Vanessa Benavente, famous for playing Mother Mary in the hit 2017 series The Chosen, was born on December 8, 1979, in Lima, Peru. She spent most of her childhood there and completed her high school education.
During her education there, she participated in the school’s production of Annie, which intrigued her interest in acting.
Later, she decided to study acting for her bachelor’s, joined the prestigious Corazza Studio in Madrid, Spain, and graduated as an actor.
Famous Oscar-winning actor and actress Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz also went to the same university. Further, Benavente later moved to the USA and settled there while pursuing her career.
Moreover, being raised in two countries, Vanessa Benavente can speak Spanish and English fluently.
Further, her mother’s name is Cucha Adrian, while her father’s and other family’s details are not available on the internet.
However, talking about her religion, she was born to parents who follow the Catholic religion and have a Caucasian ethnic background.
Key Takeaways
- Vanessa Benavente became popular after portraying the role of Mother Mary on The Chosen.
- Benavente stated playing Mother Mary was her dream, and she could not believe it when she went to the audition for that role.
- She met her husband while pursuing an acting career, and now they share two young children.
- As a wife and mother of two children, she had to make many sacrifices, including quitting her casting job for that role.
Vanessa Benavente fell in love with the theater at the age of 6
Hollywood Horrorfest 2020 Best Comedy Actress award winner Vanessa Benavente shared that her love for performance started at the age of 6 when she used to participate in minor plays during her high school days in Peru.
Similarly, after graduating with her degree in acting, she moved to the USA around 2012 to pursue her acting career and settled in Los Angeles, California.
Her bilingual skills also helped her career as she started working and performing in Spanish and English productions like La Casa de Bernarda Alba and The Crucible.
The 44-year-old actress has worked in various TV series throughout her career. Her most famous works include The Chosen (2017), At the Gates (2022), and Hold for Applause (2020).
During her career in the acting industry, she met her husband, Sergio Lanza, an actor, director, and producer who is half-Argentinian and half-Spanish.
Similarly, he is famous for his works in Our Flag Means Death (2022), Luis Miguel: The Series (2018), and The Chosen (2017).
Sergio Lanza and Vanessa Benavente married in July 2011. Throughout their over ten-year marriage, they have shared two daughters, Olivia Lanza and Amaia Lanza.
Mother Mary was the dream role of Vanessa Benavente
Despite all of her acting works, the role of Mother Mary in The Chosen was the breakthrough of her career, which features the life of Jesus Christ.
The series The Chosen, directed by Dallas Jenkins, has four sessions with 15 episodes.
In an interview with Washington Times Faith & Family reporter Mark Kellner, she talks about her role as Mother Mary on The Chosen while claiming she could not believe at first that she was auditioning for her dream role.
Further, she also stated that the role was new and challenging for her, and to provide a good performance, she quit her casting job and entirely focused on her new role.
She shared, “Acting wasn’t coming by very regularly, so I was working in casting and when I got the audition, I had to take an extra long lunch and work late to get there. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with it, but I’m somewhat lucky that no one knows what she looked liked or how she sounded.”
Moreover, as the mother of two young daughters, Vanessa Benavente also had to sacrifice her family time for the valuable role of Mother Mary, which could inspire many people.
While describing Mother Mary’s character, Vanessa Benavente tells Mark Kellner, “I can be inspired and I take quite a bit from my family … My grandmother’s sister, who later became like my grandma because my grandma passed away, she had this quality … she was always smiling and always seemed happy even though she had a tough life, but every time you saw her, she just hugged you. And Mary is that. Mary is a warm embrace.”
FAQs
No, actress Vanessa Benavente does not have a Wikipedia page to date. However, as she is making tremendous progress in her acting career, Wikipedia might soon dedicate a page to her.
Vanessa Benavente was born in Peru. However, she later moved to Los Angeles, USA, and settled there, so she is of American nationality.
Vanessa Benavente’s exact net worth is not yet available on the internet. However, some claim she might be worth around $500 thousand.
According to bolnews.com, Vanessa Benavente stands 5 feet 4 inches tall (1.62 m) and weighs 59 KG (130 lbs).
