Manuela Velasco

The daughter of Spanish cinematographer Manuel Velasco, actress Manuela Velasco was introduced to show business at an early age. At eight, she made her television debut with a small role in the Spanish miniseries "Los Desastres de la Guerra." Four years later, she snagged a coveted role in Pedro Almodóvar 's sexually fraught melodrama "Law of Desire," playing the niece of Carmen Maura's traumatized actress. As a young woman, she built up her career with one-offs on television shows like the medical drama "Hospital Central" and the crime drama "Policías, en el corazón de la calle." Then in 2002, she won a series regular role on the romance-driven drama series "Géminis, venganza de amor." Not long after the show wrapped, Velasco won the role that would gain her international notice. In 2007, she starred in the zombie horror feature "[Rec]" as Angela Vidal, an on-assignment TV reporter who is trapped in a quarantined building with residents who have become bloodthirsty and cannibalistic after contracting a highly contagious virus. The feature terrified audiences worldwide, resulting in an American remake in 2008 called "Quarantine" with Jennifer Carpenter in the lead role. Though it seemed Vidal died at the end of "[Rec]," horror fans hungered for more, and so producers urged Velasco to reprise her role in "[Rec] 2" in 2009. This too proved successful, spawning 2012's "[REC]3 Génesis." Though Velasco does not appear in the third film of the "[Rec]" franchise, she continues to thrive in television and film.