,type=downsize)
María Gabriela de Faría carries Venezuela with her everywhere. It’s in her accent, her sense of humor, and the home-cooked meals she generously shares on set. Acting came effortlessly to her from the beginning. While other kids were playing at recess, she was already stealing scenes in telenovelas. Her charisma established her as a regular on Venezuelan TV, and by her teens, Nickelodeon's Isa TKM had made her a household name throughout Latin America.
“It started because I loved that first day on set,” she remembers. “I begged my mom to please keep taking me to auditions. It was also a means of surviving for my family. We were really poor. The fact that I had a job that could pay for my school and my brother’s and rent was amazing. I felt really proud of it as a kid.”
Venezuela’s film and television industry has faced major challenges over the past few decades. Despite an endless pool of talent, the conditions for building sustainable careers have been limited. That reality has pushed many ambitious actors to look beyond their borders, chasing new opportunities and finding places where they can continue to grow.
“I want to do things that scare me. The tougher it is, the more I seek it out.”
“I always felt like there was something missing,” she says. “I wanted to learn a technique, a way to gain some tools... and I also wanted to learn English.” She laughs, remembering her first stop abroad was Miami. “I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to learn English in Miami. I was very happy, and I’m very comfortable in Miami, but I needed something else, so I came here.”
That journey eventually brought her to Los Angeles, where she learned English and started a new career, earning every opportunity through her sheer determination. Breaking into the entertainment industry is challenging for any actor, but it’s especially difficult for Venezuelan actresses, trying to make their mark in Hollywood.
Landing major roles remains an uphill battle, but when Latinas break through, they don’t just fill a space, they command it. Their performances don’t simply blend in; they reverberate, leaving behind characters that challenge, inspire, and endure. In an industry where visibility is power, these breakthroughs aren’t just victories, they’re milestones.
She follows in the footsteps of trailblazers like María Conchita Alonso and Patricia Velásquez, women who carved out space in the industry under equally challenging circumstances.
María Conchita, born in Cuba and raised in Venezuela from the age of five, became one of the most recognizable Latina faces of the 1980s and 90s. She made her film debut in Fear City (1984) and gained attention with Moscow on the Hudson (1984) alongside Robin Williams. Her résumé includes cult classics like The Running Man (1987) and Predator 2 (1990) working side by side Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in 1995 she made history as the first Hispanic actress not born in the U.S. to star in a Broadway musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Patricia, who first made her name as a top supermodel in the 1990s and became one of the leading global faces of the era, took her shot in film with The Jaguar (1996) and broke into Hollywood with The Mummy franchise in 1999, earning widespread recognition.
Still, these icons and a handful of others remain the exception in an industry full of barriers and contradictions. María Gabriela knows that. She’s fully aware of how rare her place is in that world, and she embraces it with pride and purpose. Her mission is clear: to represent Latinas with authenticity and discipline in Hollywood.
Now, as she steps into the role of Angela ‘Angie’ SpicaThe Engineer in James Gunn’s eagerly awaited Superman, María Gabriela is not merely portraying a complex comic book antihero. She is carving out a legacy. With each scene, she claims space, not only for herself but for a rising generation of Venezuelan actors who have rarely seen themselves reflected in roles of this magnitude. With this role, María Gabriela de Faría isn’t just stepping into the spotlight, she’s lighting the way for others to follow.
¡HOLA! met with María Gabriela in Los Angeles, where she posed for an exclusive photo shoot and opened up during a candid conversation at a pivotal moment in her life. Off camera, her energy was sharp, warm, and magnetic. As the conversation unfolded, beyond the obvious glow of a rising career, what stood out most was her strong sense of purpose. Between laughter, family stories, and reflections on her journey so far, María Gabriela let her true self shine: grounded, bold, and unmistakably her.
“Three to four hours a day, every day, for eight months before filming began. Now I know I can go through that pain and survive... I’m even excited about more action roles. I’m like, ‘Tom Cruise, watch out.’”
Where it all began
When asked about her beginnings, María Gabriela lights up with pride. “I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and I started my career there. I’m a child actress,” she says with a smile. “What’s funny is that I didn’t go through the typical child star phases, like the rebellious stage and all that. I feel like I had a really positive experience.”
That journey, she explains, was shaped by her mom’s constant presence. “My mom was with me 100 percent of the time. I was never alone. I felt safe. I felt like I was just going to have fun with my adult friends.” By the time she was five, she was already working in front of the camera. “I started very young. I did every telenovela in Venezuela. I was the daughter of every protagonist in every telenovela.”
Family, first and always
For María Gabriela, family and career have always been deeply linked. “In my mind and my heart, they’re very connected,” she says.
