# Itatí Cantoral

Itatí Guadalupe Cantoral Zucchi (born May 13, 1975) is a Mexican actress, singer, dancer, and producer. She is best known for her roles as Soraya Montenegro in María la del Barrio (1995) and Alejandra Álvarez del Castillo Fernández "La Licenciada" in Hasta que el dinero nos separe (2009), both telenovelas produced by Televisa.

## Early life and education

Cantoral was born in Mexico City, Mexico. She is the daughter of Mexican composer and songwriter, Roberto Cantoral, and Argentine actress of Italian descent, Itatí Zucchi. Cantoral has three brothers Carlos, Roberto & also actor and singer José Cantoral. A child actress, at 13, Cantoral was accepted into the Televisa actors' academy, Centro de Educación Artística, and made her television debut in the series La telaraña in 1986. She later acted in the telenovela Muchachitas in 1991.

## Career

In 1993, Cantoral appeared in Dos mujeres, un camino with Erik Estrada, Laura León, Bibi Gaytán, Lorena Herrera, Selena Quintanilla, Jorge Salinas, and members of Grupo Bronco. This production exposed her to wider audiences in Mexico and Latin America. She took the role of the villain Soraya Montenegro in María la del Barrio from 1995 to 1996, alongside Thalía and Fernando Colunga. In 1996 and 1997 she appeared in Tú y yo, with Maribel Guardia and Joan Sebastian; and in Salud, dinero y amor, the sequel to Mexican telenovela El premio mayor.
In 2001, Cantoral played the antagonic role of Raquel Villavicencio in Sin Pecado Concebido, another Televisa production starring Angelica Rivera and Carlos Ponce. She starred in the Brazilian-American co-production Vale todo in 2002; and in 2003, Telemundo's El alma herida, as a teenage girl who crosses the Mexican–American border to find her long-lost mother. In 2004, she was Sally Bowles in Mexico City's Teatro Insurgentes production of Cabaret, and in 2006, she starred with Francisco Gattorno in the Telemundo production of Julio Jimenez's La Viuda de Blanco.
In 2009–2010, she played the character Alejandra Alvarez Del Castilo in Televisa's hit telenovela Hasta que el dinero nos separe with actor and singer Pedro Fernández, for which she won Best Actress at the Premios TVyNovelas, where the telenovela also won the main category; while the actors won Best Couple of the Year at the show.
Cantoral protagonized many famous plays in Mexican theatre, such as Aventurera, Sweet Charity, Mame the Musical and many more.
In 2018, she starred as Mexican actress Silvia Pinal in the biographical television series Silvia Pinal, Frente a Ti, for which she was nominated as Best Actress in a TV series for the Premios TVyNovelas.
On November 18, 2015, Cantoral was named Mr. Amigo, which is an association in Brownsville, Texas that honors a Mexican citizen each year to promote international friendship and good will between the U.S. and Mexico. Itatí is the second member of the Cantoral family to be awarded Mr. Amigo after her father, Roberto Cantoral, was awarded in 1981.
As a singer, Cantoral has released two albums, one of them being Itatí Canta a Roberto Cantoral, which was produced by her late father Roberto Cantoral. In 2018, she was part of the tribute album to her father "Roberto Cantoral: Siempre Vivo" with the song "Me Esta Gustando".

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Bonita | Bonita | |
| 2002 | De cuando el pescado murió de placer | Television conductor | Short film |
| 2003 | La hija del caníbal | Airline saleswoman | |
| 2003 | Ya no los hacen como antes | Perla | |
| 2004 | Man on Fire | Evelyn | Uncredited role |
| 2006 | Cansada de besar sapos | Cecilia | |
| 2006 | Los pajarracos | Fina | |
| 2006 | No hay derecho joven | Lawyer | |
| 2007 | One Long Night | Patty | |
| 2009 | Amar | Lisa | |
| 2012 | El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza | La Lisiada Novela Actress | |
| 2014 | Amor de mis amores | Elva | |
| 2014 | La dictadura perfecta | Lucrecia Lascuráin | |
| 2017 | Sobre tus huellas | Horse Riding Instructor | |
| 2019 | No Manches Frida 2 | Camila | |
| 2022 | My Mother-in-law Hates Me | Regina | |

