Profiles: Marcela Valencia | Proimágenes Colombia

Born in Popayán on April 1, 1968, she is an actress, member, and co-founder —along with Fabio Rubiano— of Teatro Petra, one of Colombia's most outstanding contemporary theater companies. Petra's work is built from research, playwriting, and stage experience. 
 
Valencia has been part of fifteen feature films and more than twenty theater plays, receiving awards and recognitions in France, Uruguay, and Colombia. She studied Dramatic Art at the Escuela Superior de Teatro de Bogotá (Bogotá College of Art) and four years at the Taller Permanente de Investigación Teatral (Permanent Workshop on Theater Research) directed by Santiago García, a co-founder of Teatro La Candelaria. She has participated in more than 35 international theater festivals in Europe and America, with directors from Spain, Slovenia, Colombia, and the United States.
 
While still students at the Escuela Distrital de Teatro, in 1985, she and Fabio Rubiano came up with the idea of starting their own company. With much enthusiasm and a small budget, they staged their first play, El negro perfecto (The perfect black), written and directed by Rubiano. Later came Desencuentros (Misencounters), María Es-tres (Three Marías), Amores simultáneos (Simultaneous loves), Opio en las nubes (Opium in the clouds), Me estás mirando, ¿verdad? (You're looking at me, aren't you?), Mosca (Fly), Dos hermanas (Two sisters), Pinocchio, Frankenstein le tiene miedo a Harrison Ford (Frankenstein is afraid of Harrison Ford), El natalicio de Schumann (Schumann's birthday), Imago Mundi, Sara dice - Cien días I (Sara says - One hundred days I), Labio de liebre (Hare lip), and Yo NO estoy loca (I'm not crazy), among others. Their plays have gained them several national playwriting awards, creation fellowships, co-production awards, and grants for artistic residencies abroad.
 
In the film world, her career began in the feature film La deuda (o la insólita y no menos asombrosa resurrección y segunda muerte de Alí Ibrahim María de los Altos Pozos y Resuello, llamado el turco), (The Debt - 1997) by Manuel José Álvarez. Later, she was in the cast of Los niños invisibles (Invisible Children - 2001), Los actores del conflicto (The actors in the conflict - 2008) by Lisandro Duque, Tres hombres y tres mujeres (Three women and three men - 2003) by Carlos Hernández, Malamor (Bad Love - 2003) by Jorge Echeverry, Satanás (Satan - 2007), Hoguera (Bonfire - 2007) —both by Andi Baiz—, and Buscando a Miguel (Finding Miguel - 2007) by Juan Fischer. She also starred in the short film Como todo el mundo (Like everybody else - 2007) by Franco Lolli, for which she received the Best Actress award at the Bogoshorts (formerly In Vitro Visual), El Espejo and ECU Montevideo Festivals.
 
She later appeared in Te amo Ana Elisa (I love you Ana Elisa - 2009) by Antonio Dorado, Broken Kingdom (2012) by Daniel Gillies, Destinos (Destinies - 2014) by Alexander Giraldo, Pasos de héroe (Hero steps - 2016) by Henry Rincón, and Una madre (2022) by Diógenes Cuevas, among others. Her roles in Te amo Ana Elisa and Pasos de héroe gained her nominations as Best Supporting Actress at the 2010 and 2017 Macondo Awards.
 
As for television, she has been in the cast of Cartas a Harrison (Letters to Harrison - 1996); Noticias calientes (Hot news - 2002); La séptima puerta (The seventh door - 2004); Tu voz estéreo (Your voice stereo - 2008); Las muñecas de la mafia (The Mafia Dolls - 2009); Kdabra (2009 - 2010); Escobar: el patrón del mal (Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord - 2012); Historias clasificadas (Classified stories - 2012); Pobres Rico (Poor Ricos - 2012); Las Santísimas (The most holy - 2012); Alias el mexicano (Alias the Mexican - 2013) —with which she was nominated for Best Antagonist Actress at the TV y Novelas Awards—; Un sueño llamado salsa (A dream called salsa - 2014); Las Vega's (2016); Sin senos sí hay paraíso (Without breasts there is paradise - 2016); La Nocturna (Night school - 2017); Infieles (Unfaithful - 2017); El man es Germán (German is the man - 2019); Historia de un crimen: Colmenares (History of a crime: Colmenares - 2019); Decisiones, unos ganan otros pierden (Decisions, some win and others lose - 2020); Interiores (Interior - 2021); among other series.