# María Isabel Díaz Finishes Filming and Joins Intensive Theater Workshop

**Date:** 01/13/2022

We would not be reckless in pointing out that 2022 has started off well for Cuban actress María Isabel Díaz. For several months, the Cuban has been involved in projects that show her career has taken on new vigor in Spain, a country where she has lived for several years and where she has managed to reach the top ranks of fame. And she has done it by becoming, from the very beginning, an "Almodóvar Girl."

A few months ago, when the Covid-19 pandemic was ravaging with its numbers of infections and deaths during one of its most terrible waves in the Iberian country, the actress published a video about the difficulties she was facing with work. The post received hundreds of reactions and messages of support. It showed above all how beloved she is among both Cubans and Spanish people. Those stormy winds apparently have been left behind, with the good news about her career that the "Osbrujula" of "La Hora de Las Brujas" has announced herself. Do you remember her in that heartwarming program for children on Cuban television?

First came the announcement of a filming with Penélope Cruz, with whom she has shared the set in films directed by Almodóvar. But now she was accompanied by the star of Vicky Cristina Barcelona in the film En los márgenes, directed by debut filmmaker Juan Diego Botto.

"Thank you for putting me together with the disinherited, the vulnerable but very brave companions who make up the cast of this film. And thank you too for reuniting me again with Penélope Cruz, always full of humility and empathy. And for me, already very dear Adelfa Calvo Soto, an actress if there ever was one, a dressing room and laughter companion, a huge kiss. (…) and of course to Luis Tosar, an enormous actor and delightful companion," the actress wrote on her social networks about the film.

The filming has already ended. Everything indicates that the result was smooth sailing. And María Isabel continues to have new projects. In recent days she showed enthusiasm about her upcoming performance in an intensive musical theater workshop. In this new "role" she will teach acting classes. And there is much that this Cuban actress, who triumphed on the island and later conquered the Spanish arena with her star director, has to show future artists. Under the aegis of Almodóvar, the "Ofelia" of A Bride for David was part of the cast of classics like Volver. In the film she played the character of Regina, with which she attracted the attention of other directors, the public, and critics in Spain.

"My whole life I've been singing that I wanted to be an Almodóvar girl. I would make up tremendous stories at parties, I would dress up and do a tropical version of Sabina's song. I put in my waist and I desired it so much that it happened, but when it did, I realized I wasn't prepared. I was very scared. I lived a lot of anguish the first days (…) Pedro Almodóvar was very close, I felt the same sensation as when I work with Orlando Rojas, my cinematographic father, a man to whom I owe a lot," she recalled at the time in an interview with Diario de Cuba.

Her career has not been a straight line. Just like that of almost no artist in whatever discipline. She overcame obstacles, adaptation problems, lack of opportunities, and also suffered the ravages of the pandemic. But she has moved forward. And talent, that ally for any artist, has not abandoned her.

A few years ago she participated in the popular Vis a Vis series broadcast by Netflix. The series became very popular in several parts of the world. And Cuba, needless to say, was no exception to the rule. In the country it was distributed—and is distributed—through the so-called "Weekly Package" or "Cuban offline Netflix," as you prefer to call it.

The stoppage of many artists has been a pandemic within another pandemic. And María Isabel, as we said, suffered the ravages during a period that she has recognized as a learning experience.

"For me there is no greater teaching than life itself. For my profession it is fundamental to observe life and live everything, the good, the not so good, the sad. Everything teaches you and you have to be willing to learn from everything," she said in the aforementioned interview.

For several years now it has been seen that various artists have returned to Cuban screens. They have done so after succeeding in television and cinema at the international level. María Isabel, who has returned to visit Cuba on occasions, has also said that she would like to act in some project in her native country.

For now, one cannot read in the near future that her wish will come true, because the actress seems to have more projects than time in this era.

Meanwhile, the love of Cubans has continued to reach Spain for her.