Úrsula Corberó Delgado (born 11 August 1989) is a Spanish actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Ruth Gómez in Física o química (2008–2010), Margarita de Austria in the television series Isabel (2014) and Marta in the comedy film Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida (2015). She gained international fame after her role as Tokyo in the Antena 3 (later, Netflix) series La Casa de Papel.
Early Life
Úrsula Corberó Delgado was born in Barcelona. She grew up in Sant Pere de Vilamajor with her parents, Pedro Corberó, a carpenter, and Esther Delgado, a shopkeeper. She has one sister named Mónica.
By age 6, she already knew she wanted to be an actress and she first started acting in commercials. She got her first part at age 13 and took acting classes as well as flamenco and jazz dance classes. After her studies, she moved to Madrid to shoot the TV series Física o Química.
Career
2002–2013: Career Beginnings
Corberó debuted as Maria in the television series Mirall Trencat in 2002. She appeared as Sara in Ventdelplà in 2005–06, and in series Cuenta atrás in 2007. In 2008, she portrayed Manuela Portillo in series El Internado and began working on the Antena 3 television series Física o química until 2010. Her character, Ruth Gomez, suffered from bulimia. The series attracted a lot of controversy but Corberó has been critically acclaimed for her performance.
After leaving Física o Química, in 2011, Corberó landed a main-role in Televisión Española’s drama series 14 de abril. La República. The show’s second season didn’t air until November 2018 due to political conflicts with the People’s Party. The same year, she starred in the horror film XP3D alongside her Física o Química co-star and friend Maxi Iglesias.
Despite an important campaign of promotion, the film failed to convince the critics. In 2012, she shot the television movie Los días de gloria which was also postponed due to political conflicts and broadcast in July 2013. Then, she joined the third season of La 1’s series Gran Reserva in the role of Julia Cortazar.
The same year, she was directed by Joaquín Oristrell in the Catalan TV movie Volare. Then, she participated in the horror film Afterparty, which also failed to convince both the critics and the public. At the end of the year, she flew to Colombia to shoot Crimen con vista al Mar with Carmelo Gómez.
In 2013, she starred in the comedy ¿Quién mató a Bambi? alongside actors Clara Lago and Quim Gutiérrez. The film was well received by the critics and the public. The same year, she lent her voice to Sam in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
2014–2016
In 2014, she played Margarita de Austria in the successful historical series Isabel. The same year, she became the first actress in history to receive the Untameable Award at the Sitges Film Festival, rewarding her career. Men’s Health’s magazine named her Woman of the Year, an award that she received from the hand of her friend and legendary actress, Rossy de Palma.
In 2015, Corberó went to Trento to shoot La Dama Velata, a Spanish-Italian coproduction starring Miriam Leone, Andrea Bosca and Aura Garrido. Later this year, she played Natalia de Figueroa y Martorell in the Spanish sitcom Anclados alongside actress Rossy de Palma.
In March 2015, she starred as Nadia in Perdiendo el Norte alongside the actors Blanca Suarez and Yon Gonzalez.[19] This same year, she received the Ciudad de Alicante Award, an award created by the Alicante Film Festival to encourage Spanish young talents. In December 2015, she landed a main-role in the new thriller series written by the creators of Gran Hotel, La Embajada. The series was presented at Cannes during the MIPTV and bought by the American network UniMás.
In 2015, she also landed her first main role in a movie in Cómo sobrevivir a una despedida and confirmed she’s one of the best comical actresses of Spain. The film was presented at the Málaga Film Festival in the official competition and was nominated for Best Picture.
In 2016, she reprised her role of Margarita de Austria in the movie La Corona Partida. The film is a continuation of the series Isabel and Carlos, rey emperador. The same year, she repeated the dubbing experience by lending her voice to Katie in The Secret Life of Pets.
2017–Present: La Casa de Papel
In 2017, Corberó landed a main role in the heist television series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). She plays Tokyo, the narrator of the story, a runaway robber who is scouted by the Professor to participate in his plan. The series, created by Álex Pina, who previously wrote Vis a Vis, is characterized by its dark humor, its anticapitalist discourse and the importance of women.