Her mother, especially, has been there from the very beginning. “She was always with me. She was like my momager. She’d come to photo shoots and say, ‘María, I don’t like that picture’ or ‘better not say that.’” It’s why María always makes a point to share her wins with her. “I feel like she gets it.”
Her dad’s reaction has been a little different. “He’s very, very proud, but he doesn’t totally get it.” She laughs, remembering the time she sent him a toy of her character to reveal she’d landed the Superman role. “I’m not kidding; he spent like six months saying, ‘So this is a soap opera inspired by Superman?’ And I’m like, ‘No, no. This is Superman.’ ‘You mean in Hollywood?’ ‘Yes.’”
It wasn’t until she brought him to the set during her final week of filming in Atlanta that it finally clicked. “We were shooting in this massive studio. The tech was insane. And my dad...his jaw dropped. That’s when he got it.”
"I begged my mom to please keep taking me to auditions. It was also a means of surviving for my family. We were really poor. the fact that I had a job that could pay for my school and my brother’s and rent was amazing. I felt really proud of it as a kid.”
The bold move that changed everything
Even as a teenager, María Gabriela stood out for her drive, confidence, and guts. At just 14, she showed up for a casting that would change her career forever, the first original scripted series from Nickelodeon Latin America. She auditioned for the role, but instead of waiting by the phone, she took matters into her own hands. “I went and knocked on the door. I walked into a room with like 20 people and said, ‘Hi, you don’t know me, but I auditioned yesterday, and I think I’m the one for the role.’”
One of the producers, now a friend, decided to test her. “He said, ‘Oh really? And how do you know you’re the best one to play this part? Did you read the scripts?’ And I said, ‘Nope, I don’t know anything about the show, but I think this is me. Anyway, bye.’ And I left.” The next day, they called. The role was hers. That fearless energy was exactly what they were looking for.
“I guess I was a really brave teenager. I don’t think I’d do something like that today,” she laughs. “But thanks to that show, I got to travel the world on tour. We shot the first season in Caracas and the second in Bogotá, Colombia.”
Starting over in a new language
María Gabriela’s move to the United States wasn’t just about chasing bigger roles. It was about personal growth.
“I felt like I had done a lot in Latin America, and I was really happy,” she says. “But I started acting when I was five years old, and I had to choose between school and acting. In Venezuela, we don’t really have proper art schools, so I finished high school and learned everything on the job.”
Her first stop was Miami, but she quickly realized it wasn’t what she needed. “I realized very fast that I wasn’t going to learn English in Miami,” she says, laughing. “I was happy and very comfortable there, but I needed something else.”
“My mom was with me 100 percent of the time. I was never alone. I felt safe. I felt like I was just going to have fun with my adult friends.”
“I also wanted to learn English. So at 21, I decided to move to Los Angeles to study it.” She packed up and left, ready to start from scratch. “Yes, as an adult…which I don’t recommend. I really don’t,” she adds with a laugh, thinking back on how tough it was to learn a new language at that age.
The role of a lifetime
When asked how it felt landing her role in Superman, María Gabriela doesn’t hide the anxiety she experienced during the process. She was at the gym, on the treadmill, knowing it was the final day to receive an answer. “That day I was going to find out, no matter what,” she recalls. Her husband even snapped a picture of her as she spoke on the phone with her agent.
The call that would change her career came after weeks of uncertainty. She remembers, “They kept me waiting for about a month…It was straightforward: win or lose. “Either my life was going to become incredible, or I was going to be really sad,” she admits.
“I desperately wanted to get good news…and I did. But I couldn’t fully believe it,” she confesses. At the time she was hired, Hollywood was on the brink of a strike. “I signed the contract the night before the strike began, and then...total silence.”
Right at the eleventh hour, the phone rang. “My agent called me and said: ‘They can’t talk to you, you can’t talk to them, but I’m telling you, the role is yours.’” But even that moment wasn’t exactly straightforward. “It was awful because it started with: ‘Well, we’ve been here before.’ That’s what he told me. ‘We’ve been here before, and I think it’s better to rip off the band-aid right now. I’m really sorry, but...you got it.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, don’t do that to me,’” she recalls with mixed emotions but mostly relief.
Still pulsing with excitement, María Gabriela vividly relives the moment as she shares the anecdote of her reaction. The news caught her by surprise, and the joy was impossible to contain. “I screamed at the gym… The first thing I did was go to Party City and buy a Superman cape. I walked around Pasadena wearing the cape. People asked me, ‘Why are you wearing a cape?’ and I said, ‘Because I love Superman. I’m a fan.’”
