Paola Nuñez will not be kept quiet. She was only 12 years old when she began her acting career in theatre and just 16 when she made her television debut. Now, she is a renowned actress of international fame, writer, and producer in the world of telenovelas. In an exclusive HE interview, the Mexican actress is vocal about the stereotypes that plague roles for Hispanic actresses and her hopes to change their on-screen portrayal. She recently took her career to the United States via Telemundo’s hit Reina de Corazones and sits down with us to talk telenovelas, ambitions, and petty theft.
What got you into acting?
I started acting as a little girl. I was very, very shy growing up, and I always felt trapped inside this shy girl. I wanted to be outgoing, fun, and crazy, and the only way I could express that was by doing this wacky character. I discovered I could just hide behind a character and feel comfortable in that space. In 1998, I moved from Tecate, Mexico to live with my cousin in Mexico City. I studied acting and started working in commercials before getting into telenovelas.
What’s it like being an actress in a telenovela living in Mexico?
Telenovelas are huge in Mexico. It is more likely that two Mexican people have seen the same telenovela than the same movie. It’s funny, nobody knows you if you’re in movies, but if you do telenovelas, everyone knows you. They think they really know you, too! They laugh and cry with you because the soaps are all about being overly dramatic.