It first aired in Spain on Antena 3 and was later made available internationally through Netflix. For the first time in her career, Úrsula Corberó is acclaimed by the critics and the audience who see in this part a “before and after” in her career, in rupture with her previous roles. She was nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series at the Premios Feroz and won an Atv Award for Best Actress. The series won Best Drama Series at the 46th International Emmy Awards. It became a worldwide hit and is the most viewed non-English speaking series on the platform.
Later that year, she was given her first main dramatic role in cinema by Julio Medem. The Tree of Blood is a thriller and Corberó is Rebecca, a mysterious woman who, along with her husband, discover secrets from her family. The actress was also directed by Isabel Coixet for the movie Proyecto Tiempo: La Llave. The film debuted at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
In 2018, she is given her first English-speaking role in the American crime-drama series Snatch. She stars alongside actors Rupert Grint and Luke Pasqualino.
In 2019, she appeared as herself in the Spanish comedy series Paquita Salas.
In 2020, she starred in the music video of Un Día (One Day), a song by J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy.
Snake Eyes (2021)
In late 2019, Corberó was announced as playing G.I. Joe villain the Baroness in Snake Eyes, a spin-off from the G.I. Joe franchise. The film, directed by Robert Schwentke and starring actors Henry Golding, Andrew Koji and Samara Weaving, was released on 23 July 2021 in Dolby Cinema and IMAX. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+ after 45 days.
Personal Life
In 2008, Corberó dated actor Israel Rodríguez for two years. In 2011, she dated tennis player Feliciano López for five months. Beginning in 2013, she dated model and actor Andrés Velencoso for three years.
Since 2016, she has been in a relationship with actor Chino Darín, whom she met on the set of the television series La embajada. They have been living together in Madrid since 2019. She has a dog named Lolita.
She is a close friend of Argentine singers Nathy Peluso and Lali Espósito.
Since October 2018, Corberó is the ambassador of the Fiorever collection by Bulgari. She’s been the face of several brands over the years such as Tampax (2011 and 2014), Stradivarius (2014), Maybelline (from 2015 to 2017), Calzedonia (2015) and Falabella (2019). She created the Harajuku collection for the eyewear brand Multiopticas in 2018.
In 2020, she posed for the French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus during the #JacquemusAtHome campaign. In 2021, she became the global ambassador of the Japanese cosmetics producer, Shiseido.
The actress is considered a “fashion icon” and created the buzz with her Teresa Helbig’s dress, which featured an impressive lateral opening that showed her leg, at the 30th Goya Awards. However, she’s also been criticized for her weight and some people assumed she suffered from anorexia. She always denied and considers herself a good eater. She exercises a lot and does pilates as well as fitness.
Corberó is a Catalan who does not consider herself a separatist. She supports both sides. Nevertheless, following the outcome of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, she tweeted that she was “heartbroken” by police violence.
Social Media
In May 2018, thanks to the worldwide success of La Casa de Papel, the actress became the most followed Spanish celebrity on Instagram with more than 5 million followers but was overtaken by Georgina Rodriguez and Ester Expósito. She currently has more than 21 million followers.
Philanthropy
She is a feminist. In 2018, she participated in a video in favor of the legalization of abortion in Argentina.[55][56]
She is the co-founder of Ymas, a company of artists (actors, directors, producers, writers,…) that allows people to attend films premieres, behind the scenes and more.
The actress has participated in several breast cancer awareness campaigns with actresses Blanca Suarez and Clara Lago. She is also committed to childhood cancer with the Atresmedia Foundation.
Corberó also uses her platform to raise awareness about climate change and was a jury member of the 4th edition of the We Art Water Film Festival. In 2020, she participated to #REInventaElSistema, a campaign launched by Greenpeace to raise awareness about climage change following the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside personalities like anthropologist Jane Goodall, singer Alejandro Sanz and actress Elena Anaya among others.
