997) - Pola Santa María
• A legend to Ride (1997) - Anette
• Shooting Stars (1997) - Vanessa
• Bouge! (1997) - La danseuse
• Inca de Oro (1997) - Flor de l'Inca
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1997) - Ballroom Beauty
• Jeremiah (1998) - Judith
• Les parasites (1999) - Fidelia
• Cleopatra (1999) - Cleopatra
• Les infortunes de la beauté (1999) - Annabella
• The Tailor of Panamá (2001) - Marta
• Texas Rangers (2001) - Perdita
• Blade II (2002) - Nyssa Damaskinos
• Paraíso B (2002) - Gloria
• No big deal (2003) - Angela
• Ruby & Quentin (2003) - Sandra/Katia
• Arrested Development (2003) - Marta Estrella
• Innocent Voices (2004) - Kella
• Americano (2005) - Adela
• Stargate Atlantis (2005) - Chaya Sar
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) - Dr.Azelia Barakat
• Goal 2: Living the dream (2006) - Jordana García
• The sleep dealer (2006) - Luz
• El Caleuche: Call of the Sea (2006) - Isabel Millalobos
• ¡Pega Martín pega! (2006) - Mireya
• Seed of Contention (2006) - Mila

External links

• Website

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