Ivana Baquero is a Catalan actress known to audiences for her role as Ophelia in Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth". For her performance in this film she won the Prize of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as the Academy Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
the main role
Ivana Baquero celebrates her birthday on June 11th. Her biography begins in 1994. Ivana was born in the capital of Catalonia, the Spanish city of Barcelona. The actress knows 3 languages - Spanish, Catalan and English. The latter Ivana studied in depth at a specialized school. In the first film that made the actress famous, she got a role at the age of eleven. The young talent was noticed by the famous director Guillermo del Toro. It was Baquero that the talented filmmaker chose from thousands of children for the role of Ophelia in the fantastic war film Pan's Labyrinth. Later, the director admitted that the appearance of the actress and her curly hair played an important role. Baquero was 3 years older than her alleged heroine, but the script was slightly altered to suit the age of the leading role.
According to the plot in Spain in 1944, a battle of a group of rebels and fascists takes place against the backdrop of mountain forests. The heroine Bakero is a lonely, dreamy girl. She has a mother who is pregnant with a camp officer, Franco. His goal is to destroy the rebels. Girl Ophelia half lives in a fantasy world. She is in the clouds, and it is not surprising that it is she who finds the magic labyrinth. The heroine meets a fairy godmother. She escorts the girl through the maze and introduces the Faun, who is in charge here. The fabulous master of the underground labyrinth claims that Ophelia's true destiny is to rule the magic kingdom, because she is a missing princess. Faun says that her father is looking for her. For the master of the labyrinth to help her find her real father-king, Ophelia needs to pass the tests three times.
Works before "Pan's Labyrinth"
Before starring in the famous film del Toro, Ivana Baquero was a performer of several small roles. The most notable of these took place in the 2005 Spanish-UK horror film Fragility. Ivana's heroine is Maggie. Her partners on the set were Calista Flockhart and Richard Roxburgh. According to the plot of this detective thriller, something appears in the old children's hospital. The heroine Baquero calls the mechanical girl Charlotte the cause of destruction and accidents. The little patient claims that the girl, invisible to the rest, lives on the upper, long-closed and abandoned floor. Maggie is believed by the new nurse, played by Calista Flockhart.
In 2004, Ivana starred in 2 films - the horror film Romasanta: The Hunt for the Werewolf and the fantastic thriller Rottweiler. In Romasanta, the actress played the role of Anna, and the main character was played by Elsa Pataki. The action takes place at the end of the 19th century in the north of Spain. The villagers suffer from the invasion of wolves from the nearby forests. A brave girl comes to the aid of the frightened people, who wants to put an end to the victims. However, the situation is becoming not only dire, but also strange. The bodies found no longer look like the victims of wild animals. They find mysterious signs. Residents understand that guns and traps will not help them escape. A long-standing legend of werewolves emerges, causing the panic to intensify.
In "Rottweiler" Ivana played Esperanza. This fantastic horror film tells how a ruthless robot dog was allowed to follow in the footsteps of an escaped prisoner. He has jaws of steel, a huge amount of energy and an excellent sense of smell. To enhance the effect, the action takes place in a desolate, gloomy area. The intrigue of the film is who will be the winner - the king of nature or the ruthless machine? The following year, Baquero again starred in a horror film. She gets a role in the thriller "New Year's Story". The plot of this film by the Spanish director Paco Plaza tells about the company of teenagers. They were sent on Christmas holidays to the village, where they found a well with a man dressed as Santa. The teenagers' first reaction is to call the police and rescue someone in trouble. Then they find out that this is a woman who stole a large sum. The guys offer salvation without involving law enforcement officers in exchange for a reward. The woman pays the ransom, but her potential saviors hesitate. What if she attacks when she gets out, they think. While the guys were thinking and arguing, the well was empty.
Further creativity
After Baquero played Ophelia, she was offered mainly leading roles in Spanish films. For example, in 2008, the actress played Paloma in the historical drama Anarchist's Wife. Ivana was 14 years old at the time of filming, but she played a girl between the ages of 14 and 18. Baquero's partners were Juan Diego Botto and Maria Valverde. Throughout the film, the main character fights and suffers in the name of the revolution, while his wife faithfully waits and does not lose hope of meeting her beloved. This film was shown at the Seattle International Film Festival, Valladolid and Munich Film Festivals, as well as at the Copenhagen Peaks International Film Festival.
The following year, the actress was invited to play the role of Louise James in the American horror film The Damned. The heroine's father, Ivana, is played by the famous Hollywood actor Kevin Costner. Louise becomes strange and withdrawn after her parents divorced and moved to another state. She and her father live in a remote village, where strange events begin to take place. In 2013, Ivana could be seen as Kylie in the British-Spanish detective thriller The Other Me. This film was seen by guests of the FILM4 FRIGHTFEST in the UK and Dark Nights in Tallinn. Then Carlos Cedes invites Ivana to play the role of Mary in the Spanish melodrama Good Morning Princess. The film tells about a girl who, after the divorce of her parents and moving, finds it difficult to get used to a new school. At first, troubles and conflicts await her, but gradually she adapts and makes new friends.
After Ivan, she continued her film career. In 2019, she co-starred in the Spanish-American thriller Feedback. According to the plot of this crime drama by Pedro Corredoir, masked criminals burst into the studio, where a scandalous radio broadcast is taking place. Now the broadcast will go according to their script. In the same year, Ivana began shooting in the exciting series "Open Sea". She plays Eve, and Alejandra Onieva plays the role of her sister Carolina. The action takes place on a liner plying from Europe to South America in 1940. The corpse of an unknown passenger was found on the ship, and the girls undertake an investigation. It is known that Bakero is starring in the lead role in a new science fiction film written by Madeleine Kennedy and Jesse Carrey, co-produced by the USA and Australia, so it's safe to say that the girl's career continues to develop.
