Assumpta Serna

{{Infobox person

| image = Assumpta_Serna_2018 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Serna in 2018

| birth_name = María Asunción Rodés Serna

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|9|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Barcelona, Spain

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1978–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Scott Cleverdon|1993}}

}}

María Asunción Rodés Serna (born 16 September 1957), better known as Assumpta Serna, is a Spanish actress and author. Born in Barcelona, Serna has performed in 20 countries in six languages and is the recipient of more than 20 international awards.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Il9wlNbjyC4C&q=nostradamus+assumpta&pg=PA167 |title=Assumpta Serna |author=Nuria Vidal |page=167|access-date=2 December 2016|isbn=9788474262117 |year=1993 |publisher=Icaria Editorial }}

Biography

Serna was born in Barcelona, Spain.{{cite web|url=http://www.geneall.net/H/per_page.php?id=2161071 |title=María Asunción Rodés Serna, * 1957 |website=Geneall.net |access-date=2 December 2016}} She studied law until she was 19, after which she "preferred being an actor" and joined the Barcelona's School of Dramatic Arts.{{cite news|last1=GOLDSTEIN|first1=PATRICK|title=Love, Anarchy--Passions of Assumpta Serna|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-17-ca-9833-story.html|access-date=3 December 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=17 July 1988}}

In 1994, she married her co-star in Sharpe's Company, Scott Cleverdon, who portrayed Lieutenant Harry Price in the film.{{cite web|url=http://www.todocoleccion.net/coleccionismo-revista-hola/revista-hola-n-2598-ano-1994-carlona-monaco-boda-assumpta-serna-scott-cleverdon-manzanares~x53514169 |title=revista hola nº 2598 año 1994. carlona de monac – Comprar Revista Hola en todocoleccion – 53514169 |website=Todocoleccion.net |date=23 April 2007 |access-date=2 December 2016}}

Acting career

In her career as an actress, Serna felt she was more successful in foreign countries than in her own country. Speaking in a 2016 interview, she said:

{{Verse translation|{{lang|es|A veces siento vergüenza de ser española y pienso que esto no hay quien lo enderece... Como actriz me siento desaprovechada en mi país pero muy aprovechada fuera.}}|Sometimes I feel ashamed to be Spanish and I think that there is no one who can fix it... As an actress I feel wasted in my country but really appreciated outside.|attr1=Assumpta Serna{{cite news|title=Assumpta Serna: "La menopausia me costó un año de depresión y otro para salir de ella"|url=http://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/entrevistas/20161111/169983257_0.html|access-date=3 December 2016|work=El Español}}}}

=Film=

Serna is known for her starring role in I, the Worst of All (1990) portraying the Mexican poet, philosopher and proto-feminist Sor Juana. She co-starred with Antonio Banderas in Matador (1986), one of the first films by Pedro Almodóvar,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4LzeUZ03vQC&q=matador+assumpta+serna%2C+pauline+kael&pg=PA470 |title=5001 Nights at the Movies |author=Pauline Kael |page=470|access-date=2 December 2016|isbn=9781250033574 |date=2 August 2011 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company }} and she appeared in such films as Wild Orchid (1990), Chain of Desire (1992), Nostradamus (1994), The Shooter (1995), The Craft (1996) and Kiss & Tell (1997).

Although she predominantly played European roles, Serna has also played Colombians in the films Managua with Louis Gossett Jr. and Drug Wars in Michael Mann's series.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxHbPxbBM1AC&q=michael+mann+and+assumpta+serna&pg=PP280 |title=Variety TV REV 1991–92 17 – Prouty |page=280 |format=PDF |date=2016 |website=Talentsguadalajara.com |access-date=2 December 2016|isbn=9780824037963 |author1=Prouty |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}

Her most recent movie is ¡He matado a mi marido! (filmed October–November 2016) directed by Francisco Lupini, with María Conchita Alonso and Eduardo Yáñez.{{cite web |url=http://www.hematadoamimarido.com/crew/ |title=Crew — ¡He matado a mi marido! |website=Hematadoamimarido.com |access-date=2 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203060335/http://www.hematadoamimarido.com/crew/ |archive-date=3 December 2016 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://amadoresdelcine.blogspot.com.es/2016/10/la-actriz-espanola-assumpta-serna.html |title=Los Amadores Del Cine: La Actriz Española Assumpta Serna Protagoniza La Comedia "He Matado A Mi Marido", De Francisco Lupini-Basagoiti |publisher=Amadoresdelcine.blogspot.com.es |date=6 November 2016 |access-date=2 December 2016}}

