Leonor Varela

Leonor Magdalena Varela Palma is a renowned Chilean actress, born on 29th December 1972. She rose to fame with the title role in the 1999 television film Cleopatra, as well as the role of vampire princess Nyssa Damaskinos in the 2002 Marvel Comics film Blade II. Born in Santiago, Chile, she is the daughter of Leonor Palma-Keller, a massage therapist, and biologist and cognitive neuroscientist Francisco Varela García. Leonor has a diverse family background with a sister, Alejandra, and two brothers, Javier and Gabriel. Her family had to flee Chile due to the political unrest caused by the 1973 military coup.

In her illustrious career, Leonor had a short recurring role in the Fox Television series Arrested Development as the original Marta. Her acting prowess got her nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 for Best Actress for Innocent Voices (2004). She has also been featured in Stargate: Atlantis. In 2012, Leonor portrayed the character of Marta Del Sol on the TNT television series Dallas. In her personal life, she was formerly engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star in Cleopatra but eventually married producer Lucas Akoskin in 2013 with whom she shares two children. Leonor, in addition to her professional accolades, is known for her social activism. She is a vegan and a marine life activist concerned with the welfare of whales, working with groups such as Save The Whales Again.