Victoria Abril

Actor

About

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Also Known As
Victoria Merida Rojas
Birth Place
Madrid, ES
Born
July 04, 1959

Biography

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A popular, highly regarded Spanish performer, based in France since 1982, Victoria Abril began her career as a ballerina. At age 15, she hosted a TV game show and kick-started her film career with her debut role in F Lara Polop's "Obsession" (1976). She has twice been nominated for the French Cesar Award and has starred in numerous films by Vicente Aranda, including "El Lute I" (1987) an...

Filmography

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Mince Alors! (2012)
Neon Flesh (2011)
Walking Vengeance (2009)
48 Heures Par Jour (2008)
Leur Morale.Et La Notre (2008)
Musee haut, musee bas (2008)

Photos & Videos

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0 Photos
Mighty Quinn, The (1989) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Hurting Inside
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Main Event, The (1979) -- (Movie Clip) Why Smell Like A Flower?

Family & Companions

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Gustavo Lauve
Husband
Married in 1976; divorced in 1981.
Gerard de Battista
Companion
Director of photography. Father of Abril's two sons.

Biography

A popular, highly regarded Spanish performer, based in France since 1982, Victoria Abril began her career as a ballerina. At age 15, she hosted a TV game show and kick-started her film career with her debut role in F Lara Polop's "Obsession" (1976). She has twice been nominated for the French Cesar Award and has starred in numerous films by Vicente Aranda, including "El Lute I" (1987) and "Amantes/Lovers" (1991), for which she was named Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival. Other films include Jean-Jacques Beineix's "The Moon in the Gutter" (1983), Denis Amar's "L' Addition" (1984), and Nagisa Oshima's masterful black comedy "Max, My Love" (1986).

Abril became famous with American audiences with her chirpy-voiced turn as a heroin addicted ex-porn star in Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" (1990), playing opposite five-time screen partner Antonio Banderas. Abril walked the line between damaged innocent and masochist, a representation of women and of sexual love that raised critical hackles. She also appeared as a depressive newscaster with a mother complex in Almodovar's "High Heels" (1991) and a dominatrix in his subsequent "Kika" (1993). Abril's first Hollywood venture was Barry Levinson's "Jimmy Hollywood" (1994), wherein her luscious waif-on-the-brink persona was poured into the character of a striving, dreamy, monosyllabic hairdresser, the girlfriend of Joe Pesci. The following year, she was back in France appearing in Josiane Balasko's comedy "French Twist."

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Mince Alors! (2012)
Neon Flesh (2011)
Walking Vengeance (2009)
48 Heures Par Jour (2008)
Leur Morale.Et La Notre (2008)
Musee haut, musee bas (2008)
El Camino De Los Ingleses (2007)
Les Aristos (2006)
Tirante El Blanco (2005)
Taken In (2004)
Escuela de Seducción (2004)
The 7th Day (2004)
Luciana
Bendito Infierno (2002)
Lola
101 Reykjavik (2000)
Mon pere, ma mere, mes freres et mes soeurs ... (2000)
Anne
Entre Las Piernas (1999)
The Cosmonaut's Wife (1998)
Anna
Baton Rouge (1996)
Ana Alonso
Libertarias (1996)
Aura
French Twist (1995)
Loli
Nobody Will Talk About Us When We're Dead (1995)
Gloria Duque
Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
Blue Helmet (1994)
Alicia
Kika (1994)
Intruder (1993)
Luisa
Demasiado Corazon (1992)
La Noche Mas Hermosa (1992)
Elena
High Heels (1991)
Amantes (1991)
Luisa
Une Epoque formidable (1991)
Juliette
Sandino (1990)
A Solas Contigo (1990)
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
Marina Osorio
Si Te Dicen Que Cai (1989)
Menchu; Ramona/Aurora Nin
Sans peur et sans reproche (1989)
Jeanee
Ada dans la Jungle (1988)
Barrios Altos (1987)
El Lute I (1987)
Consuelo
The Pleasure of Killing (1987)
El Juego mas Divertido (1987)
Ada Lasa/Sara
Max mon amour (1986)
Ternosecco (1986)
Tiempo de Silencio (1985)
Dorita
La Hora Bruja (1985)
Saga
Rouge Gorge (1985)
After Darkness (1985)
Pascale
Padre Nuestro (1985)
Cardenala
On the Line (1985)
L'Addition (1984)
Patty
Le Voyage (1984)
Veronique
The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
La Colmena (1983)
Le Batard (1983)
Betty
Las Bicicletas Son Para el Verano (1983)
Asesinato en el Comite Central (1982)
J'ai Epouse Une Ombre (1982)
Fifo
Comin' at Ya (1981)
La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro (1980)
Mariana
El Puente (1977)
Dona Perfecta (1977)
Cambio de Sexo (1976)
Robin And Marian (1976)