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Character | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Mirall trencat | Maria | TV3 | 3 episodes |
| 2005-2006 | Ventdelplà | Sara | TV3 | 7 episodes |
| 2007 | Cuenta atrás | Daniela | Cuatro | 1 episode |
| 2007 | El Internado | Manuela Portillo | Antena 3 | 1 episode |
| 2008-2011 | Física o Química | Ruth Gómez Quintana | Antena 3 | 71 episodes |
| 2011-2019 | 14 de abril. La República | Beatriz de la Torre | La 1 | 30 episodes |
| 2012 | Volare | Lila/Malva | TV3 | TV movie |
| 2013 | Mario Conde, los días de gloria | Paloma Aliende | Telecinco | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Gran Reserva | Julia Cortázar/Laura Márquez | La 1 | 8 episodes |
| 2014 | Isabel | Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy | La 1 | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Con el culo al aire | Sofía | Antena 3 | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Anclados | Natalia Guillén | Telecinco | 8 episodes |
| 2015 | La dama velada | Anita | Rai 1 | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | La embajada | Ester Salinas Cernuda | Antena 3 | 11 episodes |
| 2017 | ¿Qué fue de Jorge Sanz? | Herself | Movistar+ | 1 episode |
| 2017-2021 | Money Heist | Silene Oliveira / Tokyo | Antena 3/Netflix | 31 episodes |
| 2018 | Snatch | Inés Santiago | Crackle | 8 episodes |
| 2019 | Paquita Salas | Herself | Netflix | 1 episode |
Movies
| Year | Movie | Character | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Crónica de una voluntad | Cova | Julio de la Fuente | Short film |
| 2011 | Elsinor Park | Lissa | Jordi Roigé | |
| 2011 | Paranormal Xperience 3D | Belén | Sergi Vizcaíno | |
| 2011 | Slides | The Bride | Short film | |
| 2013 | Afterparty | María/Laura | Miguel Larraya | |
| 2013 | Crimen con vista al mar | Sonia Torres | Gerardo Herrero | |
| 2013 | Who Killed Bambi? | Paula Larrea | Santi Amodeo | |
| 2013 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | Sam | Chris Miller | Voice |
| 2015 | Off Course | Nadia | Nacho G. Velilla | |
| 2015 | Cómo sobrevivir a una despedida | Marta | Manuela Burló Moreno | |
| 2015 | Secretos de belleza | Úrsula | Inés de León | Short film |
| 2016 | La corona partida | Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy | Jordi Frades | |
| 2016 | The Secret Life of Pets | Katie | Chris Renaud | Voice |
| 2017 | The Emoji Movie | Sonrisas | Tony Leondis | Voice |
| 2017 | Proyecto Tiempo. Parte I: La Llave | Alma | Isabel Coixet | |
| 2017 | Muñeca vudú | Angie | Inés de León | Short film |
| 2018 | The Tree of Blood | Rebeca | Julio Medem | |
| 2018 | Etiqueta Negra | Alex | David Vergés | Short film |
| 2021 | Snake Eyes | Baroness | Robert Schwentke |
Theater
| Year | Title | Character | Director | Theater |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Perversiones sexuales en Chicago | Deborah | Juan Pedro Campoy |
VideoClips
| Year | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Top Junior | Ven, ven, vamonos de fiesta |
| 2008 | Cinco de Enero | El precio de la verdad |
| 2008 | Despistaos | Física o Química |
| 2010 | Angy Fernández | Cuando Lloras |
| 2013 | Auryn | Heartbreaker |
| 2013 | Pignoise | Lo importante |
| 2015 | Kiko Veneno feat. Rozalén | Mi Querida España |
| 2018 | C. Tangana | Cuando Me Miras |
| 2020 | J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy | Un Dia (One Day) |
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | La Denominacion de Origen de la Mancha | Young of the Year | Fisica o Quimica | Won |
| 2010 | Top Glamour | Best New Actress | Won | |
| 2011 | Kapital | Best Actress | Won | |
| 2014 | Sitges Film Festival | Untameable Spirit | Herself | Won |
| Men’s Health Awards | Woman of the Year | Won | ||
| 2015 | Alicante Film Festival | Honor and Encouragement Award | Won | |
| Neox Fan Awards | Best Actress | Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida | Nominated | |
| 2018 | Premios Feroz | Best Main Actress in a TV Series | La casa de papel | Nominated |
| MiM Series | Best Dramatic Actress | Nominated | ||
| ATV Awards | Best Actress | Won | ||
| 2018 | Premios Iris | Best Actress | Won | |
| 2020 | Platino Awards | Best Actress | La casa de papel | Nominated |