Alina Rodríguez Robert

Cuban actress, model, and presenter internationally recognized for her participation in the TV Show Nuestra Belleza Latina 2014 on the Univision network as well as for being a presenter of the television program Sábado Gigante alongside Don Francisco.

As an actress, she stands out for her participation in the television series Betty en NY (Telemundo) and Mariposa de Barrio (Telemundo). She stars in the English-language film Make Love Great Again alongside Chris Mulkey for HBO. She wins the title Best Actress in a Play - Small Professional Theatre Broadway World Washington DC Awards 2018 for the play En el Tiempo de las Mariposas.

Alina Robert was born in Havana, Cuba, and from a young age discovered her passion for acting and the stage. Her first experiences with theater occurred during school years where she played roles in Los zapaticos de Rosa and El camarón encantado, the latter of which she performed at age 9, and with it she embodied a male role for the first time.

"It has always run through my veins. Children are the ones with the most imagination, I spent my time dressed up and inventing characters."

She came to the United States in 2008 with the firm goal of succeeding in the entertainment industry, and it was there that she consolidated her professional development in the world of the arts. Between 2009 and 2011 she studied at the Luz Columba Acting Training Center (CIFALC) in Miami, and subsequently, she joined the vocational workshops of the Prometeo Theater at Miami Dade College and the academic program of the Adriana Barraza Acting Studio, from 2013 to 2016.

"There was something stronger than me that wanted to lead me through the doors of art. After I entered theater school I thought about what I had been doing in the last 10 years of my life...."

A student of the Adriana Barraza Acting Studio, she completed the programs "Preparing the Actor," "Camera Technique," and "Singing" at the Prometeo Theater of Miami Dade College, MDC. Body, Word, and Emotion with Director and actress Adela Romero. Trained in presentation and hosting by pedagogue and journalist Laura Moro, as well as in acting and neutral accent by actor and coach Rubén Morales.

During her preparation to enter the Nuestra Belleza Latina Show, she participated in Miss Cuban American (USA 2012), becoming the winner of this competition. Her coronation led her to represent the Cuban community in different international spaces from which she obtained results such as winning Reina Mundial del Carnaval (Ecuador 2012), third finalist of Miss Caribbean World (BVI 2012), and queen of Miss Latinoamérica Internacional (Panama 2012).

Her leap to popularity occurred after participating in Nuestra Belleza Latina on Univision in 2014, where she finished in fifth position (4th finalist). Robert's exit from the beauty pageant generated widespread controversy because she was considered among the major favorites to be crowned. There were even public protests from her followers, who demonstrated in front of the Univision building accusing the network of committing fraud.

"Although it left a bad taste for many people, for me it was a professional and life experience, that's what I always say," declared the Cuban in an interview given to the Cuban portal OnCuba. What happens with the competition is that the audience is involved voting directly, and for those who are passionate and put effort into voting, perhaps they can see it as bare-faced and unfair. I always saw it as an opportunity, I never left the competition rejecting the experience, much less.

Nuestra Belleza Latina meant a turning point in her career. In September 2014 she joined the cast of "Sábado Gigante" alongside Don Francisco as Co-Presenter and Model. Sábado Gigante is the longest-running and most successful program in Hispanic Television, broadcast by television stations in 43 countries and with an audience of more than 10 million viewers at the international level.

"I wanted to prepare myself in the world of entertainment and I felt that in that type of events they would give me the opportunity to interact with the public and I was not mistaken. It has been one of the platforms I remember with the most affection."

"My main objective for participating in Nuestra Belleza Latina was to be recognized in the entertainment market, and that in the future it would open more possibilities in my career. Sábado Gigante was a complete surprise for me. I never imagined I would be part of a legendary show like this."

"Don Francisco was a great mentor for me, and I learned a lot about television with a live audience. I had the opportunity to develop myself as a host, conducting and acting."

