The Most Famous

ACTORS from Mexico

This page contains a list of the greatest Mexican Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 163 of which were born in Mexico. This makes Mexico the birth place of the 13th most number of Actors behind Spain, and Australia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Mexican Actors of all time. This list of famous Mexican Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Mexican Actors.

1. Salma Hayek (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 71.47, Salma Hayek is the most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 88 different languages on wikipedia.

Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( HY-ek, Spanish: [ˈsalma ˈxaʝek]; née Hayek Jiménez; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela Teresa (1989–1991) as well as the romantic drama Midaq Alley (1995). She soon established herself in Hollywood with appearances in films such as Desperado (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Wild Wild West (1999), and Dogma (1999). Hayek's portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biopic Frida (2002), which she also produced, made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In subsequent years, Hayek focused more on producing while starring in the action-centered pictures Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), After the Sunset (2004) and Bandidas (2006). She achieved further commercial success with the comedies Grown Ups (2010), Grown Ups 2 (2013) and The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), and lent her voice for the animated Puss in Boots (2011), Sausage Party (2016) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). She also earned critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas Tale of Tales (2015), Beatriz at Dinner (2017) and House of Gucci (2021). She played Ajak in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals (2021), which emerged as her highest-grossing live action film. Hayek's directing, producing and acting work on television has earned her four Emmy Awards nominations. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for The Maldonado Miracle (2004) and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series, for her work on the ABC television comedy-drama Ugly Betty (2006–2010). She also produced and played Minerva Mirabal in the Showtime film In the Time of the Butterflies (2001) and guest-starred on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock (2009–2013). As a public figure, Hayek has been cited as one of Hollywood's most powerful and influential Latina actresses as well as one of the world's most beautiful women by various media outlets. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. In 2021, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is married to business magnate François-Henri Pinault, with whom she has a daughter.

2. Linda Christian (1923 - 2011)

With an HPI of 68.21, Linda Christian is the 2nd most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer; November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara in the last Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948). She is also noted for being the first Bond girl, appearing in a 1954 television adaptation of the James Bond novel Casino Royale. In 1963, she starred as Eva Ashley in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour titled "An Out for Oscar".

3. Cantinflas (1911 - 1993)

With an HPI of 68.15, Cantinflas is the 3rd most famous Mexican Actor. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes (12 August 1911 – 20 April 1993), known by the stage name Cantinflas (Spanish pronunciation: [kanˈtiɱflas]), was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely accomplished Mexican comedian and is well known throughout Latin America and Spain. His humor, loaded with Mexican linguistic features of intonation, vocabulary, and syntax, is beloved in all the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America and in Spain. His abilities gave rise to a range of expressions based on his stage name, including: cantinflear, cantinflada, cantinflesco, cantifleando and cantinflero. He often portrayed impoverished farmers or peasants of pelado origin. The character allowed Cantinflas to establish a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin once commented that he was the best comedian alive, and Moreno has been referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico". To audiences in most of the world, he is best remembered as co-starring with David Niven in the Oscar-winning film Around the World in 80 Days, for which Moreno won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. As a pioneer of the cinema of Mexico, Moreno helped usher in its golden era. In addition to being a business leader, he also became involved in Mexico's complex labor politics. His reputation as a spokesperson for the working class gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against charrismo, the ruling PRI's practice of co-opting and controlling trade unions. Moreover, his character Cantinflas, whose identity became enmeshed with his own, was examined by media critics, philosophers, and linguists, who saw him variously as a danger to Mexican society, a bourgeois puppet, a verbal innovator, and a picaresque underdog.

4. Silvia Pinal (1931 - 2024)

With an HPI of 66.60, Silvia Pinal is the 4th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (12 September 1931 – 28 November 2024) was a Mexican actress. She began her career in theatre before venturing into cinema in 1949. She became one of the greatest female stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and, with her performance in Shark! (1969), part of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her work in film and popularity in her native country led Pinal to work in Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy. Pinal achieved international recognition by starring in a trilogy of films directed by Luis Buñuel: Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965). In addition to her film career, Pinal pioneered musical theatre in Mexico, had a successful career in television, and held a series of public roles and political offices, including First Lady of Tlaxcala in the 1980s and elected terms in the Chamber of Deputies, the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District, and the Senate of the Republic. She was considered "the last diva" of the Golden Age of Mexican film.

5. Katy Jurado (1924 - 2002)

With an HPI of 65.10, Katy Jurado is the 5th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García (16 January 1924 – 5 July 2002), known professionally as Katy Jurado ( jə-RAH-doh, Spanish: [ˈkati xuˈɾaðo]), was a Mexican actress. She followed in the footsteps of earlier Mexican actresses in Hollywood; including Dolores Del Rio, Lupe Velez, and María Félix. And her talent for playing a variety of characters helped to promote later Mexican actresses in American cinema. She acted in popular Western films of the 1950s and 1960s. She was the first Latin American actress nominated for an Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress for her work in Broken Lance (1954), and was the first to win a Golden Globe Award, for her performance in High Noon (1952).