The transformation
On transforming into The Engineer, María Gabriela admits it was both a physical and mental challenge. Once the realization set in that she had secured the role, everything quickly shifted. “Now it’s real. Okay. I’d better do this well.” That was the thought that crossed María Gabriela’s mind as soon as she grasped the magnitude of the role. “When I got the job, I wasn’t fit at all. I was going through a tough time in my life, feeling a bit sad…eating my emotions.”
She clarified that she didn’t feel bad or sad, but she wasn’t in her best shape, physically or mentally. “I remember my first training session with Paolo and thinking, ‘I’m not going to survive this. He’s going to tell them I’m not up to it, and they’ll fire me.’” Throughout the process, she was guided by Paolo Mascitti, one of Hollywood’s most sought-after trainers, who led her through an intense regimen of preparation and discipline.
She admits feeling fear through the process. Her goal was clear: “I wanted to look as close to the comics as possible. But beyond that, the character is a badass, a powerful, unstoppable woman with presence. And it’s not because she’s a superhero or has superpowers. She was already a badass before that.” She shared how demanding it was, “Three to four hours a day, every day, for eight months before filming began.” But she emerged stronger than ever. “Now I know I can go through that pain and survive... I’m even excited about more action roles. I’m like, ‘Tom Cruise, watch out,’” she jokes.
“I went and knocked on the door. I walked into a room with like 20 people and said, ‘Hi, you don’t know me, but I auditioned yesterday, and I think I’m perfect for the role. I was a really brave teenager. I don’t think I’d do something like that today.”
Beyond the physical preparation, María Gabriela had to do extensive studying and intensive research. “I read every comic. All of The Authority, the superhero league to which Angela belongs, I have read them all. I also read everything I could about Superman. They were very kind and gave us access to DC’s entire comic vault. So, in our free time, that’s what we did.”
She became fascinated with The Authority. “I think it’s the best superhero league in the world. Not just because my character is part of it but because they’re genuinely fantastic. They’re not good, and they’re not bad; they operate in a grey zone, and that’s incredibly fun. It gives you so much freedom to play with them.”
Considering her character and the tight secrecy surrounding major Hollywood productions, we briefly touched upon The Engineer’s backstory. Fans speculate about her potential Latin roots, a theory we tried to clarify, but María Gabriela provides some insight: “We don’t get into her origins at all,” she explains. “But I do have a couple of lines in Spanish…so something is definitely brewing, and honestly, it’s pretty awesome.”
What’s next
She knows her life is about to change, but she’s taking it calmly. That bold teenager who fought for her first international role remains as driven as ever. With Superman’s premiere approaching, a film set to take her to unimaginable heights, she’s already focused on her future. “I bought the rights to a book by Laura Ferrero, and we’re adapting it for the screen. I want to tell brave, poetic, and entertaining stories.”
The Venezuelan actress will also star alongside Rome Flynn in the musical ‘Otra,’ directed by Armani Ortiz and produced by Tyler Perry. “It’s beautifully crazy, a dance musical about guardian angels.” Though not a professional dancer, she’s thrilled by the challenge. “I want to do things that scare me. The tougher it is, the more I seek it out.”
Sharing her excitement about the production she said, “It will be filled with lots of reggaeton, salsa, merengue, bachata…and it will be incredibly fun,” she says laughing. “Plus, I’m exploring a very different side of my work. I dance because we’re Venezuelan, and we casually dance. I’m not a professional dancer, but for this project, somehow, I have to become one, and I love that.”
For María Gabriela, taking on challenges outside her comfort zone fuels her drive. “Those projects where I have to do something completely new, things I’m not familiar with, those are the ones I want. The ones that make me nervous that keep me anxious the night before…you know what I mean?”
At 32, she happily shares that she has been married since 2020 to fellow Venezuelan talent Christian McGaffney. “We’ve been together since I was 20. We have two cats: Eleanor Rigby and Sergeant Pepper. We’re Beatles fans,” she says playfully.
Her life is full, grounded, and purpose-driven. “I’m so happy and so privileged that I’m the one right now that gets to do it.” In an industry that rarely creates space for Latina superheroes, and even less so for Venezuelan ones, she has arrived on the scene with strength, passion, and armor she forged herself.
CREDITS:
Chief Content Officer ¡HOLA! Americas | U.S.: Nagidmy Márquez Acosta
Deputy Editor ¡HOLA! U.S.: Andrea Pérez
Deputy Editor ¡HOLA! Americas: Alonso Collantes
Fashion Editor ¡HOLA! Americas: Chiara Primatesta
Lifestyle Editor ¡HOLA! Americas: Lili Delgado
Video Editor: Daniel Neira
Photos: Esteban Calderón
Styling: Rafael Linares
Hair: Aviva Jansen Perea
Makeup: Carola González
Styling Assistant: Nic Birchall
Photography Assistant: Eduardo Heredia Cabuto
Lighting: Julio César Sámano