Blanca Portillo

Spanish actress Blanca Portillo is best known for her collaborations with director Pedro Almodóvar. Born in 1963 in Madrid, Portillo began acting in theater, working extensively in small local venues, before attending the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramatico. Portillo began her screen career on television and continued to work on stage before making her film debut in the 1995 prison drama "Entre rojas." The following year she was cast on the Spanish sitcom "7 Vidas," playing the role of Carlota, the lovelorn sister of the main character David. Portillo worked on the show for 10 years, appearing in over 100 episodes. In 2003 she lent her voice to the Spanish-dubbed version of the international animated hit "Finding Nemo." In 2006 Portillo scored two of the most notable roles of her career in Milos Forman's art biopic "Goya's Ghost," as Queen María Luisa, and opposite Penélope Cruz in Almodovar's "Volver" as Agustina. For the latter role, Portillo picked up a Best Actress award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. In 2009 the actress collaborated with Almodovar and Cruz once again, in the film "Broken Embraces," and a year later with the director Alejandro González Iñárritu on "Biutiful."