### Television

| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | La telaraña | | |
| 1991 | Muchachitas | Lucía Aguilera | |
| 1991 | La pícara soñadora | Melissa | |
| 1992 | De frente al sol | Lupita | |
| 1993 | Dos mujeres, un camino | Graciela Torres Núñez | |
| 1994–96 | Mujer, casos de la vida real | Various roles | 4 episodes |
| 1994 | Lo que se vio y no se vio de Dos mujeres, un camino | Graciela Torres Núñez | Archive footage, television film |
| 1995 | María la del Barrio | Soraya Montenegro | |
| 1996 | Tú y yo | Casandra | |
| 1997 | Salud, dinero y amor | Estrella Pérez | |
| 1994 | Derbez en cuando | Soraya Montenegro | Archive footage |
| 1999 | Cuento de Navidad | Sebring Cirrus | |
| 1999 | Infierno en el paraíso | Francesca Paoli Prado | |
| 2001 | Sin pecado concebido | Raquel Villavicencio Rojas | |
| 2001 | Amigas y rivales | Eduviges | |
| 2002 | Vale todo | Raquel | |
| 2003 | El alma herida | Eugenia Granados | |
| 2006 | La viuda de Blanco | Alicia Guardiola | |
| 2008 | Tiempo final | Silvia | Episode: "Mala noche" |
| 2008 | Mujeres asesinas | Sandra Arvide | Episode: "Sandra, trepadora" |
| 2009–10 | Hasta que el dinero nos separe | Alejandra Álvarez del Castillo | Main role; 231 episodes (season 1) |
| 2011 | El sexo débil | Helena Román | |
| 2012 | Capadocia | Leonor Cantú | Recurring role; 4 episodes (season 3) |
| 2013 | Fortuna | Comisionada Paloma Alarcón | |
| 2015 | ¿Quién mató a Patricia Soler? | Sara Fernández / Isabel | |
| 2015 | Amores con trampa | Isabel | Main role; 128 episodes (season 1) |
| 2016 | El Vato | Wendy Lozada | 9 episodes |
| 2016–17 | El Chema | Blanca | Main role; 79 episodes (season 1) |
| 2018 | José José, el príncipe de la canción | Natalia "Kiki" Herrera | Main role |
| 2019 | Silvia Pinal, frente a ti | Silvia Pinal | Main role |
| 2019 | Se rentan cuartos | Graciela Garza De La Garza y Más Garza | Main role |
| 2020 | La mexicana y el güero | Andrea Ibarrola Gil | Main Role |
| 2022 | Daddies on Request | Maricarmen | |
| 2022 | High Heat | Gloria | Main Role |

## Awards and nominations
### TVyNovelas Awards

| Year | Category | Telenovela | Result |
| 1993 | Best Young Lead Actress | De frente al Sol | Nominated |
| 1994 | Best Young Lead Actress | Dos mujeres, un camino | Nominated |
| 1996 | Best Female Antagonist | María la del Barrio | Won |
| 2002 | Best Female Antagonist | Sin pecado concebido | Won |
| 2010 | Best Lead Actress | Hasta que el dinero nos separe | Won |
| 2020 | Best Lead Actress in a Series | Silvia Pinal, Frente a ti | Won |

### Premios People en Español

| Year | Category | Telenovela | Result |
| 2010 | Best Actress | Hasta que el dinero nos separe | Won |
| 2010 | Best Couple (with Pedro Fernandez) | Hasta que el dinero nos separe | Won |

### Festival Mercado TV-Fiction International Awards

| Year | Category | Telenovela | Result |
| 2011 | Best Lead Actress | El Sexo Débil | Won |

### Association of Theatre Journalists Awards

| Year | Category | Production | Result |
| 2012 | Best Lead Actress | Misery | Won |

### Other awards

* Medal Omecihuatl 2011 Awarded by Inmujeres DF
* Part of "Los 50 más bellos" by magazine People en Español (2011, 2015)
* Queen of Voceadores (2010)
* Queen of Veracruz television
* Premio Palmas de oro (Best Villain)
* Jealous of the popularity
* Premio Bravo
* Premio ACE of New York
* El Sol de oro
* Premio Fama New York (2002)
* Queen of Mariachi (2015)
* Mr. Amigo (Nov. 18, 2015)