As an actress, Alina has experience in film, radio, and television. She has participated in shows and television specials such as My life is a telenovela on Latino Entertainment Channel and WeTV, Un Nuevo día on Telemundo, Tu desayuno Alegre on Unimas, and Despierta América on Univision.

On her list of works appear theater productions such as Pavillion 305 directed by Neher Jackeline Briceño and Jorge Hernández. Her character of Carmencita, a schizophrenic girl with mental retardation, earned her 1st Place in the II Exhibition of Free Selection Monologues at the Adriana Barraza Black Box Theater.

She played Valentina in two seasons of the play Cinco Mujeres son Suficiente adapted and directed by Adela Romero, based on the original Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Allan Ball.

With Jazz Vila Projects she performed on the stage of Casa de Teatro de la República Dominicana in the play Eclipse at the end of 2017. A production inspired by the Swedish classic "La Señorita Julia." The piece, written and directed by Jazz Vilá, recreates a love triangle that addresses themes such as abuse of power, class differences, and happiness as an unreachable horizon. With the same company she returned to Havana as a guest actress to play Sara, the Cuban, in the play Farándula. The production was a resounding box office success with more than 20,000 viewers in two seasons.

As part of Prometeo Theater at Miami Dade College, Alina played Ana Hernández in the drama Casa Ajena, in the Spanish-language world version of Lisa Loomer's Living Out, which tells the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the American lawyer who employs her. With the same company she plays the waitress Guicha at Tibiri Tabara and the elderly elderly woman Doña Rosita in the musical La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja.

Recently, Robert completed a season at the Gala Theater in Washington D.C. with the play En el Tiempo de las Mariposas, in which she took on the role of Dominican lawyer and activist Minerva Mirabal, who fought against Trujillo's dictatorship and was murdered, along with two of her sisters, in November 1960. With this play she achieves recognition from the Broadway World Washington DC Award regional awards as Best Actress in a small-format play, sharing the category in large-format theater with Vanessa Hudgens.

On television she has been part of productions from Venevisión Internacional, Corazón Apasionado, El Talismán, and Los Secretos de Lucía, in Crónicas de Pecados Capitales from Cisneros International, and in ¿Quién es Quién? from Telemundo Studios. Her participation in My Life is a Telenovela on the American network WeTV and Mariposa de Barrio (Telemundo), based on the life of Jenni Rivera, also stands out, where she played the characters of Teresa Sandoval / Teresa Aguilar.

"With Teresa Sandoval I had the chance to experience firsthand what many women suffer daily and in silence: psychological abuse and domestic violence."

She also participates in the series Betty en Nueva York (Telemundo) where she plays Cynthia Moreno, which represents another important step in her artistic career, with a much more mature role on the small screen.

Her entry into the English-language market was made with the film Make Love Great Again, her first starring role in English alongside American actors Chris Mulkey and David Haack, with Jaimey Osorio, Jason Canela, and Eduardo Yáñez. In the film she plays Natalie Báez, a Mexican student in the United States who falls in love with an American musician and must go through the immigration process to consider whether she should stay to live in the country after their marriage.

She also played Lena in the short film Crisálidas directed by Adriana Barraza, is Elsa Petita in the feature film Con Elizabeth en Mount Dora (2012), and Anabel in the film El Justiciero 2 for CineMax Latino.

She was the youngest of the sisters in the French drama Estaba en Casa y Esperaba que Llegara la Lluvia presented by Arca Images at the Black Box of the Miami Dade County Auditorium (2019).

From the beginning of the year (2020), Alina played one of the characters in Alexis Valdés' new theater play, Mi Robot Sexual, a box office success produced by the Trail Theater in Miami where she played the role of Edna, a tailor-made humanoid that plays the duality of perfection and human fragility.

Alina has been involved in various charitable causes. She has worked with the Unión Positiva Foundation in Miami as a spokesperson and image for an HIV prevention campaign organized by Florida International University (FIU). She was a volunteer with the TECHO Organization in the La Vega Community in the Dominican Republic where she helped build rural settlements and thus help overcome the poverty of its residents.