Biography for
Leonor Varela (I) More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

9 December 1972, Santiago, Chile

Birth Name

Leonor Varela Palma

Nickname

Leo

Height

5' 6½" (1.69 m)

Mini Biography

Leonor Varela was born on December 9, 1972, in Santiago de Chile, Chile. Daughter of Francisco Varela and Leonor Palma, her family fled to Costa Rica leaving behind the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Subsequently residing in Germany, USA, and France, where Varela studied.

In the '90s she appears in the Chilean soap "Tic Tac" (1997), and in other French and Europeans productions like Pony Trek (1995) (TV), "Sous le soleil" (1996), Ciel est à nous, Le (1997), "A Legend to Ride" (1997), "Juste, Le" (1996), or Bouge! (1997). Her career in Holywood began in 1998, when she joined the cast of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998/I) when she starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, and she appeared in Jeremiah (1998) (TV) opposite 'Patrick Dempsey'. The following year (1999), she played the title character in the ABC TV movie _"Cleopatra"(1999) (TV)_ opposite her future fiancé Billy Zane and Timothy Dalton

She appeared in The Tailor of Panama (2001) as Marta and in Texas Rangers (2001) as Perdita opposite Ashton Kutcher. In 2002 she appeared as the fanged vampire princess Nyssa in the action film Blade II (2002) opposite Wesley Snipes and 'Kris Kristofferson' and directed by Guillermo del Toro. After that came in Paraíso B (2002) as Gloria and in Pas si grave (2003) as Angela.

Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television show "Arrested Development" (2003) as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for Voces inocentes (2004). She also had a non-recurring role in "Stargate: Atlantis" (2004).

In 2005 she appeared playing Adela in Americano (2005), and her followings projects included Goal II: Living the Dream (2007) as the journalist Jordana Garcia, Where God Left His Shoes (2007) with John Leguizamo and the TV series produced by Jennifer Lopez "Como ama una mujer" (2007).

In the 2008 Sundance Film Festival she screened Sleep Dealer (2008) and the Larry Bishop's Hell Ride (2008), opposite Michael Madsen and Eric Balfour and produced by Quentin Tarantino.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ninde

Trivia

She is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian.

Formerly engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star from the miniseries Cleopatra (1999) (TV).

Beat out 35 other actresses to play the title role in Cleopatra (1999) (TV).

Appeared on the cover of thirteen separate editions of the Maxim magazine, each naming a different North American city as the greatest on Earth.

Daughter of famous Chilean biologist and philosopher Francisco Varela (1946-2001).

After graduating from the Ecole du Passage and the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris, she was ready for the big screen.

Her family fled to Costa Rica, leaving behind the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

As a child, she got to see her homeland another time when her family returned to Chile.

Her stay in Chile was brief, and she soon found herself in Germany, then back in Chile, and finally in France in her late teens.

She is half Chilean on her father's side and French on her mother's side.

She lived in Paris from the age of 14.

Has 3 siblings, Alejandra, Javier and Gabriel.

Was featured as #11 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002" supplement. (2002)

Personal Quotes

"In this business, if you don't have the capacity to step back and have some sort of relativity about things, you're screwed."

"I don't need jewels and cars. It's about the delicacy of the way I'm handled."

"I'm not good with limitations. I tend to like to find my own. It hurts sometimes, but it's good. I'm little extreme in that sense-the middle ground is not my forte."

"I don't believe in nudity for nudity's sake, but it's really beautiful when it's done well, when it's within a story. I'm very comfortable with my body. I grew up mostly in France, where nudity is not taboo. It's not this hypocritical thing where we go, "No!" and then it's "Oh, yes!" When we strip away the clothes, the jewelry, that's who we really are. I walk around naked in my house."

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