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Lumi Cavazos

Highest Rated: 88% Like Water for Chocolate (1992)

Lowest Rated: 4% Bless the Child (2000)

Birthday: Dec 21, 1968

Birthplace: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Gifted and dynamic actress Lumi Cavazos appeared in the Mexican feature "Romelia's Secret" (1989) before landing the role that would prove her breakthrough in Alfonso Arau's "Like Water for Chocolate." In this mystical romance set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, she was Tita, the youngest daughter whom tradition dictates is fated to spend her life in service to her controlling widowed mother. When Tita's true love (played by Italian-born Marco Leonardi, who became Cavazos' offscreen companion) weds her sister in order to stay near to her, she expresses her unconsummated passion through cooking. Cavazos shone in the role, her dark beatific beauty and transcendent performance proved enchanting to international moviegoers, including the surprisingly large audience the film won in the USA. Looking to make the most of her increased visibility to an American audience, the dark-haired actress with the large expressive eyes relocated from her Mexican home to Los Angeles in pursuit of a film career. She went on to act in "Snakes and Ladders" (1992), another Mexican production before appearing opposite Leonardi in Joseph B Vasquez's final film "Manhattan Merengue" (1994). The couple additionally acted together in the Italian features "Banditi" and "Viva San Isidoro" (both 1995). That same year, Cavazos earned her first credit in an official US production with a role in the independent "Land of Milk and Honey." Next up was an impressive comedic turn as a Cuban motel maid romanced by Luke Wilson in Wes Anderson's acclaimed "Bottle Rocket" (1996). While the role was substantial and her work praised by critics, it didn't do as much to further her American film career as it could have, primarily because it required her to speak only Spanish and did not exhibit her improving English-language skills. That opportunity arose with a featured turn in the 1997 TNT original movie "Last Stand at Sabre River," a post-Civil War western starring Tom Selleck and on the Los Angeles stage as photographer Tina Modotti in Andrea Centazzo's modern opera "Tina" in 1998.

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Highest rated movies

88% 84% Like Water for Chocolate
Watchlist
86% 79% Bottle Rocket Watchlist
82% 63% Esto no es Berlín
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67% 50% Sugar Town
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22% 81% 7 Days
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4% 43% Bless the Child Watchlist
Hijas de su Madre: Las Buenrostro
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Fibra Óptica
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Contra Todo ... Against All Odds
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Rock Marí
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
82% 63% Esto no es Berlín Susana (Character) - 2019
No Score Yet 27% Mark of the Devil Cecilia de la Cueva (Character) - 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet La promesa Marta (Character) - 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Érase una vez en Durango La madre (Character) - 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet Rock Marí Raquel (Character) - 2010
No Score Yet 38% La mitad del mundo Juana (Character) - 2009
No Score Yet No Score Yet High School Musical, el Desafío (México) Madre de Mariana (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet 42% The Black Pimpernel Ana Contreras (Character) - 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet Emma's Bra Dra. Ortega (Character) - 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet El Brassier de Emma Dra. Ortega (Character) - 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hijas de su Madre: Las Buenrostro Unknown (Character) - 2006
No Score Yet No Score Yet Contra Todo ... Against All Odds Unknown (Character) - 2006
22% 81% 7 Days Sra. Garza (Character) $16.8K 2005
No Score Yet No Score Yet Exposed Laura Silvera (Character) - 2003
No Score Yet 76% In the Time of the Butterflies Patria (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet 56% Never Too Young to Dream Rebeca (Character) - 2001
4% 43% Bless the Child Sister Rosa (Character) $29.4M 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mascara Laura (Character) - 1999
67% 50% Sugar Town Rosio (Character) $177.8K 1999
No Score Yet 65% Last Stand at Saber River Luz (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fibra Óptica María Ponce (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Optic Fiber Unknown (Character) - 1997
86% 79% Bottle Rocket Inez (Character) $488.6K 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet Manhattan Merengue Rosita (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Viva San Isidro! Antonia (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Land of Milk and Honey Rosie (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bandits Anna (Character) - 1995
88% 84% Like Water for Chocolate Tita (Character) $14.0M 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet El secreto de Romelia Blanca (Character) - 1988

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sierra Madre: No Trespassing Unknown (Character) 2024
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cecilia Unknown (Character) 2022
78% 93% Friends Cristina (Guest Star) 1994