Sánchez-Gijón made her television debut as an actress at age 16 in the high school series
Segunda enseñanza, playing Sisi, a lesbian teenager. She landed her film debut in
Romanza final (1986). In 1988, she starred as Acacia in
The Unloved Woman, a play by Miguel Narros adapting
Jacinto Benavente staged at the
Teatro Español. Her
breakthrough role as Elena in the 1989 film
Going South Shopping launched her career. ,
Mario Vargas Llosa and Marta Poveda in
Los cuentos de la peste at the
Teatro Español (2015). Best known for her career in
Spanish cinema, Sánchez-Gijón first became known internationally for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned
Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton (
Keanu Reeves) in
A Walk in the Clouds (1995) She has since built a reputation as an international star in films such as
Manuel Gomez Pereira's
Boca a Boca (1996),
Bigas Luna's
The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997),
Jaime Chávarri's
Sus Ojos Se Cerraron (1998),
Gabriele Salvatores' adaptation of the
Niccolò Ammaniti novel ''
I'm Not Scared'' (2003) and
Brad Anderson's
The Machinist (2004). She served as the president of the
Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain between 1998 and 2000. Her portrayal of the
Duchess of Alba in
Volavérunt won her the
Silver Shell for Best Actress at the 1999
San Sebastián International Film Festival. She was a member of the official jury of the
2000 Cannes Film Festival. She earned her first Goya Award nomination for a supporting role in
Parallel Mothers (2021). In 2023, she featured in
Something Is About to Happen playing a theatre producer stealing the story of a taxi driver's life. In 2024, she appeared in the hospital-set drama
Breathless for Netflix. In December 2024, she was awarded the
Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts. In March 2026, she starred again in an adaptation of
The Unloved Woman at the Teatro Español, this time directed by Natalia Menéndez. == Views ==