# Blanca Portillo

Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco (born 15 June 1963) is a Spanish film, television, and stage actress. She has also worked as theatre director and producer. She made her feature film debut in Entre rojas (1995). She became popular for her portrayal of Carlota in sitcom television series Siete vidas. Portillo is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Goya Award for Best Actress.

## Life and career

Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco was born in Madrid on 15 June 1963.
Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions. She earned a degree in drama from the RESAD.
One of her most important performances afterwards was her role of Carol in Oleanna by David Mamet, directed by Joaquín Kremel in 1994.
She made her feature film debut in Entre rojas (1995). In 1996, Luis San Narciso cast her for the hit Telecinco series 7 vidas,. The series lasted for ten years and ran for 204 episodes. Portillo played the role of Carlota, an insecure but brassy hairdresser who married Gonzalo, the owner of a bar which functioned as the central set of the show.
She played a mother in The Color of the Clouds (1997). Her performance in the film earned her a nomination to the Goya Award for Best New Actress. She also participated in the European Spanish dubbing of Finding Nemo. In spite of her success in film and television, she has continued taking part in stage plays both as an actress and as a director.
In 2004, she left 7 vidas to undertake a theatrical project in Argentina named La hija del aire (The daughter of Air) based on a book by Calderón de la Barca. She combined her work on this play with the film Elsa y Fred (2005) in which she plays a woman suspicious of the relationship between her elderly father and his Argentinian neighbor.
In the 2005 film Alatriste, based on a book by Arturo Pérez Reverte, she played a male role, specifically that of a member of the Spanish Inquisition. She shaved her head for the role. The following year, Pedro Almodóvar cast her in his 2006 film Volver. She played Agustina, a friend of the central family who is terminally ill and looking for her missing mother.
She then appeared in Goya's Ghosts by Miloš Forman, playing 18th-century consort Maria Luisa of Parma, and landed her first starring role in a movie in Gracia Querejeta's film Seven Billiard Tables. Here she played the lover of the owner of a billiard club and the daughter of Amparo Baró, her former co-star from 7 Vidas. In 2009, she featured again in a film by Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces playing the role of Judit.
Her work in recent years has seen a return to Spanish television, including a role in Hospital Central, and directing roles in the theater. She had a small role in the 2011 film As Luck Would Have It, starring alongside Salma Hayek.
She starred in the 2016 film Boy Missing.

## Filmography
### Film

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Entre rojas | Manuela | Feature film debut |
| 1996 | Eso | Marta | |
| 1996 | El perro del hortelano (The Dog in the Manger) | Dorotea | |
| 1997 | El color de las nubes (The Color of the Clouds) | | |
| 1999 | Entre las piernas (Between Your Legs) | | |
| 2001 | Solo mía (Mine Alone) | | |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Peach | Voice in the European Spanish track |
| 2005 | Elsa y Fred (Elsa & Fred) | Cuca | |
| 2006 | Volver | Agustina | |
| 2006 | Alatriste | Fray Emilio Bocanegra | |
| 2006 | Goya's Ghosts | Queen Maria Luisa | |
| 2007 | Siete mesas de billar francés (Seven Billiard Tables) | Charo | |
| 2008 | El patio de mi cárcel (My Prison Yard) | Adela | |
| 2009 | Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces) | Judit García | |
| 2011 | La chispa de la vida (As Luck Would Have It) | Mercedes | |
| 2016 | Secuestro (Boy Missing) | Patricia de Lucas | |
| 2020 | Invisibles (The Invisible) | Mara | |
| 2020 | Retrato de mujer blanca con pelo canoso y arrugas (Portrait of White Woman with Grey Hair and Wrinkles) | Julia | |
| 2021 | Maixabel | Maixabel Lasa [es] | |
| 2023 | Teresa | Teresa | |
| TBD | Escape † | | |

### Television

* 7 vidas (1999–2004)
* Acusados (2009–2010)
* Promesas de arena (2019)
* Días mejores (2022)
* La ley del mar (2024)

## Theatre credits

Actress
* La madre de Frankenstein (2023)
* La vida es sueño (2012)
* La avería (2012)
* Antígona (2011)
* Paseo romántico (2010-2011)
* Medea (2009)
* Hamlet (2009)
* Barroco (2007-2008)
* Mujeres soñaron caballos (2007).
* Afterplay (2006-2007).
* Hamelin (2005).
* La hija del viento (2004–2005).
* Desorientados (2003)
* Como en las mejores familias (2003).
* A Midsummer Night's Dream (2002)
* El matrimonio de Bostón (2001)
* Madre, el drama padre (1998)
* No hay burlas para el amor (1998).
* Un fénix demasiado frecuente (1997)
* Esclavos (1997)
* Mujeres frente al espejo (1996)
* El embrujado (1995)
* Un bala perdida (1995)
* Terror y miseria del Tercer Reich (1995)
* Bodas de sangre (1994)
* Oleanna (1994)
* Las troyanas (1993)
* Marat-Dade (1992)
* Cuento de invierno (1992)
* Lope de Aguirre, traidor (1988)
* El mal de la juventud (1985)
Director
* La avería (2011)
* Siglo XX... que estás en los cielos (2006)
* Desorientados (2004)
* Shakespeare a pedazos (1999)
* Hay amores que hablan (1997)

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1998 | 7th Actors Union Awards | Best Stage Performance in a Secondary Role | Eslavos | Won |
| 1998 | 12th Goya Awards | Best New Actress | The Colour of the Clouds | Nominated |
| 2004 | 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Secondary Role | Como en las mejores familias | Won |
| 2005 | 14th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | La hija del aire | Won |
| 2006 | 58th Cannes Film Festival | Best Actress | Volver | Won |
| 2007 | 21st Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Volver | Nominated |
| 2007 | 16th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role | Volver | Won |
| 2008 | 17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | Barroco | Nominated |
| 2010 | 19th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role | Broken Embraces | Nominated |
| 2010 | 19th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Television Actress in a Leading Role | Acusados | Nominated |
| 2013 | 22nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | Life Is a Dream | Won |
| 2014 | 23rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Television Actress in a Leading Role | Stolen Children | Nominated |
| 2008 | 22nd Goya Awards | Best Actress | Seven Billiard Tables | Nominated |
| 2018 | 5th Feroz Awards | Best Main Actress in a Series | Sé quién eres | Nominated |
| 2018 | 27th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | El cartógrafo | Nominated |
| 2021 | 27th Forqué Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Maixabel | Won |
| 2022 | 36th Goya Awards | Best Actress | Maixabel | Won |
| 2022 | 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Leading Role | Maixabel | Nominated |
| 2022 | 10th Platino Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Maixabel | Won |
| 2023 | 29th Forqué Awards | Best Actress in a Film | Teresa | Nominated |
| 2024 | 79th CEC Medals | Best Actress | Teresa | Nominated |
| 2024 | 32nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | La madre de Frankenstein | Nominated |
| 2025 | 33rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Stage Actress in a Leading Role | 1936 | Nominated |
Candidatura al premio de Mejor Actriz Revelación (1997). Unión de Actores
* Candidata al Premio a la Mejor Actriz de Televisión (2002).
Fotogramas de Plata
* Candidata al premio de Mejor Actriz de Teatro (2003).