CIVIL STATUS
Profession Actress
Nationality Spaniard
Born 26 January 1996 (Madrid)
BIOGRAPHY
A versatile artist, María Pedraza is first and foremost a professional ballet dancer, a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Dance Mariemma in Madrid. It was while browsing her Instagram profile that Spanish director Esteban Crespo, nominated for an Oscar for his short film Aquel no era yo in 2013, discovered her. He then chose her for the lead role in his romantic drama Amar. For the first time, the fledgling actress becomes someone else: Laura, a passionate young woman in a tumultuous love story. In this film, she plays opposite Natalia Tena, known for her roles in the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones saga.
María Pedraza then made a name for herself in the mini-series Si fueras tú (2017), when she plays 17-year-old Alba Ruiz, whose life is turned upside down when she enters a new school and discovers her resemblance to Cris, a student who disappeared a few months earlier. The actress then landed a key role in the phenomenal Spanish television series La Casa de papel (2017), which focused on a historical heist. In the role of Alison Parker, hostage and daughter of the British ambassador to Spain, María Pedraza – like her partners Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro Morte or Pedro Alonso – is propelled to the forefront of the international television scene thanks to the broadcast of the series on Netflix.
It is thanks to another program of the platform that María Pedraza confirms her status as a young international hopeful: Elite. Quickly compared to the series Gossip Girl, Riverdale and Big Little Lies, this Netflix original series begins with the arrival of three working-class students at a private, exclusive school in Spain. The confrontation between them and the wealthy students quickly ends in a murder that shocks the entire academy. María Pedraza plays Marina, a wealthy young girl who stands out from her family and the other students.
The actress also appears in the feature film ¿A quién te llevarías a una isla desierta? by Jota Linares, as well as the series Toy Boy in the lead role.
