Assumpta Serna
- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Assumpta Serna was born in Barcelona, Spain. She studied Law but
abandoned it for her real passion, acting. Her career has spanned over
227 films, 27 as a lead and 43 TV projects in over 20 countries. She has won more than
thirty best actress awards throughout the world (Spain, France, Italy,
USA, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay...). She has worked as an
actress in all six of the languages she speaks: Catalan, Spanish,
Portuguese, French, Italian and English.
A few of her many films are:
Uncertainty (2008) with
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, directed by
Scott McGehee and
David Siegel,
Pedro Almodóvar's
Matador (1986), the 1993 Spanish Oscar
entry
The Fencing Master (1992)
directed by Pedro Olea,
María Luisa Bemberg's film,
I, the Worst of All (1990),
The Craft (1996) for Columbia Tri Star,
Samuel Fuller's The Day of
Reckoning, Wild Orchid (1989),
opposite Mickey Rourke. She has worked on
more than 20 European co productions, such as
Nostradamus (1994), with
Rutger Hauer and
F. Murray Abraham,
Le cercle des passions (1983),
with Max von Sydow,
The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes (2004)
by the Quay Brothers and produced by
Terry Gilliam and
Shortcut to Paradise (1994) with
Charles Dance.
Her performances have been acclaimed in popular British TV series such
as Sharpe where she played the feisty guerrilla leader Teresa opposite
Sean Bean and in Henry VIII, with
Ray Winstone, playing the King's
first wife Catherine of Aragon. In Spain she was a regular on the
country's most popular TV show
Aquí no hay quien viva (2003).
In 2011, she played Vanozza, the mother of Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia,
in the series Borgia (2011), written
and produced by Tom Fontana, shown in 35
countries.
She was elected to the board of the European Film Academy representing
Spain for 6 years and responsible for the organization of the European
Film awards (2004) in Barcelona (with a 1.8 million euro budget). Whist
living in Los Angeles she was an active member of the Academy of Motion
Pictures, Arts and Sciences, serving on the committee for Foreign film.
She was the first Spanish actress to be honored with membership to
AMPAS. She has been a proud member since 1993 and has served on the Executive Committee of the Actor's Branch.
She has sat on juries in International film festivals around the world,
such as Chicago, Venice, San Sebastian, Mar del Plata (Argentina),
Biarritz, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Karlovy Vary, Cartagena de Indias
(Colombia), Brussels, Cluj (Romania), and Rome.
She was elected President of AISGE in 2002. AISGE is the organization
in Spain that deals with the task of managing and protecting the
intellectual property rights of actors. She was also voted
vice-president of ARTIS, the European Association of intellectual
property rights for actors. After the release of her first book she
began teaching workshops in Universities and Film Schools on the
subject of screen-acting. In 2005 founded with
Scott Cleverdon first team an
international non-profit film foundation. First team has been teaching
film acting and the direction of actors in 6 countries around the world
and so far has taught more than 1500 filmmakers.
http://www.fundacionfirstteam.org . Based in Spain, first team offers a
pioneering university course on Screen Acting for actors, believed to
be the first of its kind in the world and tuition programs for
directors and scriptwriters.
Her book, El trabajo del actor de cine was the first to be written in
Spanish regarding the craft of film-acting. She followed it up with
Monologues in V.O, a resource for auditioning actors.
She continues to work and teach in Madrid, Barcelona and throughout the world as actress and acting coach.
Together with Scott Cleverdon , they have taught over 13,000 hours and trained over 4,000 actors, actresses, filmmakers and business people.
abandoned it for her real passion, acting. Her career has spanned over
227 films, 27 as a lead and 43 TV projects in over 20 countries. She has won more than
thirty best actress awards throughout the world (Spain, France, Italy,
USA, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay...). She has worked as an
actress in all six of the languages she speaks: Catalan, Spanish,
Portuguese, French, Italian and English.
A few of her many films are:
Uncertainty (2008) with
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, directed by
Scott McGehee and
David Siegel,
Pedro Almodóvar's
Matador (1986), the 1993 Spanish Oscar
entry
The Fencing Master (1992)
directed by Pedro Olea,
María Luisa Bemberg's film,
I, the Worst of All (1990),
The Craft (1996) for Columbia Tri Star,
Samuel Fuller's The Day of
Reckoning, Wild Orchid (1989),
opposite Mickey Rourke. She has worked on
more than 20 European co productions, such as
Nostradamus (1994), with
Rutger Hauer and
F. Murray Abraham,
Le cercle des passions (1983),
with Max von Sydow,
The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes (2004)
by the Quay Brothers and produced by
Terry Gilliam and
Shortcut to Paradise (1994) with
Charles Dance.
Her performances have been acclaimed in popular British TV series such
as Sharpe where she played the feisty guerrilla leader Teresa opposite
Sean Bean and in Henry VIII, with
Ray Winstone, playing the King's
first wife Catherine of Aragon. In Spain she was a regular on the
country's most popular TV show
Aquí no hay quien viva (2003).
In 2011, she played Vanozza, the mother of Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia,
in the series Borgia (2011), written
and produced by Tom Fontana, shown in 35
countries.
She was elected to the board of the European Film Academy representing
Spain for 6 years and responsible for the organization of the European
Film awards (2004) in Barcelona (with a 1.8 million euro budget). Whist
living in Los Angeles she was an active member of the Academy of Motion
Pictures, Arts and Sciences, serving on the committee for Foreign film.
She was the first Spanish actress to be honored with membership to
AMPAS. She has been a proud member since 1993 and has served on the Executive Committee of the Actor's Branch.
She has sat on juries in International film festivals around the world,
such as Chicago, Venice, San Sebastian, Mar del Plata (Argentina),
Biarritz, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Karlovy Vary, Cartagena de Indias
(Colombia), Brussels, Cluj (Romania), and Rome.
She was elected President of AISGE in 2002. AISGE is the organization
in Spain that deals with the task of managing and protecting the
intellectual property rights of actors. She was also voted
vice-president of ARTIS, the European Association of intellectual
property rights for actors. After the release of her first book she
began teaching workshops in Universities and Film Schools on the
subject of screen-acting. In 2005 founded with
Scott Cleverdon first team an
international non-profit film foundation. First team has been teaching
film acting and the direction of actors in 6 countries around the world
and so far has taught more than 1500 filmmakers.
http://www.fundacionfirstteam.org . Based in Spain, first team offers a
pioneering university course on Screen Acting for actors, believed to
be the first of its kind in the world and tuition programs for
directors and scriptwriters.
Her book, El trabajo del actor de cine was the first to be written in
Spanish regarding the craft of film-acting. She followed it up with
Monologues in V.O, a resource for auditioning actors.
She continues to work and teach in Madrid, Barcelona and throughout the world as actress and acting coach.
Together with Scott Cleverdon , they have taught over 13,000 hours and trained over 4,000 actors, actresses, filmmakers and business people.