Catalina Saavedra Pérez (born 8 January 1968) is a Chilean film, stage and television actress. She is known to international audiences for playing the title character in the 2009 film '' The Maid'', for which she received several awards and nominations.

Career

Saavedra's father is the writer Omar Saavedra Santis. She started acting lessons at the age of ten, prompted by her mother's hiring of a private theater arts teacher in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. Years later, her love for acting led her to deepen her studies at the "Escuela de Teatro Imagen" in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and later in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, when she began to study

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particul ...

. Saavedra's first professional theatre performances were in roles in plays such as ''El Despertar'' (1991–1997), ''Pervertimientos y Otros Gestos Para Nada'' (1993) and ''La noche de la Iguana'' (''

The Night of the Iguana ''The Night of the Iguana'' is a stage play written by American author Tennessee Williams. It is based on his 1948 short story. In 1959, Williams staged it as a one-act play, and over the next two years he developed it into a full-length play, p ...

'') (1994), and in a

café-chantant (French: lit. 'singing café'), , or , is a type of musical establishment associated with the Belle Époque in France. The music was generally lighthearted and sometimes risqué or even bawdy but, as opposed to the cabaret tradition, not parti ...

called ''TV cable 90'' (1992). On film, Saavedra's first appearances were in short films, such as ''El Bidón'' and ''Volando Voy'' (directed by

Miguel Littín Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian people, Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greeks, Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. C ...

). Saavedra has performed various roles in several

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

and TV shows on Chilean and German television. International recognition for Saavedra came in 2009, for her leading role as Raquel in the 2009 Chilean film The Maid (2009 film). It was released on 13 August 2009 in Chile and 16 October 2009 in the United States, grossing over $400,000 in the first few weeks in theaters with only 18 copies circulating, turning into one of the most successful Chilean films in the United States. The film ended its theatrical run in the United States with a gross of $576,608. Her role was praised by specialized press and critics around the world, bestowing her many acting awards, including Best Actress at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, Torino Film Festival, Huelva Film Festival, Biarritz Film Festival,

Cartagena Film Festival The Cartagena Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias), or FICCI, is a film festival held in Cartagena, Colombia, which focuses mainly on the promotion of Colombian television series, Latin American films and shor ...

and Miami Film Festival, a breakthrough award at the

Gotham Independent Film 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 ...

and a

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 ...

nomination. In late 2009, she appeared as a possible nominee for the most important film awards,

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and Golden Globes Awards along with the film ''The Maid'' for International Movie.Durbin, K. 2009. Dazzling Performances to Gild the Résumés. The New York Times. Movies section

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Filmography

Awards and nominations

Theatre

Film

Work in TV and stage

Television credits (sitcoms and series)

* ''Jaguar Yu'' (1992) *''Amor a domicilio, la comedia'' (1996) as Brígida * ''Geografía del deseo'' (2004), as Marisa *''Los Galindo'' (2005), season 1, episode 1 *''Loco por ti'' (2005), season 4, episode 2 *''Los simuladores'' (2005), season 1, episodes 1, 3, 4 and 8 *'' La Nany'' (2005), season 1, episodes 8 and 76 *''La otra cara del espejo'' (2006), season 1, episode 1 *''Urgencias'' (2006), season 2, episode 9 *''Huaiquimán y Tolosa'' (2006), season 1, episode 8 * ''Los Venegas (2006–2011) as Josefina

Television credits (soap operas)

*''Hasta en las mejores familias'' (1994) as Jessica *''Amor a Domicilio'' (1995) as Brígida *''Adrenalina'' (1996) as Raquel Trujillo *''Playa Salvaje'' (1997) as Susana *''Fuera de Control'' (1999) as Pamela Duarte *''Sabor a Ti'' (2000) as Virginia Solano *''Piel Canela'' (2001) as Talula Vargas *''Buen Partido'' (2002) as Rita *''Fortunato'' (2007), as Dulcinea

Stage credits

* ''El Despertar'' (1991–1997) * ''Pervertimientos y Otros Gestos Para Nada'' (1993) * ''La noche de la Iguana'' (1994) * ''Muerte de un Funcionario Público'' (1995) * ''Telarañas'' (1996, 1998) * ''Sht'' (2000) * ''Ojos Rotos'' (2001–2002) (performed in Chile and at the International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami) * ''Firmas para el Amor'' (2001–2002),

Assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

* ''Circulando'' (2003) * ''Ni Ahí'' (2004) * ''Inocencia'' (2004) * ''En La Sangre'' (2004) * ''Putas Errantes'' (2005–2006) * ''El lugar de la misericordia'' (2006),

* ''Las Gallinas'' (2007) * ''Las Brutas'' (2007) (performed in Chile and in a Tour to Europe) * ''Los Mountainbikers'' (2008) * ''Diatriba de la victoria'' (2009) * ''Equívoca Fuga de Señorita Apretando un Pañuelo de encaje sobre su Pecho'' (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saavedra, Catalina 1968 births Chilean stage actresses Chilean film actresses Living people People from Valparaíso Chilean telenovela actresses Chilean television actresses