=Television=

Serna is known for portraying a Spanish guerrilla in the first four of ITV's Sharpe series of television films based on the novels of Bernard Cornwell,{{cite web|url=https://islantillacineforum.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/falcon-crest.jpg |format=JPG |title=TP |website=Islantillacineforum.files.wordpress.com |access-date=2 December 2016}}

Anna Cellini in Falcon Crest{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlDALjminQI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/qlDALjminQI |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Falcon Crest Opening Complete Guest Cast |publisher=YouTube |date=1 June 2014 |access-date=2 December 2016}}{{cbignore}}

and Catherine of Aragon in Henry VIII opposite Helena Bonham Carter and Ray Winstone. She also acted on the popular Spanish TV series Aquí no hay quien viva. From 2011 to 2014, Serna played one of the female leads, Vannozza dei Cattanei, mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, in Tom Fontana's historical drama Borgia.{{cite web|url=http://www.mundoplus.tv/noticias/?seccion=series&id=5320|title="Borgia" llega a Cosmopolitan TV|website=Mundoplus.tv|access-date=2 December 2016}}

She co-produced with Wildcard UK a documentary called [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdaoOc2apJ0 Fresco Fiasco] and acted in the movie [https://vimeo.com/222743618 Behold the Monkey], two films about the famous restoration of the Ecce Homo which attracted more than 200,000 visitors from 170 countries to the little town of Borja to see the painting. Both projects were seen in February 2016 on the Sky Arts network in the UK.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXITZE-J94 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/WTXITZE-J94 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Estreno del Documental "Fresco fiasco" |publisher=YouTube |date=7 July 2016 |access-date=2 December 2016}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=http://go.sky.com/tvboxsets/series/content/series/d95b451480903510VgnVCM1000000b43150a____ |format=PDF |title=SKY Box Sets |date=2016 |website=Go.sdky.com |access-date=2 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728212422/http://go.sky.com/tvboxsets/series/content/series/d95b451480903510VgnVCM1000000b43150a____ |archive-date=28 July 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.es/espana/aragon/abci-eccehomo-borja-salta-television-britanica-201606171248_noticia.html |title=El Eccehomo de Borja salta a la televisión británica |website=Abc.es |date=17 June 2016 |access-date=2 December 2016}}

Educator and other work

Serna has written two books on acting technique: Screen acting or El trabajo del actor de cine (1999),{{Cite book |last=Serna |first=Assumpta |title=El trabajo del actor de cine |date=1999 |publisher=Cátedra |isbn=978-84-376-1705-3 |series=Signo e imagen |location=Madrid}} which was the first book to be written in Spanish regarding the craft of film-acting,{{cite book|title=El trabajo del actor de cine|trans-title=The Work of the Actor|last=Serna|first=Assumpta|date=1999|publisher=Catedra|language=es|isbn=978-8437617053}} and Monologues in V.O. (2001),{{Cite book |last=Serna |first=Assumpta |title=Monólogos en V.O: para chicos y chicas, hombres y mujers |date=2001 |publisher=Editorial La Avispa |isbn=978-84-95489-36-4 |series=Texto teatro |location=Madrid}} a resource for auditioning actors.

They formed Fundación First Team{{failed verification|date=December 2016}} and, since 2000, have taught 4,000 students in 6 countries in collaboration with various film schools and film festivals. The last workshop was at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico.{{cite web|url=http://www.talentsguadalajara.com/descargas/Programa-TALENTS-EN.pdf |title=Programa de Actividades |date=2016 |website=Talentsguadalajara.com |access-date=2 December 2016}}{{failed verification|date=December 2016}} Foundation First Team always include disabled and under-privileged people in their courses.{{cite news|url=http://www.europapress.es/epsocial/ong-y-asociaciones/noticia-sector-discapacidad-pide-no-quedar-fuera-series-tv-20150521145955.html |title=El sector de la discapacidad pide no quedar fuera de las series de TV |language=es |website=Europapress.es |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=2 December 2016}}

Through Foundation First Team, Serna has published First Female directors of Spanish movies, written by Conchita Martínez Tejedor.{{cite web |url=http://www.fundacionfirstteam.org/ |title=Cursos Interpretación Cinematográfica : Escuela actores first team |website=Fundacionfirstteam.org |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=2 December 2016 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021173100/http://www.fundacionfirstteam.org/ |url-status=dead }}{{failed verification|date=December 2016}}

Serna served as President of AISGE (Actores e Intérpretes – Sociedad de Gestión de España), Spain's society of managing intellectual property rights for actors.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qy6La_j0Ee0C&q=aisge%2C+assumpta+serna&pg=PA129 |title=Bibliografia espańola sobre Propiedad Intelectual 1987–2000 |author=César Iglesias Rebollo|page=129 |access-date=2 December 2016|isbn=9788429013788 |date=January 2002 |publisher=Editorial Reus }}