Personal life

Barraza was born in Toluca, Estado de Mexico, the daughter of Celia (née González Flores), and Eduardo Carral Barraza, a farmer. Her mother died when she was ten years old from Myocarditis, a heart condition. Barraza herself has experienced two heart attacks. She has a sister named Maria Eugenia Barraza and three brothers, Eduardo, Porfirio, and Jose.

She became pregnant at age 18 with her daughter, actress Carolina Valsagna b. 1975. The father of her daughter is not known, as he abandoned her. Her first husband was Carlos Valsagna, whom she married in 1978, and he adopted her daughter and gave her his name. Her second husband is Arnaldo Pipke. Barraza studied acting through the Fine Arts School at Autonomous University of Chihuahua.

Career

In 1985, Barraza moved to Mexico City, to work as a theatre director. Since 1985, Barraza has guest starred and directed the Mexican television show Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real, alongside host Silvia Pinal. She has also been a part of the telenovela ensembles of Bajo un Mismo Rostro playing Elvira, La Paloma as Madre Clara and Imperio de Cristal as Flora. In 1997 she took on the role of Nurse Clara Dominguez in Alguna Vez Tendremos Alas.

Barraza directed Locura de Amor (in which she also starred), Nunca Te Olvidare and El Manantial.

Barraza appeared in the films Henry Poole Is Here, Drag Me to Hell, And Soon the Darkness. In 2011, Barraza's latest films included From Prada to Nada and Thor (in which her part was cut down). She had a recurring role as Guadalupe Elizalde, on the FX television series The Strain. She recently starred in the film Cake opposite Jennifer Aniston.

She is also a professional acting coach and has worked with actors for a number of films and television shows, including the American film Spanglish. Barraza worked for Telemundo as an acting instructor, teaching accents to actors and actresses from all over Latin America, giving them a more Mexican lilt and sound appropriate for their character.

Filmography

List of film and television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Los cosas simples		TV movie
1994	Imperio de Cristal	Flora	Pilot episode
1995	Bajo un mismo rostro	Elvira
	La paloma	Madre Clara
1996	La culpa	Trabajadora Social
1997	Alguna vez tendremos alas	Clara Domínguez
1998	Vivo por Elena	Hilda 'La Machin'
	The First Night	Mamá de Bruno
1999	La paloma de Marsella
2000	Locura de amor	Soledad Retana
	Amores perros	Mama Octavio
2001	La segunda noche	Mama Lulu y Laura
1985-2003	Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real	Lupe	Appeared in 8 episodes from 1985-2006
2003	Clase 406	Mabel
2006	Babel	Amelia
2007	...Y solo humo	Toña	Short film
	ER	Dolores Salazar	Episode: "Skye's the Limit"
2008	Henry Poole Is Here	Esperanza Martinez
	Tiempo Final		Episode: "Reality Show"
	CSI: Miami	Carmen Delko	Episode: "The DeLuca Motel"
2009	Rage	Anita de Los Angeles
	Drag Me to Hell	Shaun San Dena
	Tres piezas de amor en un fin de semana	Sofía
2010	Revolución	Chayo
	And Soon the Darkness	Rosamaria
	Sucedió en un día	Madre
	Burning Palms	Louisa Alvarez
	Cerro Bayo	Marta
	Te presento a Laura	Conchita
2011	From Prada to Nada	Aurelia Jimenez
	Thor	Isabella Alvarez
2012	El Cartel de los Sapos	La abuela
	Mariachi Gringo	Magdalena
2014	The Strain	Guadalupe Elizalde	Recurring role
	Cake	Silvana
2015	Dueños del paraíso (Masters of Paradise)	Irene Medrano	Recurring role
	Wild Horses	Mrs. Davis

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2006	About.com	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture	Babel	Won
	Academy Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role		Nominated
	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture		Nominated
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture		Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture		Nominated
	Gotham Awards	Best Ensemble Cast		Won
	Imagen Awards	Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Online Film Critics	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture		Nominated
	Palm Springs International Film Festival	Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast		Won
	San Francisco Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Supporting Actress In A Motion Picture		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated
2007	ALMA Award	Outstanding Actress In A Motion Picture		Won
2011	Imagen Awards	Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress	From Prada to Nada	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]