Natalia Oreiro

Biography

Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias (Spanish pronunciation: [naˈtalja oˈɾejɾo]; born 19 May 1977) is a Uruguayan actress, singer, songwriter, model, television presenter and fashion designer. She began her career in telenovelas but since 2008 she has switched to work primarily in films. Oreiro has worked on social awareness shows and events for organizations like Greenpeace and UNICEF, the latter of which designated her as ambassador for Argentina and Uruguay in September 2011. Her starring role as Milagros Espósito on Muñeca Brava (1998–99) brought her widespread international fame, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet republics, and Israel, where her popularity endured following the telenovela’s run, which has been rebroadcast multiple times. She has also embarked on several tours and special performances in these regions. The term "Oreiromania" was coined to describe the fan frenzy surrounding her. She has been featured in Esquire magazine's "The Sexiest Woman Alive" list. As a film actress, Oreiro debuted with a starring role in An Argentinian in New York (1998) and went on to receive a Silver Condor nomination for the comedy-drama Music on Hold (2009). She solidified her status as a leading lady with the historical dramas Clandestine Childhood (2011) and The German Doctor (2013), both of which were shortlisted for the Academy Awards, as well as the comedy-drama Miss Tacuarembó (2010) and the romantic comedies My First Wedding (2011) and Super Crazy (2018). She has also starred in films such as I'm Gilda (2015), Expiration Date (2023), and The Woman in Line (2025). As a singer, Oreiro has released three studio albums, eight soundtracks for film and television, and twenty-one singles (including three as a featured artist). Selling over 10 million records worldwide, she has been nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards. She has also expanded into television hosting, presenting reality series such as Got Talent Uruguay (2020–2022), La Voz Uruguay (2022–2023) and ¿Quién es la Máscara? Argentina (2022).

== Early life == Natalia Oreiro was born on May 19, 1977 in Montevideo, to Carlos Florencio Oreiro Poggio and Mabel Cristina Iglesias Bourié. She is of Spanish and Italian descent and has an older sister Adriana. In 1986 her family moved to Málaga, Spain, where they lived for two years, before returning to Uruguay. She attended elementary schools No. 30 and No. 40 in the Villa del Cerro neighborhood of Montevideo. She began studying drama at the age of eight, and auditioning for advertising campaigns at twelve. During her teens she appeared in more than 30 television commercials for such trademarks as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Johnson & Johnson.

== Career ==

=== 1995–2000: Career beginnings === At the age of 16 she moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina where she began auditioning to unleash her ambition to be a star. In 1993 she won the children's contest El Show de Xuxa and became the "super paquita" (entertainer and assistant) of the program and representative of its presenter Xuxa in different Latin American countries. She worked as an MTV VJ and in 1995, she landed a minor role in El Nueve's soap opera Dulce Ana. In 1996 she was cast in El Nueve's telenovela 90-60-90 modelos as Lucía, and made her stage debut in the Leonard Gershe's Butterflies Are Free. In 1997 she obtained her first leading role, playing Valeria García Méndez de Salerno in the soap opera Ricos y Famosos. She starred in the Argentinian film Un Argentino en New York (1998). After the movie, Natalia launched her first album, Natalia Oreiro and the single "Cambio Dolor" became the opening theme for her next acting project, the prime time show Muñeca Brava (1998–1999). For her performance in Muñeca Brava, Natalia was nominated twice (1998 and 1999) for a Martín Fierro Award as Best Actress in a leading role. In 1998, Natalia Oreiro recorded the theme "Paths of the Soul" next to Kennedy Choir and with more than 120 Argentine artists under the direction of Instrumental pianist and conductor Nazareno Andorno. In January 2000, Natalia was named "Celebrity of the Century" by E! Entertainment Television. She became popular in Russia and Israel due to the success of Muñeca Brava in that country and was even invited to star in a Russian telenovela. In Israel, she performed many times on big stages and many television shows and won the Best Telenovela Actress Award and Best Theme Song "Cambio Dolor" at the "VIVA 2000" awards, 2002 Israeli Cable TV had a live competition for finding the Israeli Natalia Oreiro, and she was the guest of honor for the evening.

