Spanish actress and model Paz Campos Trigo was born in Seville, Andalucía, Spain on January 2, 1976. Her screen name, Paz Vega, was taken from her grandmother. She studied acting at the Centro Andaluz de Teatro, a prestigious stage school in Seville, and after four years of studies, she moved to Madrid.
Vega’s Spanish television debut was the television series Menudo es mi padre, and after appearing on other television programs, graced the silver screen in 1999 with Zapping. Her big break, however, was in the television series 7 Vidas, which launched in 1999, and was patterned as a Spanish version of the American sitcom Friends. She didn’t stay for the program’s duration, however, as she decided to focus on her film career.
In 1999, Paz Vega appeared alongside Emma Suárez in the film Sobreviviré. In 2001, she appeared in Lucía y el sexo, and her performance was nominated by different award-giving bodies in Spain. She also appeared in Pedro Almodóvar’s film Hable con ella, in 2002, and in Vicente Aranda’s film Carmen in 2003, where she was nominated yet again, this time by the European Film Awards.
In 2004, Paz Vega was introduced to American audiences through the James L. Brooks film Spanglish. In the film, which also stars Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni, she plays Flor Aranda, a Mexican who crosses the border with her daughter in search of a better life and learns English to be able to survive. Her performance led to nominations for an Imagen Award, for Best Actress, and from the Phoenix Film Critics Society.
In 2006, she appeared alongside Morgan Freeman in the independent comedy film 10 Items or Less. She continued to perform for Spanish films such as the controversial Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo. Nevertheless her American success was starting to escalate, with more English films currently in production, such as Frank Miller’s adaptation The Spirit and Triage, alongside Colin Farrell.