Actress Verónica Echegui, an essential talent in Spanish cinema of the last two decades, dies at the age of 42.

Actress Verónica Fernández de Echegaray, better known as Verónica Echegui , died this Sunday in Madrid at the age of 42 from cancer, according to sources close to her who confirmed this to this newspaper. Born in Madrid in 1983, Echegui stood out for her versatility, her ability to bring complex and authentic characters to life, and her risk-taking when choosing projects. In addition to her undeniable talent as an actress, she also had a talent for storytelling: in 2022, she won the Goya for Best Fiction Short Film as director, screenwriter, and co-producer of the terrifying Wolf Totem.

Few people in Spanish cinema knew of her illness, which her entourage has handled discreetly. She has been hospitalized in recent days, and her death has caused a stir among her colleagues and in the Spanish audiovisual world in general.

She rose to fame with her leading role in Yo soy la Juani (2006), the Bigas Luna drama that earned her a Goya nomination for Best New Actress and launched one of the most prolific careers in recent Spanish cinema.

In El patio de mi cárcel (2008), she played a young prisoner, a performance that earned her a Goya Award nomination. In Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo (2011), directed by Icíar Bollaín, she played a Catalan teacher who travels to Nepal to teach at a school in the poorest neighborhoods of Kathmandu. For these two films, she was nominated for Best Leading Actress at the Goya Awards. As a director, she won the award for Best Fiction Short Film in 2022 with Tótem loba .

Most recently, she starred in Justicia Artificial (2024), a political thriller in which she plays a judge who uncovers a conspiracy involving artificial intelligence within the judicial system. Other notable films in her filmography include La gran familia española (2013), Explota Explota (2020), and Objetos (2022). She has also appeared in series such as Intimidad (2022) and Los pacientes del doctor García (2023).

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