=== 2000–2005: Tu Veneno and Turmalina === She pursued her musical career with the next album Tu Veneno and presentations at Gala de la Hispanidad, Gala de Murcia (both in Spain) and Festival de la Calle 8 in Miami. Her most important appearance was in the prestigious Latin television show Sábado Gigante Internacional, hosted by Don Francisco. Natalia's major achievement at this time was her music performance in Chile at Viña del Mar Festival 2000 for which she was crowned Queen of that event. The album scored a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Album, but lost to Christina Aguilera's Mi Reflejo.

On 1 June 2002, her third studio album Turmalina was released by BMG Ariola Argentina. Turmalina was produced by Latin record producer Kike Santander and is a combination of styles such as rock, pop and 50's and 60's sounds. On this album, Oreiro wrote and composed the songs: "Alas De Libertad" which is inspired by kids she met some time ago in the city of Jujuy, Argentina; "Mar" tells the love story between a sailor and his girlfriend. Natalia also contributed to the lyrics of "Cayendo". "Que Digan Lo Que Quieran" is Turmalina's first single. The official Uruguayan 2002 World Cup song "Pasión Celeste" is recorded with Fredy Bessio. "Cuesta arriba, cuesta abajo" was the opening song of the soap opera Kachorra (Runaway Lady). Kachorra ended with a rating lower than 20 points in Argentina. In March 2003 she started filming her second film Cleopatra together with Norma Aleandro, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Héctor Alterio, under the direction of Eduardo Mignogna, a co-production with Spain. In the middle of 2003, she started a tour for Eastern Europe and Latin America. On 1 March 2004 she started filming El Deseo.

=== 2006–2014: Sos mi vida, switch to cinema and other works === In 2006 she joined as the female boxer, Esperanza Munoz, the cast of the telenovela Sos mi vida along with her Muñeca Brava co-star Facundo Arana. It was directed by Rodolfo Antúnez and Jorge Bechara and broadcast by Canal 13. It began broadcasting on 16 January 2006 and ended 9 January 2007. During its broadcast averaged 26.9 points overall rating, and ended as the most watched fictional Argentine television program ever, until it was displaced by the 2009, telenovela Valientes. It was written by Ernesto Korovsky and Sebastian Parrotta, and won four Martín Fierro Awards and three Clarín Awards. On 30 April 2008, Oreiro starred in Amanda O which was an internet television series in Argentina and produced by Dori Media Group. It was the first soap opera ever made for the internet, and was seen by 550,000 users over Novebox.com, from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay during its first season and beginning of the second. Later in 2008 she co-starred in the film Las vidas posibles, along with Germán Palacios and Ana Celentano and got nominated for a Silver Condor for Best Supporting Actress. In 2009 she starred with Diego Peretti in Música en espera. The film premiered in Buenos Aires in March 2009 and sold 235,000 tickets. During the same year, she visited several international film festivals to present the film Francia directed by Adrián Caetano, including the San Sebastian Film Festival among others. In 2010 she starred in the film Miss Tacuarembó, a musical comedy, which was co-produced by Uruguay, Argentina and Spain. For her performance, she received the Iris award for Best Actress. Oreiro also participated in the soundtrack of the film, performing all the songs. During the same year, she presented Se dice de mí, a program that sought to raise awareness about women's rights. During the first half of 2011, she starred with Daniel Hendler in My First Wedding, a film comedy directed by Ariel Winograd. In 2012 she started in Lynch, a series created in Colombia and broadcast throughout Latin America. The same year the film Clandestine Childhood, which takes place during Argentina's last military dictatorship, premiered in Argentina. The film was selected to compete for a nomination in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2013 Oscar Awards. For her work in this film Oreiro won the Silver Condor Award and the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Award for Best Actress. At the end of 2012 she returned on stage and performed in the Superdiscoteca of the 90s Festival, which took place in St. Petersburg, Russia.

During 2013, she starred in the telenovela Solamente vos, which marked her return to television after a 7 year hiatus. For her performance in the series she won awards for Best Comedy Actress in the Tato Awards and Martín Fierro awards. Her next leading role was in the film The German Doctor, which was shot during 2012 in the city of Bariloche, and premiered in September 2013. This film, became the second in Oreiro's career to be shortlisted by the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Argentina to compete for a nomination in the Oscar Awards at the category for Best Foreign Film. She also won awards and nominations for Best Actress in the Condor de Plata awards, Sur awards, and the Unasur Festival. The film was nominated for a Goya Award and presented at several international film festivals.