Adriana Barraza
Birthdate: Mar 5, 1956
Birthplace: Toluca, Estado de Mexico, Mexico
Adriana Barraza (birthname: Adriana Barraza González) is one of only three Mexican-born actors to be nominated for an Oscar, and a distinguished career as an actor in both Mexican and American cinema, as well as a highly respected acting teacher in Mexico City and Miami and a TV director from 1995 to 2011 (along with directing short films in 2017 and 2022 and serving as an acting coach for Telemundo from 1998 to 2004).
After seven years of roles in mostly telenovelas for Mexican television, Barraza was cast in a supporting role in director-producer-editor Alejandro González Iñárritu’s acclaimed Mexican film, Amores Perros (2000), nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and co-starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Emilio Echevarria, Goya Toledo, Alvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, and Jorge Salinas, and premiered at the Cannes film festival, making ten times costs with a $21 million box office return.
Adriana Barraza achieved widespread acclaim—and her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination—for her performance in Iñárritu’s U.S.-made drama, Babel (2006), based on Guillermo Arriaga’s script and co-starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Bernal, Koji Yakusho, and Rinko Kikuchi, and premiering in competition at the Cannes film festival, earning seven Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Director), and grossing $135 million globally.
Barraza joined the ensemble of the Mark Pellington-directed comedy-drama, Henry Poole is Here (2008), co-starring Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, Cheryl Hines, George Lopez, and Richard Benjamin, and premiering at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals. Horror filmmaker maestro Sam Raimi cast Barraza in his striking comedy-tinged Drag Me To Hell (2009), starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, and David Paymer, earning a solid $91 million globally for Universal Pictures. Barraza worked with filmmaker Sally Potter on her stylized, cellphone-themed film, Rage (2009), with Simon Abkarian, Patrick Adams, Riz Ahmed, Bob Balaban, Steve Buscemi, Judi Dench, Jude Law, John Leguizamo, David Oyelowo, and Dianne Wiest.
Adriana Barraza was featured in the Mexican anthology film, Revolución (2010), co-directed by major Latin American filmmakers including Carlos Reygadas, Fernando Eimbcke, Amat Escalante, Mariana Chenillo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Patricia Riggen, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, and Rodrigo Plá, and premiering at the Morelia film festival.
After a role in writer-director Christopher Landon’s indie, Burning Palms (2010), with Lake Bell, Shannen Doherty, Rosamund Pike, Dylan McDermott, Paz Vega, and Zoe Saldana, Barraza co-starred in her first Argentine film, writer-director Victoria Galardi’s Cerro Bayo (2010), with Veronica Llinas, Nahuel Perez Biscayart, and Marcela Kloosterboer, and premiering at the San Sebastian film festival.
Barraza co-starred or played support in several subsequent features, including the U.S.-Argentine And Soon the Darkness (2010); the Angel Gracia-directed Jane Austen adaptation From Prada to Nada (2011); filmmakers Tom Gustafson’s and Cory Krueckeberg’s indie rom-com, Mariachi Gringo (2012); director-writer-producer Jorge Ramirez Saurez’s Mexican-German drama, Guten Tag, Ramón (2013); and the Daniel Barnz-directed Cake (2014), with Jennifer Aniston, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Anna Kendrick, and Sam Worthington.
Adriana Barraza was then cast opposite star-writer-director Robert Duvall in the poorly-received Western, Wild Horses (2015), with James Franco and Josh Hartnett. Barraza delivered one of her most powerful lead performances in Natalia Almada’s fine Mexican drama, Todo lo demas/Everything Else (2016), premiering at the Morelia, New York, and Rome film festivals.
Adriana Barraza appeared in a supporting role in lighter fare in the Paramount/Nickelodeon feature adaptation of the popular Dora the Explorer Nick Jr. animated series, Dora and The Lost City of Gold (2019), with Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, and Danny Trejo, and grossing a hefty $121 million globally. Barraza co-starred in indie director-writer Sara Seligman’s acclaimed debut feature, Coyote Lake (2019), with Camila Mendes.
Barraza joined Sly Stallone for his reboot (as co-writer and star) of the Rambo franchise, Rambo: Last Blood (2019), with Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Yvette Monreal, and ended up with a fair box office of $91.5 million. Adriana Barraza joined the highly praised cast of Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, and Joshua Close in director-writer-producer Andrea Pallaoro’s Italian-U.S. co-production, Monica (2023), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and released by IFC Films.
Barraza then delivered an acclaimed comic turn in DC Studios’ first Latino-centric superhero movie, Blue Beetle (2023), starring Xolo Maridueña, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez, and released by Warner Bros. Barraza soon starred opposite Jean Reno and Rochi Hernandez in the U.S.-Brazil co-production, My Penguin Friend (2024), directed by David Schurmann.
Personal Details
Adriana Barraza was born and raised in Toluca, in the state of Mexico, by parents Celia Barraza and Eduardo Barraza Carral (farmer). Barraza has three brothers, Eduardo, Porfirio, and José, and a sister, María. Barraza’s mother Celia died of the heart condition, myocarditis, when young Adriana was ten years old.
Barraza attended the Fine Arts School at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, from which she graduated with a degree in acting. Barraza had a daughter, Carolina Valsagna, at age 18, but the father soon abandoned them. In 1978, Barraza then married Carlos Valsagna, who gave his last name to her daughter. Barraza divorced Valsagna in 1985, and then married university lecturer Arnaldo Pipke in 2005; the couple has one grandson, Juan. Barraza’s height is 5’ 1”.
Filmography
actor
Previous (5)
- 2024 | My Penguin FriendasMaria
My Penguin Friend
Inspired by a true story; an enchanting adventure about a lost penguin rescued from an oil spill, who transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They soon become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
- 2023 | Blue BeetleasNana Reyes
Blue Beetle
An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blu...
- 2023 |
- 2019 | Rambo: Last BloodasMaria Beltran
Rambo: Last Blood
Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission.
- 2019 | Dora and the Lost City of GoldasAbuelita Valerie
Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Teenage explorer Dora leads her friends on an adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind a lost city of gold.
Some Facts About Adriana Barraza
Master Teacher: Adriana Barraza is referred to as “Maestra (Master) Barraza” in Mexico for her reputation as a renowned acting teacher with the Actors Workshop in Mexico City. Barraza runs an acting school, Adriana Barraza’s Black Box, based in Miami, and is known for her work as an acting coach with shows and with the Telemundo network to provide actors with the correct Mexican accent when called for in the role.
Heart Issues: Barraza has suffered two heart attacks, with a genetic condition she shares with her late mother, who died of a heart attack.
