The Biography

Adriana Barraza González (born 5 March 1956) is a Mexican actress, acting teacher, and director. In 1999 director Alejandro González Iñárritu cast her as the mother of Gael García Bernal's character in Amores perros, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2006, she collaborated with Iñárritu again in Babel, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Barraza is known in Mexico as Master Barraza from her partnership with Mexican director Sergio Jiménez, known as El Profe. They created the Actors Workshop in Mexico City, teaching and developing their own version of Method acting. Barraza began her career directing telenovela episodes, the actors in which she would also coach. In the 1990s she decided to step in front of the camera. She currently operates her own acting school located in Miami, Florida titled Adriana Barraza's Black Box. Instructors at the school include her husband Arnaldo and daughter Carolina.