Yailene Sierra Rodríguez

Cuban actress in television, theater, and film.

One day, when she was 10 years old, her mother took her to the theater to see "Abdala," by José Martí. She spent the entire night with a strange feeling in her abdomen, the same one she noticed later when she saw Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" for the first time.

Many things and experiences have marked Yailene's sensitivity and have become important aspects of her acting career: train rides from Batabanó with her grandfather to go to the countryside to cut cane and visit her peasant friends, her mother, José Martí, Federico García Lorca, Carlos Díaz, Carlos Padrón, Carlos Celdrán, and Benito Zambrano.

Artistic Career
She began doing theater with other children at the Casa de Cultura in Bejucal and stayed there during part of her childhood and adolescence. Until Carlos Díaz appeared and offered her the role of the bride in "Blood Wedding." Then came the National School of Theater, where she learned to be able to tell with words everything she felt. In 1995 she graduated from the School of Theater. She began working before graduating and thus began her life in the city, a hard, rich, and necessary stage.

Since then, she has performed in about twenty theatrical works. Notable ones include: "Icaros" (2003) —for which she won the Best Performance Award for the character of Ariadna, awarded by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, and the "Adolfo Llauradó" Award—, "La celestina" (2001), "Boal" (1997), and "Federico Auto de Fe" (1988), all directed by Carlos Díaz; "Roberto Zucco" (2002) and "Life is a Dream," directed by Carlos Celdrán; "Thank You Grandmother" (2001) by director Zulema Clares and "Faust" (2000) directed by Julio César Ramírez. In the year 2000 she also worked in "Puppet in the Sand," a collective creation with Milva Benítez.

Carlos Celdrán taught her to better understand characters. Carlos Díaz was like a hug one has been waiting for a long time. Carlos Padrón, in addition to being a friend and the grandfather of her son, has been her director in the works "Galápago" (1999) and "The Hurricane and the Palm" (1999).

Film Career
Thanks to these directors and that theatrical experience, she was able to face the casting for Habana Blues with a certain calm, the most important work of her life. Previously, she had participated in the feature film by Humberto Padrón "Fruits in the Café" and in fiction short films at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños, "Three" and "Paranox Forte."

Today Yailene Sierra is considered one of the most promising actresses in Cuban cinema.