Music (Feature Film)

Cambio de Sexo (1976)
Song Performer

Life Events

1967

Began studying dance at age eight, concentrating on ballet until 14 (dates approximate)

1974

Hosted a popular Spanish game show at age 15 (date approximate)

1975

Film debut at 15 in "Obsession"

1976

English-language feature film debut in "Robin and Marian"

1980

First feature film in a starring role, "La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro/The Girl with the Golden Panties"

1994

First lead in a Hollywood film, "Jimmy Hollywood"

Videos

Movie Clip

Mighty Quinn, The (1989) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Hurting Inside Late bringing his son (David McFarlane) home to his estranged wife (Sheryl Lee Ralph), island-nation police chief (Denzel Washington, title character) finds her rehearsing, with two of Bob Marley’s daughters (Cedella in the flowered top, Sharon in lavender, who were then members with their brother of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers), one of Bob’s lesser-known, though far from obscure compositions, in The Mighty Quinn, 1989.
Main Event, The (1979) -- (Movie Clip) Why Smell Like A Flower? Beginning off-camera, playing a double-entendre joke about drugs, we meet Barbra Streisand as perfume entrepreneur Hillary, then visit her workout, early in the aerobics fad, in The Main Event, 1979, produced by Jon Peters (Barbra’s husband), co-starring Ryan O’Neal.
Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, The -- (Movie Clip) Not A Servant's Job Kisho Hanayagi, playing the adoptive mother of rising Kabuki actor Kikunosuke, scolds Otoku (Kakuko Mori), wet-nurse for his baby brother, for taking an interest in his career, launching a central conflict, in Kenzo Mizoguchi's The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, 1939.
Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, The -- (Movie Clip) Not Dead Yet Offering not much context, director Kenji Mizoguchi brings his lead actor (Shotaro Hanayagi) into a Kabuki theater performance in late 19th century Tokyo, in which his father (Gonjuro Kawarazaki) plays the lead, opening the long-lost and highly acclaimed The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, 1939.
Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, The -- (Movie Clip) With My Own Eyes After relatively routine opening scenes, director Kenji Mizoguchi departs from convention, introducing Otoku (Kakuko Mori) nurse maid to the baby step-brother of Kikunosuke (Shotaro Hanayagi), the adopted son and protege of a leading Kaubki actor, and their complex relationship, all in one shot, in The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums, 1939.
Absolute Beginners (1986) -- (Movie Clip) Quiet Life Discouraged London photographer Colin (Eddie O'Donnell) with his voice over comments for his girl, leading into the introduction of Kinks front-man Ray Davies as his Dad, the composer and performer for this original tune, in director Julien Temple's Absolute Beginners, 1986.
Absolute Beginners (1986) -- (Movie Clip) My Last Teenage Year The opening narration having established London, 1958, Colin (Eddie O'Donnell) introducing himself, Suzette (Patsy Kensit) then in one long shot pals Graham Fletcher-Cook, Tony Hippolyte, Joe McKenna, Paul Rhys, Eve Ferret and others, in director Julien Temple's Absolute Beginners, 1986.
Absolute Beginners (1986) -- (Movie Clip) I Love This Look! The fashion-timing is wrong, as it's supposed to be 1958, but still the breakout moment for Suzette (Patsy Kensit), wardrobe assistant turned instant sensation, at the London runway show by "Henley Od" (James Fox), Anita Morris the reporter on the spot, in Absolute Beginners, 1986.
Rooty Toot Toot (1951) -- (Clip) UPA Trial testimony in song, Frankie And Johnny re-worked by Allen Alch and Phil Moore, in the UPA short Rooty Toot Toot, 1951, from the new Turner Classic Movies and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Jolly Frolics Collection DVD set, available at http://shop.tcm.com
Tell-Tale Heart, The (1953) -- (Clip) UPA James Mason the voice of Edgar Allan Poe's first person narrator, in the UPA short The Tell-Tale Heart, 1953, from the new Turner Classic Movies and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD set, available at http://shop.tcm.com
Almost Famous (2000) -- (Movie Clip) It Would Be Cool Director Cameron Crowe at play, mom Elaine (Frances McDormand) releases Wiliam (Patrick Fugit), on the bus with rockers (Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Kate Hudson et al), then excellent desk clerk (Eric Stonestreet) in Almost Famous, 2000.

Trailer

Crying Game, The - (Original Trailer) A British soldier kidnapped by IRA terrorists befriends one of his captors in The Crying Game (1992) with Stephen Rea and Forest Whitaker, directed by Neil Jordan.
Robin And Marian - (Original Trailer) Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn play a middle-aged Robin Hood and Maid Marian called back to action and romance.

Companions

Gustavo Lauve
Husband
Married in 1976; divorced in 1981.
Gerard de Battista
Companion
Director of photography. Father of Abril's two sons.

Bibliography

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