6. Verónica Castro (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 63.45, Verónica Castro is the 6th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Verónica Judith Sáinz Castro (Spanish pronunciation: [beˈɾonika ˈkastɾo]; born 19 October 1952) is a Mexican actress and television personality. She began her career in the late 1960s with roles in film and television before rising to prominence as the star of the telenovela Los ricos también lloran (1979), a success that established her as one of the leading figures of the genre. Throughout the 1980s, she continued to build her fame with El derecho de nacer (1981), Rosa salvaje (1987), and Mi pequeña Soledad (1990), the latter of which she also produced. Castro also achieved popularity as a talk show host, leading the late-night programs Mala noche… ¡no! (1988) and La movida (1991), both of which earned high ratings. She later expanded into reality television as the host of Big Brother VIP in the 2000s, another major ratings success. After a period of reduced on-screen activity, she returned to mainstream visibility with the Netflix series La casa de las flores (2018). Her accolades include eight TVyNovelas Awards (including two lifetime achievement awards) and the 2005 Spanish Emmy Award for her impact on Latin American television. She is the mother of singer Cristian Castro.

7. Laura Harring (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 62.89, Laura Harring is the 7th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Laura Elena Harring (née Herring Martínez, formerly Gräfin von Bismarck-Schönhausen; born March 3, 1964) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1985 and later began acting in television and film. She is best known for her lead role as Rita in the 2001 movie Mulholland Drive. Her other films include The Forbidden Dance (1990), John Q (2002), Willard (2003), The Punisher (2004), The King (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), Ghost Son (2007), The Caller (2008), Drool (2009), Sex Ed (2014), and Inside (2016). She also played Carla Greco in General Hospital (1990–1991), Paula Stevens on Sunset Beach (1997), and Rebecca "Becca" Doyle in The Shield (2006).

8. Sara Ramirez (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 62.68, Sara Ramirez is the 8th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Sara Elena Ramírez Vargas (Spanish: [ˈsaɾa eˈlena raˈmiɾes ˈbaɾɣas]; born August 31, 1975) is an American actor, singer and activist. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved from Mexico to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. Ramírez began acting in Broadway productions, making their debut in Paul Simon's The Capeman, and later ventured into film and television roles. Ramírez's breakthrough came with their portrayal of the original Lady of the Lake in the 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. On Grey's Anatomy, they portrayed Dr. Callie Torres, one of the longest-running LGBT characters in US television history, appearing in 11 seasons and 239 episodes. Ramírez's volunteered addition of the character's bisexuality marked one of the earliest series regular queer roles on primetime television. After departing from the series, Ramírez came out as bisexual and later non-binary, using they/them pronouns. They later portrayed the bisexual and non-binary roles of Kat Sandoval on Madam Secretary and Che Díaz on And Just Like That.... Ramírez debuted as a voice actor in the 1999 PlayStation video game Um Jammer Lammy, where they voiced its title character Lammy in a spin-off to PaRappa The Rapper. They also voiced Queen Miranda in the Disney Junior animated series Sofia the First (2012–2018). Ramírez released their first single "Silent Night" in 2009. Their self-titled EP debuted at number 37 on the Billboard 200 in 2011. Ramírez's extensive campaigns for LGBT rights won the Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in 2015. In addition to the Tony Award, Ramírez has also been the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Satellite Award, among other accolades.

9. Fernando Colunga (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 61.07, Fernando Colunga is the 9th most famous Mexican Actor. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Fernando Colunga Olivares (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando koˈluŋɡa oliˈβaɾes]; born 3 March 1966) is a Mexican actor known for his work in Mexican telenovelas. Colunga gained international fame for his role as Luis Fernando de la Vega in the hit Mexican telenovela María la del Barrio. He is also widely recognized for portraying Manuel Fuentes-Guerra in the historical drama Amor real, set in mid-19th century post-independence Mexico. In 2012, he starred as Jesús García in the romantic comedy telenovela Porque el amor manda. Colunga received his formal acting education at the Centro de Educación Artística (CEA), a drama school run by Televisa in Mexico City.

10. Lupe Vélez (1908 - 1944)

With an HPI of 61.04, Lupe Vélez is the 10th most famous Mexican Actor. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

María Guadalupe "Lupe" Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 14, 1944) was a Mexican actress, singer, and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States, she made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. By the end of the decade, she was acting in full-length silent films and had progressed to leading roles in The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928) and Wolf Song (1929), among others. Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. She was one of the first successful Mexican actresses in Hollywood. During the 1930s, her explosive screen persona was exploited in successful comedic films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934) and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked while appearing as Carmelita Fuentes in eight Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalize on her fiery personality. Nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire by the media, Vélez had a personal life that was as colorful as her screen persona. She had several highly-publicized romances with Hollywood actors and a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller. Vélez died at age 36 in December 1944 of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it were the subject of speculation and controversy.

People

Pantheon has 164 people classified as Mexican actors born between 1895 and 2003. Of these 164, 127 (77.44%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Mexican actors include Salma Hayek, Verónica Castro, and Laura Harring. The most famous deceased Mexican actors include Linda Christian, Cantinflas, and Silvia Pinal. As of April 2024, 24 new Mexican actors have been added to Pantheon including Eduardo Yáñez, Arturo Peniche, and Mayrín Villanueva.