And very soon we will be talking a lot about her, because starring in one of the hit series of the year
In 2003, just over two decades ago, Max Factor awarded, like every year, his award to “Most beautiful face in Spanish cinema”, which Goya Toledo or Silvia Abascal had won in previous editions – and which, by the way, has not been awarded since 2017, when they had already changed “pretty” to “glamorous” and it was won by Bárbara Lennie. But, at the beginning of the century, there was only one person who could win something like that, an Argentine face that had entered national cinema in style: Natalia Verbeke. However, time has made us often forget about it. And what happened to Natalia Verbeke?
Must see (beke)
Natalia Carolina Verbeke Leiva was born on February 23, 1975 (that is, she is 49 years old) in Buenos Aires. At eleven He left the Río de la Plata behind to change it for the Manzanares and came to Madrid, where, after having a difficult time for years leaving everything he knew behind, he ended up studying dramatic art and contemporary dance. She didn’t have to wait long to debut: at 23 years old, In 1998, he already co-starred in ‘A Good Boyfriend’ with Fernando Guillén Cuervoin which, according to what she told Fotogramas, she did not want to go out naked because “It was my first film. Then I saw that it didn’t mean that much”. And it became, despite itself, an erotic myth.
Her career suddenly came to a screeching halt: she wanted to break away from the sexy girl, but only Lolita roles came her way. Fortunately, was able to work alongside Eduardo Noriega in the remarkable ‘Nobody knows anyone’, with whom he repeated in ‘Carretera y manta’ (which starred the great Carmen Maura). It was 2001 and she was still trying to find her place in the world of cinema between American films (‘Jump Tomorrow’) and Mariano Barroso’s films (‘Kasbah’). And then, Fate gave him a golden opportunity, arriving exactly from his place of origin.
‘The Bride’s Son’, by Juan José Campanella, is a gem. I don’t think there is any doubt at this point, and Verbeke realized it immediately, because, in fact, she called the director to tell him that she was going to be his future star actress. It worked, and in what way: the film was the reason she was stopped on the street for the first time for an autograph. Upon returning to Spain, where she did not know that she had become famous and she almost had to keep the reporters from ‘Aqui Hay Tomato’ away from her door, she had the possibility of be part of the leading quartet of one of those films that make history in our cinema: the musical ‘The Other Side of the Bed’.
Who could imagine that I would return from this trip?
Natalia Verbeke already had her own name in Spanish cinema. Or put another way: he could sing alongside Guillermo Toledo, Ernesto Alterio and Paz Vega without anyone saying “Who is this?”. The film raised 12 million euros and the projects, over the years, began to pile up. And that, as he declared to El Mundo, “I was so focused on work that I didn’t experience that part of popularity”. In fact, between suggestive covers, theater, film and television, it never occurred to her that she was becoming famous. And she didn’t like it: “The only thing I want to be on people’s lips is for my work, for nothing else”he said in the same El Mundo interview.
The paparazzi began to chase her as she added films to her filmography: ‘Football Days’, ‘The Truth Game’, ‘The Method’, ‘Blows Off’… In the turn of the century alone, Verbeke appeared in 17 films. And there could have been more if it hadn’t been for the fact that he heard the siren song of television: not many will remember his roles in ‘The Swamp’ and ‘The Edge of the Law’, but surely they do remember that In 2007 he joined the team of the star Spanish series at that time: ‘Los Serrano’.
He lasted a couple of years in the series, from episode 20 of season 6 to episode 14 of season 7, with a special cameo in the final batch. More than four million viewers watched it every Tuesday, and, as a curiosity, she took advantage of her fame to do a birbibirloque trick between projects that she was passionate about: working at the same time on a film (‘The Girls on the Sixth Floor’) and a series (‘Doctor Mateo’). The problem is that the series was recorded in Madrid and the movie in Paris. The move of shooting two days here and two days there went well until the Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland in 2010 and was stranded between airports… on the last day of filming. Good luck, but just barely.
Verbeke’s house
After making ‘Doctor Mateo’ and ‘Welcome to Lolita’, His film and television appearances began to decline. In 2015, he did not appear on the screen at all. She explained it herself in El Mundo: “You reach that period of thirty where, although I have the face of a young girl and look less, You no longer fit in because you are no longer the pretty young girl and you are still not a mother.“. He no longer made movies, but he did theater, the eternal savior.
In fact, she did ‘Invincible’ in theater while she was pregnant with her daughter Chiara, and a lot of works followed. And suddenly, he fit in again, even if it was in minor films. In France ‘Atraco en familia’ and in Poland she made a Spanish-Argentine co-production titled ‘The Last Suit’. Of course, although she stopped the engine a little to take care of her newborn, she never stopped working. As she says, “I did more theater, which is better reconciled”.
While we wait for his return to the cinema (he will return twice this year, with ‘Padres’ and ‘A Paseo por el Borne’), the truth is that has experienced a true television resurgence. She has been the co-star of ‘Everyone Lies’, ‘Ana Tramel, the Game’ and recently in the 5 episodes of ‘Una Vida Less in the Canary Islands’. But the big part is yet to come, because leads the cast from ‘The Atomic Shelter’, the latest from Álex Pina, the creator of ‘La casa de papel’.
Come on, more than a “What happened to Natalia Verbeke?” we should be wondering “What’s next for Natalia Verbeke?”a fireproof actress who always seems to be at her best.
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