Teresa Ruiz (actress)

Teresa Ruiz
Ruiz at the Cantinflas Premiere at the Chinesse Theater in Los Angeles, CA
Born	Teresa Ruiz López (1988-12-21) December 21, 1988 Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican, American
Occupation	Actress, Producer
Years active	2006–present

Teresa Ruiz Lopez, known as Teresa Ruiz, is a Mexican American film actress and producer who is considered one of the most prominent and respected actress of Mexico; has won several best actress awards at International film festivals. Ruiz is a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio.

Early life

Teresa Ruiz was born in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico.^[1][2] and grew up in Los Angeles, California where she attended Santa Monica High School, after moving from El Paso, Texas. While living on the border of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua Ruiz became an active member of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association") a non profit organization composed of mothers, family members, and friends of victims of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez.^[3]

Family

Teresa Ruiz belongs to the youngest generation of the López Mateo family widely known in Southern Mexico to grow maguey plants, from where they have brewed mezcal for more than four decades. In the eighties, part of the family migrated to the US where they pioneered the popularization Oaxacan gastronomy^[4] gaining great success among the American community^[5]

Career

Training

Teresa Ruiz is a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio where she trained under the tutelage of Actors Studio members: Lou Antonio, Martin Landau, Greta Seacat and Sandra Seacat.

Ruiz also trained under a residency scholarship at the Odin Teatret house of the International School of Theatre Anthropology founded by Eugenio Barba, who was a disciple of Jerzy Grotowski^[6] in Holstebro, Denmark.

TV

Ruiz was a part of the second season The Last Ship (TV series) produced by Michael Bay and made special appearances in the 2 part episode "Return to Sender" of the American television police procedural series Major Crimes and on the American action drama television series Gang Related (TV series).

Film

Her debut film Bienvenido Paisano won great success among the Latin American community and became a popular film among migrant families residing in the US. In 2006, she appeared in the Gregory Nava's controversial film "Bordertown" alongside Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas. The story was based on the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua and had the support of Amnesty International.

In 2010 Ruiz played the title role in Gerardo Tort´s "Round Trip" (Mexican title "Viaje Redondo"), for which she won several best actress awards including the International Film Festival Guadalajara's Silver Mayahuel, the Prix D'interprétation Féminine at the International Festival of Amiens in France and the India Catalina in Colombia; as well as Mexico's Academy Award: Ariel.

Ruiz also starred in Carlos Bolado's "Tlatelolco"; the film tells the story of the 1968 massacre of protesting students in Mexico's capital. The following year, she starred in Jose Luis Gutierrez-Arias' remake of the Spain's classic film "Marcelino Pan Y Vino".

She has worked under Mexico's most notable industry directors and producers such as Jaime Romandia, Monica Lozano and Felipe Cazals. In 2013 she shot one of Mexico's most anticipated films "Cantinflas", a biopic about renowned actor Mario Moreno Cantinflas, where she played iconic actress and dancer Meche Barba also known as "The Mexican Venus"^[7]

Commercial Work

In 2015, Ruiz was chosen to co-star in the film The Delivery next to Mickey Rourke, Raymond Cruz and Carl Weathers in an action movie parody directed by Louis Leterrier that celebrates the Toughest Guys in action and Nissan’s 5-year/100,000 mile limited warranty. She filmed advertisements in both Spanish and English to promote the brand.^[8]

Production

Ruiz a founding member and until 2013 an Executive Partner of the production company Machete, which won the Camera DÒr at the 63 Cannes film festival for Michael Rowe's film "Leap Year".

Theater

In 2014 Teresa played the part of Veronica in The Actors Studio sponsored production of The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis. The play was produced by Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn and Al Pacino and opened in Los Angeles in September 2014^[9]

Ruiz made her musical theater debut in 2006 in the play "Carmen" by Georges Bizet at the Fru Fru Theater in Mexico City. Later that year she played one of the main roles in Ofelia Medina´s "Frida" where she portrayed young Frida Kahlo; in 2007 the play had its worldwide premiere at the International Cadiz Theater Festival in Spain, then proceeded to tour Cuba, Denmark, the UK and Mexico;^[10] in 2008 the play had its US premiere at The New LATC in Downtown Los Angeles.

She took part of "Margaret's Birthdate Wish" presented at The International Theater Festival in Edinburgh Scotland. That same year, she played the title character in the stage production of John Peilmeier's "Agnes of God".

Filmography

TV

Awards

Won 7 awards & 9 nominations, such as:

Guadalajara International Film Festival

Amiens International Film Festival in France

Colombia International Film Festival

Mexico's Academy Award, Ariel

Canacine Awards

Cannes Film Festival

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Teresa Ruiz (actress).

• Teresa Ruiz at the Internet Movie Database
• Teresa Ruiz at Twitter
• Teresa Ruiz at Facebook
• Teresa Ruiz at Instagram