9 Most Popular Mexican Actresses Who Have Achieved International Fame
Are you looking for the most popular Mexican actresses that achieved international fame?
If we begin to really talk about why we love Mexico, the list will never end.
This North American country is home to some of the world’s most fabulous beach destinations. Its colorful festivities are among the world’s most famous. Mexican culture and cuisine have spread all over the world. And so has the Mexican talent.
RELATED READ: 9 Most Famous Mexican Actors Who Have Achieved International Fame
Mexico has produced some of the most talented actors and actresses that have graced the screen. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular Mexican actresses who have achieved international fame.
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9 Most Popular Mexican Actresses
1. Salma Hayek
Hands down the most famous Mexican actress in the world, Salma Hayek was born to an affluent family in Coatzacoalcos,Veracruz, in eastern Mexico, on 2 September 1966. She has Lebanese and Spanish blood.
Hayek crossed the border to the United States and was an illegal immigrant for a short time. She ventured into Hollywood and was given roles in films like Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, Wild Wild West, Dogma, and Tale of Tales, until her breakthrough role in Frida in 2002.
She became the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the mentioned biographical film.
Hayek has a daughter with her French mogul husband, François-Henri Pinault. She is a champion of women’s rights and raises awareness about discrimination against immigrants.
2. Thalía
Born Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda to a prominent Mexican clan on 26 August 1971 in Mexico City, Thalía appeared in her first TV commercial at the age of one. Her music career began when she was nine. She started acting on telenovelas at the age of 15, starring in her first major role a year later.
1992 was the year that Thalía’s popularity exploded, thanks to her lead role in the telenovela María Mercedes. It was followed by Marimar in 1994, then Maria la del Barrio in 1995.
These telenovelas were all massive hits worldwide, including her last one called Rosalinda in 1999, prompting the mass media to dub her the “queen of soap operas.”
In 2000, Thalía married American music executive Tommy Mottola, with whom she has 2 children.
Today, Thalía remains one of the most important female Mexican artists.
RELATED READ: Fun Facts About Thalia
3. Yalitza Aparicio
Born 11 December 1993 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, in southwestern Mexico, Yalitza Aparicio is of mixed indigenous heritage – half-Mixtec and half-Triqui.
She is the second – and to date the last – Mexican actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as the indigenous domestic worker Cleodegaria “Cleo” Gutiérrez in the 2018 drama Roma.
Aparicio also also became the first indigenous American woman to receive said Oscar nomination.
Incidentally, Roma was Aparicio’s film debut. Prior to acting, she was a preschool teacher. She never fomally trained in acting and also didn’t speak the Mixtec language fluently so she had to learn it for Roma.
After the film’s huge success, Aparicio has been recognized as one of the most famous icons for indigenous people. In 2019, she was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples.
4. Eiza González
Eiza González was born 30 January 1990 in Mexico City to a former fashion model mother. She made her debut in acting in a children’s telenovela called Floricienta in 2004. Two years later, she got the role of the lead female protagonist in Lola, érase una vez, which catapulted her to stardom.
In 2013, she moved to Hollywood to pursue her acting career. In 2015, González was cast as Santanico Pandemonium in the TV series, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. It was the very same role played by fellow Mexican, Salma Hayek, in the original movie.
Since then, González has played a number of big roles in movies like Baby Driver, (2017), Hobbs & Shaw (2019), Alita: Battle Angel (2019), I Care a Lot (2020), Bloodshot (2020), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).
READ MORE: Interesting Facts About Eiza Gonzalez
5. Ana de la Reguera
Hailing from the Mexican port city of Heroica Veracruz, Ana de la Reguera has starred in Mexican telenovelas, films, the HBO comedy Eastbound & Down and Capadocia, and the Amazon TV’s Goliath.
De la Reguera also starred in the 2006 comedy Nacho Libre. In 2014, she was cast for the role of Elisa in the Netflix crime drama Narcos.
De la Reguera danced ballet prior to acting. Despite her busy schedule, she is very much committed to charity work. She is the founder of the philanthropic organization called Veracruz ANA AC.
6. Kate del Castillo
Acting runs in Kate del Castillo’s blood, as her father is Eric del Castillo, a legend in Mexican cinema and telenovelas himself.
Born in Mexico City on 23 October 1972, Kate del Castillo started acting professionally in 1978. She became famous in 1991 when she starred in the telenovela Muchachitas, which aired in several Latin American countries.
However, del Castillo achieved worldwide recognition ten years later, when she portrayed the lead role in the telenovela La Reina del Sur.
Del Castillo starred in the Netflix drama Ingobernable as the First Lady of Mexico in 2017. Her Hollywood debut was the female lead role in the 2007 film Under the Same Moon.
She also appeared in supporting roles in several Hollywood films including the 2014 No Good Deed and the 2020 Bad Boys for Life.
Del Castillo is also remembered by the world as the one who brokered the interview between American actor Sean Penn and the notorious leader of the Sinaloa Cartel Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2015.
7. Karla Souza
Born Karla Susana Olivares Souza on 11 December 1985 in Mexico City, Souza started acting on Mexican TV when she was 22, on the telenovela titled Verano de Amor.
Souza moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to delve into English-language film and television roles, getting cast as a series regular in How to Get Away with Murder. Her other notable role is that of Marina Hayworth on the ABC sitcom Home Economics.
Souza is happily married with two children – a son and a daughter.
8. Stephanie Sigman
Catapulted to fame through her role as Laura Guerrero in the 2011 Mexican crime drama film Miss Bala, Stephanie Sigman went on the following year to star in the Canadian documentary film Flight of the Butterflies. She also co-starred in the 2013 Norwegian thriller Pioneer.
Stephanie Sigman was born on 28 February 1987 in Ciudad Obregón, in the northwestern Mexico‘s state of Sonora, to a Mexican mother and an American father. She started her acting career on Mexican TV before making her film debut in Rio de Oro in 2010.
In 2015, Sigman was cast in the Netflix crime thriller, Narcos. That same year, she became the second Mexican actress to play a Bond girl when she appeared in the James Bond film Spectre.
9. Laura Harring
Born on 3 March 1964 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, Laura Harring relocated to San Antonio, Texas, USA, with her family when she was ten.
Harring studied in Switzerland and settled in El Paso, Texas, upon returning to the US. There she became Miss El Paso USA and Miss Texas USA soon after before ultimately winning the Miss USA 1985 title.
She was the first Hispanic woman to ever be crowned Miss USA.
Harring began acting in 1989, with the slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! It was followed by several more films before she starred in the 2001 film Mulholland Drive, in a role which won her an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. She also starred in various TV movies and soap operas.
Harring married Count Carl-Eduard von Bismarck-Schönhausen in 1987, which afforded her the title of Countess von Bismarck-Schönhausen. The couple divorced after 2 years of marriage but Harring retains her countess title.
