Leonor Varela

{{Infobox person

| name = Leonor Varela

| image = Leonor Varela(2).jpg

| caption = Varela in 2010

| birth_name = Leonor Magdalena Varela Palma

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1972|12|29}}

| birth_place = Santiago, Chile

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1995–present

| website =

| spouse = {{marriage|Lucas Akoskin|15 April 2013}}

| children = 2

}}

Leonor Magdalena Varela Palma ({{IPA|es|leoˈnoɾ βaˈɾela}}; born 29 December 1972) is a Chilean born actress. She played the title role in the 1999 television film Cleopatra, and vampire princess Nyssa Damaskinos in the 2002 Marvel Comics film Blade II.

Early life

Varela was born in Santiago, Chile, the daughter of Leonor Palma-Keller, a massage therapist, and biologist and cognitive neuroscientist Francisco Varela García.{{cite web |url=http://www.revistapolis.cl/8/yen.htm |title=Revista Polis |access-date=2012-07-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318171147/http://www.revistapolis.cl/8/yen.htm |archive-date=18 March 2013 }} She has a sister, Alejandra, and two brothers, Javier and Gabriel.{{cite web|url=http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/2013/09/17/te-amo-tal-cual-actriz-leonor-varela-hace-publica-la-dura-enfermedad-de-su-hijo.shtml|title="Te amo tal cual": Actriz Leonor Varela hace pública la dura enfermedad de su hijo|date=17 September 2013|website=BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile|access-date=27 January 2019|archive-date=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801160705/http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/2013/09/17/te-amo-tal-cual-actriz-leonor-varela-hace-publica-la-dura-enfermedad-de-su-hijo.shtml|url-status=live}} When Varela was a child, her family fled Chile after the 1973 military coup d'état.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.sacurrent.com/index.php/streetview/interview-leonor-varela/|title=Interview: Leonor Varela|publisher=San Antonio Current|date=10 December 2010|access-date=3 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019072507/http://blogs.sacurrent.com/index.php/streetview/interview-leonor-varela/|archive-date=19 October 2013}}

Career

Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television series Arrested Development as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for Innocent Voices (2004). She also had a non-recurring role in Stargate: Atlantis.{{cite web|url=https://www.gateworld.net/wiki/Chaya_Sar|title=Chaya Sar - The Stargate Omnipedia|website=gateworld.net|access-date=27 January 2019|archive-date=27 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127094628/https://www.gateworld.net/wiki/Chaya_Sar|url-status=live}}

In 2012, she appeared as Marta Del Sol on the TNT television series Dallas.{{cite web|title=Leonor Varela tras confirmación de "Dallas": "Tuve que pelear este papel"|url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/2011/07/12/492075/leonor-varela-tras-confirmacion-de-dallas-tuve-que-pelear-este-papel.html|work=El Mercurio|publisher=El Mercurio SAP|access-date=3 January 2013|language=Spanish|date=12 July 2011|archive-date=24 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324232402/http://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/2011/07/12/492075/leonor-varela-tras-confirmacion-de-dallas-tuve-que-pelear-este-papel.html|url-status=live}}

Personal life

Varela was engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star in the 1999 miniseries Cleopatra, (aired in 1999, released to video in 2001).{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news/billy-zane-refers-to-girlfriend-as-wife_1314431|title=Billy Zane - Billy Zane Refers To Girlfriend As 'Wife'|publisher=Contactmusic.com|date=6 April 2012|access-date=3 July 2012|archive-date=6 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806182350/http://www.contactmusic.com/news/billy-zane-refers-to-girlfriend-as-wife_1314431|url-status=live}}

