Yalitza Aparicio Martínez (; born 11 December 1993) is a Mexican actress and

preschool teacher A preschool teacher is a person who is employed to care for children from infant to 4 years of age in a daytime setting. “Preschool“ is the category for children aged 2 to 4 years of age. (Infants: 0-1 year of age & Toddlers: 1–2 years of age) ...

. She made her film debut as Cleo in

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama ''A Little Princess (1995 film), A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama ''Gre ...

's 2018 drama ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

'', which earned her a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

. In 2019, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine named her one of the

100 most influential people in the world ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

. On 4 October 2019, she was named the

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNESCO goodwill ambassad ...

for Indigenous Peoples.

Early life

Yalitza Aparicio Martínez was born 11 December 1993 in

Tlaxiaco Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450. The city is formally known as Her ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. Her parents are of indigenous origin; her father is

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

and her mother is Triqui. She was not, however, fluent in the

Mixtec language The Mixtec () languages belong to the Mixtecan group of the Oto-Manguean language family. Mixtec is spoken in Mexico and is closely related to Trique and Cuicatec. The varieties of Mixtec are spoken by over half a million people.2000 census; t ...

and had to learn it for her role in ''

''. Aparicio was raised by a single mother who worked as a maid. She does not have formal training in acting, but rather has pursued a degree in

pre-school education A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

while already holding a degree in early childhood education and worked in a school. She won her first acting role just prior to qualifying as a teacher.

Career

Aparicio made her acting debut in the drama film ''

'', which was written and directed by

. The film was released in November 2018. Aparicio received critical acclaim, with

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stating that she "brings to the role something gentle, delicate, stoic and selfless. She is the jewel of this outstanding film." For her performance, she was nominated for the

, becoming the first Indigenous American woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She also earned nominations in the same category from the

Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMa ...

, the

Critics' Choice Movie Awards The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...

, the

Hollywood Film Awards The Hollywood Film Awards are an American motion picture award ceremony held annually since 1997, usually in October or November. It was founded by Carlos de Abreu and his wife Janice Pennington. The gala ceremony takes place at the Beverly Hilto ...

, the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

, the

San Francisco Film Critics Circle The San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC), formerly known as San Francisco Film Critics Circle, was founded in 2002 as an organization of film journalists and critics from San Francisco, California based publications. Included in it ...

, the

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

, and the

Women Film Critics Circle The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is a film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in ...

, as well as recognition from ''

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Aparicio appeared on the cover of '' Vogue México'' in January 2019. She also appeared in the Vanity Fair 2019 "Hollywood Issue" cover. Aparicio was given the keys to Panama City, Panama, on 8 April 2019.

Filmography

Film

* ''

'' (2018) – Cleo * ''Hijas de Brujas'' (

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

; 2021) – Clara * ''Presencias'' (2022)

Television

* '' Mujeres asesinas'' (2022) - Rocío "La Insomne" * ''Midnight Family'' (2022) - TBA * '' Los Espookys'' (2022) - The Moon

Recognition

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2019.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aparicio, Yalitza 1993 births Living people 20th-century indigenous people of the Americas 21st-century indigenous people of the Americas 21st-century Mexican actresses 21st-century Mexican educators Actresses from Oaxaca Mexican film actresses Mixtec people People from Tlaxiaco Mexican schoolteachers Triqui people UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors BBC 100 Women Indigenous actors of the Americas 21st-century women educators Indigenous Mexican women