Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón was born in Rome on 5 November 1968,^[2] to a Spanish father Ángel Sánchez-Gijón Martínez [es], a history lecturer exiled from Francoism, and an Italian mother, Fiorella de Angelis, a lecturer.^[3] She was named after Aitana Alberti,^{[n. 1]} Rafael Alberti's daughter.^[3][4] The latter dedicated Aitana Sánchez-Gijón some verses upon her birth.^[3] The family moved to Madrid when she was 1 year old.^[4] She is a cousin of Pablo Carbonell.^[5]

Sánchez-Gijón made her television debut as an actress at age 16 in the high school series Segunda enseñanza, playing Sisi, a lesbian teenager.^[3][6][7] She landed her film debut in Romanza final (1986).^[8] In 1988, she starred as Acacia in The Unloved Woman, a play by Miguel Narros adapting Jacinto Benavente staged at the Teatro Español.^[9][10]

Her breakthrough role as Elena in the 1989 film Going South Shopping launched her career.^[11][12]

Best known for her career in Spanish cinema, Sánchez-Gijón first became known internationally for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves) in A Walk in the Clouds (1995)

She has since built a reputation as an international star in films such as Manuel Gomez Pereira's Boca a Boca (1996), Bigas Luna's The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997), Jaime Chávarri's Sus Ojos Se Cerraron (1998), Gabriele Salvatores' adaptation of the Niccolò Ammaniti novel I'm Not Scared (2003) and Brad Anderson's The Machinist (2004).

She served as the president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain between 1998 and 2000.^[13] Her portrayal of the Duchess of Alba in Volavérunt won her the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the 1999 San Sebastián International Film Festival.^[14] She was a member of the official jury of the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.^{[n. 2]}

She earned her first Goya Award nomination for a supporting role in Parallel Mothers (2021).^[16][17]

In 2023, she featured in Something Is About to Happen playing a theatre producer stealing the story of a taxi driver's life.^[18]

In 2024, she appeared in the hospital-set drama Breathless for Netflix.^[19] In December 2024, she was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.^[20]

In March 2026, she starred again in an adaptation of The Unloved Woman at the Teatro Español, this time directed by Natalia Menéndez.^[21] In the play, she portrayed Raimunda, the mother of Acacia.^[22]

In 2026, Sánchez-Gijón co-signed alongside other Spanish artists a text urging the United Nations and the governments of the world to actively work towards the release from prison of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti.^[23]

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1986	Romanza final (Gayarre)	Alicia joven	Elder version of the character played by Sydne Rome	[24]
1988	Jarrapellejos	Isabel		[25]
	Remando al viento (Rowing with the Wind)	Teresa Guiccioli		[26]
	Viento de cólera [eu]	María		[27]
1989	Bajarse al moro (Going South Shopping)	Elena		[12]
	El mar y el tiempo (The Sea and Time)	Mer		[28]
1990	The Monk	Sor Inés		[29]
1993	Havanera 1820 [ca]	Amèlia Roig		[30]
1993	El laberinto griego (The Greek Labyrinth)	Bernadette		[31]
	El pájaro de la felicidad (The Bird of Happiness)	Nani		[32]
1995	La ley de la frontera (The Law of the Frontier)	Bárbara		[33][34]
	Boca a boca (Mouth to Mouth)	Amanda		[35]
	A Walk in the Clouds	Victoria		[36]
	La leyenda de Balthasar el castrado	María de Loffredo		[37]
1997	La femme de chambre du Titanic (The Chambermaid on the Titanic)	Marie		[38]
1997	Love Walked In	Vicki		[39]
1998	Sus ojos se cerraron y el mundo sigue andando (Tangos Are for Two)	Juanita		[40]
1998	Yerma	Yerma		[41]
1999	Volavérunt	Duquesa de Alba		[42]
1999	Celos (Jealousy)	Carmen		[43]
2001	Mi dulce (My Sweet)	Ángela		[44]
	Hombres felices [ca] (Happy Men)	Ana		[45]
2003	Io non ho paura (I'm Not Scared)	Anna		[46]
2004	The Machinist	Marie		[47]
2004	La puta y la ballena (The Whore and the Whale)	Vera		[48]
2006	Animales heridos [es]	Claudia		[49]
2006	The Backwoods	Isabel		[50]
2007	La carta esférica [es] (The Nautical Chart)	Tánger Soto		[51]
2007	Oviedo Express	Mariola Mayo / Ana Ozores (La Regenta)	Ana Ozores is played by Mariola Mayo in-fiction. Sánchez-Gijón already played Ana Ozores in La regenta	[52][53]
2008	Parlami d'amore (Talk to Me About Love)	Nicole		[54]
2009	The Frost (La escarcha)	Rita		[55]
2011	Gli sfiorati (Drifters)	Virna		[56]
2011	Maktub	Beatriz		[57]
2014	El club de los incomprendidos (The Misfits Club)	Mara		[58]
2018	Thi Mai, rumbo a Vietnam [es]	Elvira		[59]
2020	La cinta de Alex	Vera		[60]
2021	Madres paralelas (Parallel Mothers)	Teresa Ferreras		[61]
2022	La jefa (Under Her Control)	Beatriz		[62]
2023	Que nadie duerma (Something Is About to Happen)	Roberta		[63]
2025	Tierra baja [es] (The Low Land)	Carmen		[64][65]
2026	Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas)	Mónica		[66]

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Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1986	Segunda enseñanza	Sisi		[67]
1992	El Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes	Dorotea		[68]
1995	La regenta	Ana Ozores		[52]
2015	Teresa	Doña Jimena	TV movie	[69]
2017	Conquistadores: Adventvm	Isabel de Castilla	Documentary series	[70]
2017–19	Velvet Colección	Doña Blanca	Recurring role. Seasons 1–3	[71][72]
2024	Breathless	Pilar Amaro	Main role

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