María de la Paz Campos Trigo (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series ''

7 vidas ''7 Vidas'' is a Spanish sitcom that aired on Telecinco from 1999 to 2006. Its title translates as "7 lives" and the symbol of the sitcom is a cat, in reference to the belief that cats have 7 lives (in contrast to English-speaking countries, wh ...

''. Her film credits include '' Sex and Lucia'' (2001), '' Mine Alone'' (2001), '' The Other Side of the Bed'' (2002), ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (2003), ''

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

'' (2004), '' 10 Items or Less'' (2006), '' Theresa: The Body of Christ'' (2007), '' Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' (2012), ''

All Roads Lead to Rome "All Roads Lead to Rome" is a proverb of medieval origin in a number of languages, referring to Roman roads, possibly related to the Milliarium Aureum. The term may also refer to: * ''All Roads Lead to Rome'' (1949 film), a French film * ''All ...

'' (2015), ''

Acts of Vengeance "Acts of Vengeance" is a comic book crossover storyline running through several titles published by Marvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990. Publication history This company-wide fall crossover was centered on the Avengers and Fanta ...

'' (2017), and '' Rambo: Last Blood'' (2019). She played the role of Catalina Creel in the 2019 television series '' Cradle of Wolves'' (''Cuna de lobos''). She made her directorial debut with '' Rita'' (2024), which she also wrote.

Early life

Vega was born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, in 1976 to a housewife mother and a father who was a former bullfighter. Vega's younger sister has performed as a

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

dancer. Vega has described her family as "traditional" and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. She took her stage surname of 'Vega' from her grandmother. Vega decided to become an actress after attending a performance of

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

's play, '' Bernarda Alba's House'' (''La casa de Bernarda Alba''), when she was 16. After completing

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at home or other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory sc ...

at 16, Vega was accepted at the ''Andalusian Theater Center'' (''Centro Andaluz de Teatro'') stage school. She studied there for two years and took another two years studying

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

. She next moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to seek her future.

Screen career

Vega made her television debut in the Spanish TV series, ''My Father Is So Nice'' (''Menudo es mi padre''), which starred rumba singer El Fary. She appeared in two other series in 1997; ''More Than Friends'' (''Más que amigos'') and ''Companions'' (''Compañeros''). In 1999, she made her film debut in '' Zapping''. The same year, she also had a minor role in the David Menkes movie ''

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...

'', alongside Emma Suárez, and

Juan Diego Botto Juan Diego Botto Rota (born 29 August 1975) is an Argentine-Spanish film, stage and television actor. Born in Argentina, he moved to Spain together with his mother (the actress and acting coach Cristina Rota) in 1978. Following early film appe ...

. Vega found success in 1999's TV series '' 7 Lives'' (''7 Vidas''). The series was billed as a Spanish ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' and became one of the country's best-loved domestic

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

s. Vega played Laura, a perky

n girl who had come to stay with David, who had recently come out of a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

. The series was broadcast on

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

and finished on 12 April 2006, albeit without Vega. In 2001, she starred in

Julio Médem Julio Medem Lafont (born 21 October 1958) is a Basque film director, producer, editor, and screenwriter. Biography Medem was born on 21 October 1958 in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain and showed an interest in movies since childhood, when ...

's film ''Sex and Lucia'', which brought her to the attention of a larger audience. However, she received prominent exposure, particularly to American audiences, when she appeared in the 2004 James L. Brooks American film ''Spanglish'' opposite

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

. In 2006, she co-starred with American actor

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

in the independent film ''10 Items or Less'', directed by

Brad Silberling Bradley Mitchell Silberling (born September 8, 1963) is an American television and film director whose credits include the feature films '' Casper'' (1995), '' City of Angels'' (1998), '' Moonlight Mile'' (2002), '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of ...

. In 2008, she co-starred with

Gabriel Macht Gabriel Swann Macht (born January 22, 1972) is an American actor, widely known for his role as Harvey Specter in the USA Network series ''Suits (American TV series), Suits'' (2011–2019). Early life Macht was born in The Bronx, New York City. ...

, Samuel L. Jackson, and

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

in '' The Spirit''. In 2011, Vega had a role in

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Belloc ...

's film '' Vallanzasca – The Angels of Evil''. Vega also works as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

; she is signed to 1/One Management in New York City. In May 2011, Vega replaced

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

as the face for L'Oreal Spain. In 2018, she participated in the third season of the reality cooking show '' MasterChef Celebrity''. In 2019, Vega appeared in

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

to portray the lead character Catalina Creel in the miniseries '' Cradle of Wolves'' (''Cuna de Lobos''), based on the 1986 original telenovela of the same title. The same year, she portrayed an independent Mexican reporter in ''Rambo: Last Blood'', in which she co-starred with

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

. In 2023, Vega announced in Cannes the beginning of filming of her directorial debut, '' Rita'', a feature film set in 1980s Seville billed by Vega as a "''

costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (in Catalan: ''costumisme''; sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is Literary costumbrismo, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primari ...

'' and nostalgic" story. The film premiered at 2024 Locarno Film Festival and earned her a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Director.

Personal life

Vega and her

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

husband, Orson Salazar, had their first child, a son, in May 2003. Their second child, a daughter, was born in July 2005. Their third child, another son, was born in August 2006. They married in 2002.

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Paz 1976 births Living people Actresses from Seville Spanish film actresses Spanish television actresses 20th-century Spanish actresses 21st-century Spanish actresses Masked Singer winners Chopard Trophy for Female Revelation winners