Biography of Ana de la Reguera
Born Anabell Gardoqui de la Reguera, Ana de la Reguera has been a fixture among Mexican audiences for over 10 years. She made her debut as an actress on the popular telenovela Azul alongside fellow Latina hottie Galilea Montijo, in which she starred as the character of Cecilia over the course of the series’ 1996 run. Ana spent the rest of the 1990s appearing in one popular Mexican soap after another, including Pueblo chico, infierno grande and Tentaciones -- until she finally made her cinematic debut with a starring role in the popular 2000 comedy Dust to Dust.
ana de la reguera in nacho libre
Ana de la Reguera’s big break came in 2003 with an appearance in the Latin comedy Ladies’ Night, for which she won two Mexican MTV Movie Awards (Best Turn-On and Favorite Actress). It was her role in that film that directly led to an opportunity to make her English-language debut, as director Jared Hess -- preparing to shoot his Napoleon Dynamite follow-up, Nacho Libre -- asked the up-and-coming actress to audition for the part of Sister Encarnación in the film. Ana beat out a myriad of competitors and soon found herself acting opposite Jack Black in the 2006 comedy. Although she followed up this role with a part in a drama with John Leguizamo entitled Paraiso Travel, Ana remains loyal to her Mexican roots (she’s still extremely active within their television and film scene).
Reguera began her performance arts studies in the Instituto Veracruzano de Cultura and was the host of Pasarela on Televisa Veracruz. She left the Televisa's CEA, and then studied with Rosa María Bianchi, Patricia Reyes Spíndola and Rafael Miranau. She also studied with Raúl Quintanilla in the Centro de Formación Actoral de TV Azteca (CEFAC).
Her acting career began with her role in the Telenovela Azul (1996) followed by Pueblo chico, infierno grande (1997) for which she received the Heraldo award for best female acting, and Desencuentro which was her third telenovela under the direction of Ernesto Alonso.
Tentaciones (1998) marked her beginning with the production company Producciones Argos. She was immediately offered a role in Destino and Todo por amor, for which she received the Palmas de oro award.
Cara o Cruz was the first telenovela co-production between Argos Comunicación and Telemundo, that was made exclusively for the hispanic audience living in the United States. It was later rebroadcasted in Mexico, by independent channel CNI. She was also seen playing María in the telenovela Por tí for TV Azteca and the mini-series that followed up on Pedro El Escamoso, Como Pedro por su casa which was a co-production between Caracol from Colombia and Telemundo.
Reguera has been in many commercials and television shows in Mexico, such as: Mujer, casos de la vida real, Al derecho y al Dérbez, Íntimamente Shanik, Chiquitos pero picosos, La venta increíble, Llévatelo and Cómplices en familia. In theatre she has participated in El cartero directed by Raúl Quintanilla, for which she received two awards from the 'Mexican Association of Theatre Journalists.
Her introduction to film began in Por la Libre, under the direction of Juan Carlos de Llaca. Later she acted in the film Un Secreto de Esperanza and in 2003 Ladies Night, alongside Ana Claudia Talancón. In 2005 she played the starring role in Gitanas which aired on Telemundo in the United States.
She is perhaps best known world wide for her role as Sister Encarnación in Nacho Libre, a film by Jared Hess, director of Napoleon Dynamite. Throughout her career, Reguera has often been mistaken for Penélope Cruz. In 2006, she hosted the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America along with Mexican alternative rock group Molotov.
Reguera can also be seen in recent movies including Sultanes del Sur and Paraiso Travel released in 2006, and A Happy Death due for release sometime in 2007. She has never been married and has no children, she is currently dating Jorge Ramos, an anchor at Univision and in 2006 dated Austin Ryan Fuentes.
She is currently working with Argos Comunicación on the HBO Latin American series "Capadocia" along with Rebecca Jones.