She began dating producer Lucas Akoskin in 2011, and they married in April 2013. In November 2012, Varela and Akoskin welcomed their first child together, a son named Matteo.{{cite web|url=http://celebritybabies.people.com/2012/11/20/leonor-varela-welcomes-son-matteo/|title=Leonor Varela Welcomes Son Matteo|work=People|date=20 November 2012|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127173126/http://celebritybabies.people.com/2012/11/20/leonor-varela-welcomes-son-matteo/|archive-date=27 November 2012|url-status=dead}} Their daughter, Luna Mae, was born on 25 February 2015. Matteo was diagnosed with leukodystrophy (specifically an AGS) shortly after his birth. He died at the age of 5 on 16 November 2018.{{Cite web|title=Leonor Varela confirma la muerte de su hijo Matteo: Buen viaje principito de mi corazón|url=http://www.t13.cl/noticia/tendencias/espectaculos/muere-matteo-akoskin-hijo-actriz-chilena-leonor-varela|website=t13.cl|date=16 November 2018|language=es-LA|access-date=2018-11-27|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122164049/http://www.t13.cl/noticia/tendencias/espectaculos/muere-matteo-akoskin-hijo-actriz-chilena-leonor-varela|url-status=live}}

Varela, a vegetarian,{{cite web | url=http://www.lun.com/modulos/catalogo/paginas/2008/03/20/LUCSTSO20LU2003.htm | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011012806/http://www.lun.com/modulos/catalogo/paginas/2008/03/20/LUCSTSO20LU2003.htm |archivedate=11 October 2008 | title=??? | publisher=lun.com | accessdate=24 June 2024 }} {{fv|date=June 2024}} is a marine life activist who is concerned with the welfare of whales, working with groups such as Save The Whales Again.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re8y-gOuYp0&feature=user |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/re8y-gOuYp0| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Leonor varela aboga por las ballenas |date=16 June 2008 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=30 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}

Filmography

= Film =

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Director
1997 \|Le ciel est à nous \|Vanessa \|Graham Guit
1997 \|Bouge ! \|La danseuse \|Jérôme Cornuau
1998 \|{{sortname\|The\|Man in the Iron Mask\|The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)}} \|Ballroom Beauty \|Randall Wallace
1999 \|Les parasites \|Fidelia \|Philippe de Chauveron
1999 \|Les infortunes de la beauté \|Annabella \|John Lvoff
2001 \|{{sortname\|The\|Tailor of Panama\|The Tailor of Panama (film)}} \|Marta \|John Boorman
2001 \|Texas Rangers \|Perdita \|Steve Miner
2002 \|Blade II \|Nyssa Damaskinos \|Guillermo del Toro
2002 \|Paraíso B \|Gloria \|Nicolás Acuña
2003 \|Pas si grave \|Angela \|Bernard Rapp
2003 \|Tais-toi ! \|Katia / Sandra \|Francis Veber
2004 \|Voces inocentes \|Kella \|Luis Mandoki
2005 \|Americano \|Adela \|Kevin Nolan
2007 \|Goal II: Living the Dream \|Jordana Garcia \|Jaume Collet-Serra
2007 \|Where God Left His Shoes \|Angela Diaz \|Salvatore Stabile
2008 \|Sleep Dealer \|Luz Martinez \|Alex Rivera
2008 \|Hell Ride \|Nada \|Larry Bishop
2008 \|Hindsight \|Maria \|Paul Holahan
2008 \|All Inclusive \|Miranda \|Rodrigo Ortúzar Lynch
2009 \|Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach \|Norma Sanchez \|Danny Leiner
2009 \|Wrong Turn at Tahoe \|Anna \|Franck Khalfoun
2010 \|Que pena tu vida \|Alma Subercaseaux \|Nicolás López
2011 \|Blind Alley \|La Madre \|Antonio Trashorras
2013 \|Odd Thomas \|Odd's Mother \|Stephen Sommers
2013 \|Deseo \|Muchacha \|Antonio Zavala Kugler
2014 \|{{sortname\|A\|Fine Step\|nolink=1}} \|Liliana Bolivar \|Jonathan Meyers
2014 \|Ride \|Danielle \|Helen Hunt
2015 \|Captive \|Sgt. Carmen Sandoval \|Jerry Jameson
2015 \|All I Wish \|Bianca \|Susan Walter
2018 \|Saving Flora \|Isabella \|Mark Drury Taylor
2018 \|Alpha \|Shaman \|Albert Hughes

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Director

1997

|Le ciel est à nous

|Vanessa

|Graham Guit

1997

|Bouge !

