Cecilia Suarez

The wonderful Cecilia Suarez is one of Mexico’s most prominent and uncompromising actors and activists. In a career that has spanned 25 years (and counting), she has starred in many acclaimed film, television, and stage productions. She has won numerous awards, including three lifetime achievement awards, and been the first Spanish-speaking actress to be nominated for an Emmy. Away from acting, she is outspoken on a range of issues, most notably femicide and human rights issues regarding women.

Ironically, Suarez never intended to work in acting. Born in Mexico, she moved to Illinois in the early 1990s to study law at university but was inspired by her sister to shift to theatre. By the time she graduated, she had begun to build a reputation as a classical actor with leading roles in several plays at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. She became a star in Mexico in 1999 through her appearance in Sexo, pudo y lagrimas (Sex, Shame & Tears) which broke box office records and remains the highest-grossing film of all-time in Mexico. This paved the way for her to establish her film career during the 2000s. She works almost exclusively in Spanish-speaking roles because of her opposition to American cinema’s narratives of Mexican life and culture.

Suarez continues to be as in-demand as ever, with recent high-profile roles including the leading role in the much-praised drama series La Casa de las Flores (House of Flowers) — for which she won the Platino Award for Best TV Actress two years running — and a main role in Alguien tiene que morir (Someone Has to Die).