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Blanca Portillo | |
|---|---|
Portillo in 2023 | |
| Born | Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco (1963-06-15)15 June 1963 (age 62) Madrid, Spain |
| Education | RESAD |
| Occupations |
|
Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco (born 15 June 1963) is a Spanish film, television, and stage actress. She has also worked as theatre director and producer.[1][2] She made her feature film debut inEntre rojas (1995). She became popular for her portrayal of Carlota in sitcom television seriesSiete vidas.[3] Portillo is the recipient of numerous accolades, including aGoya Award for Best Actress.
Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco was born inMadrid on 15 June 1963.[4][5]
Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions. She earned a degree in drama from theRESAD.[6]
One of her most important performances afterwards was her role of Carol inOleanna byDavid Mamet, directed by Joaquín Kremel in 1994.
She made her feature film debut inEntre rojas (1995).[7] In 1996, Luis San Narciso cast her for the hitTelecinco series7 vidas,.[8] The series lasted for ten years and ran for 204 episodes. Portillo played the role of Carlota, an insecure but brassy hairdresser who married Gonzalo, the owner of a bar which functioned as the central set of the show.
She played a mother inThe Color of the Clouds (1997).[9] Her performance in the film earned her a nomination to theGoya Award for Best New Actress.[9] She also participated in the European Spanish dubbing ofFinding Nemo. In spite of her success in film and television, she has continued taking part in stage plays both as an actress and as a director.
In 2004, she left7 vidas to undertake a theatrical project in Argentina namedLa hija del aire (The daughter of Air) based on a book byCalderón de la Barca. She combined her work on this play with the filmElsa y Fred (2005) in which she plays a woman suspicious of the relationship between her elderly father and his Argentinian neighbor.
In the 2005 filmAlatriste, based on a book byArturo Pérez Reverte,[10] she played a male role, specifically that of a member of theSpanish Inquisition. She shaved her head for the role. The following year,Pedro Almodóvar cast her in his 2006 filmVolver. She played Agustina, a friend of the central family who is terminally ill and looking for her missing mother.
She then appeared inGoya's Ghosts byMiloš Forman, playing 18th-century consortMaria Luisa of Parma, and landed her first starring role in a movie inGracia Querejeta's filmSeven Billiard Tables. Here she played the lover of the owner of a billiard club and the daughter ofAmparo Baró, her former co-star from7 Vidas. In 2009, she featured again in a film by Pedro Almodóvar,Broken Embraces playing the role of Judit.
Her work in recent years has seen a return to Spanish television, including a role inHospital Central, and directing roles in the theater. She had a small role in the 2011 filmAs Luck Would Have It, starring alongsideSalma Hayek.
She starred in the 2016 filmBoy Missing.
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Entre rojas | Manuela | Feature film debut | |
1996 | Eso | Marta | ||
| El perro del hortelano (The Dog in the Manger) | Dorotea | |||
1997 | El color de las nubes (The Color of the Clouds) | |||
1999 | Entre las piernas (Between Your Legs) | |||
2001 | Solo mía (Mine Alone) | |||
2003 | Finding Nemo | Peach | Voice in theEuropean Spanish track | |
2005 | Elsa y Fred (Elsa & Fred) | Cuca | ||
2006 | Volver | Agustina | ||
| Alatriste | Fray Emilio Bocanegra | |||
| Goya's Ghosts | Queen Maria Luisa | |||
2007 | Siete mesas de billar francés (Seven Billiard Tables) | Charo | ||
2008 | El patio de mi cárcel (My Prison Yard) | Adela | ||
2009 | Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces) | Judit García | ||
2011 | La chispa de la vida (As Luck Would Have It) | Mercedes | ||
2016 | Secuestro (Boy Missing) | Patricia de Lucas | ||
2020 | Invisibles (The Invisible) | Mara | ||
| Retrato de mujer blanca con pelo canoso y arrugas (Portrait of White Woman with Grey Hair and Wrinkles) | Julia | |||
2021 | Maixabel | Maixabel Lasa [es] | ||
2023 | Teresa | Teresa | ||
2024 | Escape | Doctor Giráldez |
Actress

Director
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | 7thActors Union Awards | Best Stage Performance in a Secondary Role | Eslavos | Won | |
| 12th Goya Awards | Best New Actress | The Colour of the Clouds | Nominated | ||
2004 | 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Secondary Role | Como en las mejores familias | Won | |
2005 | 14th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | La hija del aire | Won | |
2006 | 58th Cannes Film Festival | Best Actress | Volver | Won | |
2007 | 21st Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | ||
| 16th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role | Won | |||
2008 | 17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | Barroco | Nominated | |
2010 | 19th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role | Broken Embraces | Nominated | |
| Best Television Actress in a Leading Role | Acusados | Nominated | |||
2013 | 22nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | Life Is a Dream | Won | |
2014 | 23rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Television Actress in a Leading Role | Stolen Children | Nominated | |
2008 | 22nd Goya Awards | Best Actress | Seven Billiard Tables | Nominated | |
2018 | 5th Feroz Awards | Best Main Actress in a Series | Sé quién eres | Nominated | |
| 27th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | El cartógrafo | Nominated | ||
2021 | 27th Forqué Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Maixabel | Won | |
2022 | 36th Goya Awards | Best Actress | Won | ||
| 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated | |||
| 10th Platino Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Won | |||
2023 | 29th Forqué Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Teresa | Nominated | |
2024 | 79thCEC Medals | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
| 32nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | La madre de Frankenstein | Nominated | ||
2025 | 33rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | 1936 | Nominated |
Candidatura al premio de Mejor Actriz Revelación (1997).Unión de Actores