|La danseuse

|Jérôme Cornuau

1998

|{{sortname|The|Man in the Iron Mask|The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)}}

|Ballroom Beauty

|Randall Wallace

1999

|Les parasites

|Fidelia

|Philippe de Chauveron

1999

|Les infortunes de la beauté

|Annabella

|John Lvoff

2001

|{{sortname|The|Tailor of Panama|The Tailor of Panama (film)}}

|Marta

|John Boorman

2001

|Texas Rangers

|Perdita

|Steve Miner

2002

|Blade II

|Nyssa Damaskinos

|Guillermo del Toro

2002

|Paraíso B

|Gloria

|Nicolás Acuña

2003

|Pas si grave

|Angela

|Bernard Rapp

2003

|Tais-toi !

|Katia / Sandra

|Francis Veber

2004

|Voces inocentes

|Kella

|Luis Mandoki

2005

|Americano

|Adela

|Kevin Nolan

2007

|Goal II: Living the Dream

|Jordana Garcia

|Jaume Collet-Serra

2007

|Where God Left His Shoes

|Angela Diaz

|Salvatore Stabile

2008

|Sleep Dealer

|Luz Martinez

|Alex Rivera

2008

|Hell Ride

|Nada

|Larry Bishop

2008

|Hindsight

|Maria

|Paul Holahan

2008

|All Inclusive

|Miranda

|Rodrigo Ortúzar Lynch

2009

|Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach

|Norma Sanchez

|Danny Leiner

2009

|Wrong Turn at Tahoe

|Anna

|Franck Khalfoun

2010

|Que pena tu vida

|Alma Subercaseaux

|Nicolás López

2011

|Blind Alley

|La Madre

|Antonio Trashorras

2013

|Odd Thomas

|Odd's Mother

|Stephen Sommers

2013

|Deseo

|Muchacha

|Antonio Zavala Kugler

2014

|{{sortname|A|Fine Step|nolink=1}}

|Liliana Bolivar

|Jonathan Meyers

2014

|Ride

|Danielle

|Helen Hunt

2015

|Captive

|Sgt. Carmen Sandoval

|Jerry Jameson

2015

|All I Wish

|Bianca

|Susan Walter

2018

|Saving Flora

|Isabella

|Mark Drury Taylor

2018

|Alpha

|Shaman

|Albert Hughes

= Television =

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1995 \|Extrême limite \|Marie \|"Sacrifice"
1995 \|Pony Trek \|Anette \|TV film
1996 \|Sous le soleil \|Jeanne \|"Comportement modèle"
1997 \|Le juste \|Pregnant Girl \|"En transit vers l'espoir"
1997 \|Tic Tac \|Pola Santa María \|Main role
1997 \|Inca de Oro \|Flor de I'nca \|TV film
1997 \|13th Rider \|Anette \|TV series
1998 \|Jeremiah \|Judith \|TV film
1999 \|Cleopatra \|Cleopatra \|TV miniseries
2003 \|Arrested Development \|Marta Estrella \|"Bringing Up Buster", "Key Decisions"
2004 \|Stargate Atlantis \|Chaya Sar \|"Sanctuary"
2005 \|E-Ring \|Lt. Col. Cat Rodriguez \|"Pilot"
2006 \|{{sortname\|The\|Curse of King Tut's Tomb\|The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006 film)}} \|Dr. Azelia Barakat \|TV film
2007 \|Como Ama una Mujer \|Sofia Marquez \|TV miniseries
2010 \|Feroz \|Laura Palma \|Recurring role
2010 \|Monsterwolf \|Maria \|TV film
2010-2011 \|Human Target \|Maria Gallego \|"Salvage & Reclamation", "A Problem Like Maria"
2012 \|Dallas \|Marta Del Sol \|Recurring role
2012 \|Inland Empire \|Poopy \|TV film
2013 \|Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. \|Camilla Reyes \|"0-8-4"
2015 \|Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story \|Monica \|TV film
2018 \|Lethal Weapon \|Sofia Vasquez \|TV series

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1995

|Extrême limite

|Marie

|"Sacrifice"

1995

|Pony Trek

|Anette