Leonor Varela

Though her family returned to Santiago following the occupation, Varela developed a passion for French culture and continued her studies abroad. Refered to a French filmmaker by her dentist (who, enamored by her exotic beauty created a role specifically designed for the burgeoning actress in The Shooting Stars [1997]), Varela found her popularity on the rise when she was cast in the Chilean TV series Tic Tac. After appearing in a few more television productions in the late '90s, the actress was cast in a small role in The Man in the Iron Mask before being ideally cast opposite future fiancé Billy Zane. Though the couple's relationship floundered, they remained on good terms and Varela's career continued to thrive. Roles in The Tailor of Panama and Texas Rangers (both 2001) followed shortly thereafter, though it wasn't until 2002 that Varela received enough screen time to truly ignite the silver screen. As the fanged love interest of Wesley Snipes in the exhausting vampire/action extravaganza Blade II, Varela showed her sensitive side between scenes of blasting Reapers to ash, and showed further proof of her versatility by tackling an extremely physical role head-on. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide