Maria Pedraza

Maria Pedraza is a Spanish actress and ballet dancer whose reputation stretches far beyond her home country thanks to her roles in the massively successful Netflix series Elite and Money Heist. She is just a few years into her professional screen career but can boast over 11.5 million followers on Instagram and thousands of fans across other platforms. Among her most recent roles is that of young lawyer Triana Mardin in Toy Boy, a Spanish drama series that was picked up for a second season by Netflix.

Pedraza was born in Madrid in 1996. Her route into acting was unusual: She was discovered on Instagram by Academy Award-winning director Esteban Crespo, who invited her to audition for his debut feature film, Amar. This led to her securing the role of Alison Parker, one of the main cast of Money Heist, a Spanish crime drama that was subsequently picked up by Netflix and became an international hit — it won the 2018 International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series among a host of other European awards. It became the most followed show on Twitter, the biggest show on IMDb; the characters were immortalised in wax in Paris museums; banners were flown at Saudi Arabian football matches.

Pedraza followed this success by joining the cast of another huge hit, the Spanish Netflix original series Elite. She appeared as her Marina Nunier Osuna, a pivotal character in the show’s first season. Elite became another worldwide hit, and so Pedraza’s reputation was established. With such an enviable track record, it’ll be fascinating to see what she does next.