Argentinean actress M?a Maestro was born on June 19, 1975 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She moved to Berlin when she was 18 years old to train as a classical music vocalist. Along the way, she also trained in dance and acting. She returned to Argentina two years later, and in 1998, made her film debut with the film Tango. This was followed by four other films: 1999’s The Venice Project, and 2000’s Timecode, Picking Up the Pieces and El astillero.
Maestro made her television debut in 2000, when she starred in the television movie For Love of Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story. She starred in two major films during the time: she played Cristina Kahlo in the 2002 film Frida, and the acclaimed 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, based on the biography of Che Guevara when he was still young. She also appeared in the films In the Time of Butterflies, Deepwater and Poseidon.
In 2004, Maestro was cast in the spy drama Alias. She originally met with the show’s producer, J.J. Abrams, intending to get a role on another one of his projects, Lost. Introduced late into the third season, she plays Nadia Santos, the daughter resulting from the affair between Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) and Irina Derevko (Lena Olin); thus, she is the half-sister of Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). She later works as an Argentinean intelligence agent as well as a special agent for the CIA, which marked her character being turned into a regular one starting from the fourth season. She won an Imagen Award—given out to honor Latino members of the entertainment industry—for Best Supporting Actress in 2004. After her stint on Alias, Maestro starred in the films The Box and Visioners.
Maestro also has an accomplished stage career. Her performance in the stage production of Pandora’s Box earned her an ACE Award.
Tango (1998)
The Venice Project (1999)
Timecode (2000)
Picking Up the Pieces (2000)
El Astillero (2000)
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000)
Hotel (2001)
In the Time of the Butterflies (2001)
Frida (2002)
Four Lean Hounds (2003)
Diarios de motocicleta (aka The Motorcycle Diaries) (2004)
La Ni?a santa (aka The Holy Girl) (2004)
Secuestro express (2005)
Mantenidas sin sue?os, Las (2005)
Poseidon (2006)
Deepwater (2006)
Visioneers (2008)
The Speed of Thought (2008)
Crusoe (TV series) (2008)
-Hollywood is kind of a bad world.
-If something's important to you, you make time for it.
-My parents were overprotective because you could get kidnapped and bombs were exploding in the streets.
-Naturally, I'm pretty physical.