Paz Vega

PAZ VEGA has starred in several dozen feature films worldwide following, and sometimes at the same time as, her six successful seasons as Laura in Seven Lives, one of Spain's longest-running sitcoms. She has performed roles in Spanish, Italian, French, and English.

The Seville-born actress had her breakout movie role in 2001, attracting global attention as the title character in Julio Medem's Sex and Lucía, winning a Goya Award (Spain's Oscars equivalent) as well as a Chopard Award at the Cannes International Film Festival. Ms. Vega and the movie received additional accolades around the world. Also in 2001, she starred opposite Sergi López in Sólo Mía [Only Mine], directed by Javier Balaguer, becoming the first actress nominated for two Goya Awards in the same year.

She next appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her. The film received multiple awards, including the Oscar the Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, along with seven Goya Award nominations. Also in 2002, she starred in El Otro Lado de la Cama [The Other Side of the Bed], directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro, one of the highest-grossing Spanish comedies of all time.

Ms. Vega's movies have also included Vicente Aranda's Carmen; Dí Que Sí [Say I Do], written and directed by Juan Calvo; James L. Brooks' Spanglish, opposite Adam Sandler, which marked her American film debut and for which she was named Breakout of the Year by the Phoenix Film Critics Society; Brad Silberling's 10 Items or Less, alongside Morgan Freeman; Jada Pinkett Smith's The Human Contract; Pedro Almodóvar's Los Amantes Pasajeros (a.k.a. I'm So Excited!); in voiceover, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted; Alfonso Pineda Ulloa's Espectro and upcoming The Jesuit; Manuel Gómez Pereira's soon-to-be-released thriller La Ignorancia De La Sangre; and Olivier Dahan's Grace of Monaco, which world-premiered as the opening-night film of the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival and in which she portrayed the iconic opera performer Maria Callas.

The province of Andalucía and the city of Seville have honored her with, respectively, the Seville Medal and the prestigious Seville Gold Medal, and the Medal of Andalucía.

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