- Born
- Birth nameLeonor Varela Palma
- Nickname
- Leo
- Height5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
- Leonor Varela was born on December 29, 1972 in Santiago de Chile, Chile, the daughter of Leonor Palma, a massage therapist, and Francisco Varela (Francisco Javier Varela Garcia), a biologist, neuroscientist, and philosopher. Her family fled to Costa Rica, leaving behind the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. They subsequently resided in Germany, USA, and France, where Varela studied.
In the '90s she appears in the Chilean soap Tic Tac (1997), and in other French and Europeans productions like Pony Trek (1995), Sous le soleil (1996), Shooting Stars (1997), A Legend to Ride (1997), Le juste (1996), or Bouge! (1997). Her career in Holywood began in 1998, when she joined the cast of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) when she starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, and she appeared in The Bible Collection: Jeremiah (1998) opposite Patrick Dempsey. The following year (1999), she played the title character in the ABC TV movie "Cleopatra" (1999) (TV) opposite her future fiancé Billy Zane and Timothy Dalton
She appeared in The Tailor of Panama (2001) as Marta and in Texas Rangers (2001) as Perdita opposite Ashton Kutcher. In 2002 she appeared as the fanged vampire princess Nyssa in the action film Blade II (2002) opposite Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson and directed by Guillermo del Toro. After that came Paraíso B (2002) as Gloria and in Pas si grave (2003) as Angela.
Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television show Arrested Development (2003) as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for Innocent Voices (2004). She also had a non-recurring role in Stargate: Atlantis (2004).
In 2005 she appeared playing Adela in Americano (2005), and her following projects included Goal II: Living the Dream (2007) as the journalist Jordana Garcia, Where God Left His Shoes (2007) with John Leguizamo and the TV series produced by Jennifer Lopez Como ama una mujer (2007).
In the 2008 Sundance Film Festival she screened Sleep Dealer (2008) and the Larry Bishop's Hell Ride (2008), opposite Michael Madsen and Eric Balfour and produced by Quentin Tarantino.- IMDb mini biography by: Ninde
- SpouseLucas Akoskin(April 15, 2013 - August 2023) (divorced, 2 children)
- ChildrenMatteo Varela AkoskinLuna Mae Akoskin
- Parents
- She is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian.
- Her maternal grandfather Daniel Palma Robledo (born in the north of Chile in October 1915), a former Communist Party member until 1951, was kidnapped by DINA, Pinochet's political police, on August 4, 1976, and to this day is a missing person.
- Her son Matteo, was diagnosed with leukodystrophy shortly after his birth and died on November 16, 2018 at the age of 5.
- Mother, with ex-husband Lucas Akoskin, of son Matteo Varela Akoskin (November 20, 2012-November 16, 2018) and daughter Luna Mae Akoskin (b. February 25, 2015).
- Beat out 35 other actresses to play the title role in Cleopatra (1999).
- In this business, if you don't have the capacity to step back and have some sort of relativity about things, you're screwed.
- I don't need jewels and cars. It's about the delicacy of the way I'm handled.
- I'm not good with limitations. I tend to like to find my own. It hurts sometimes, but it's good. I'm little extreme in that sense-the middle ground is not my forte.
- I don't believe in nudity for nudity's sake, but it's really beautiful when it's done well, when it's within a story. I'm very comfortable with my body. I grew up mostly in France, where nudity is not taboo. It's not this hypocritical thing where we go, "No!" and then it's "Oh, yes!" When we strip away the clothes, the jewelry, that's who we really are. I walk around naked in my house.
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