Carmen Maura attends "El Mago Pop" photocall at Teatro Alcala on February 10, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. Patricia J. Garcinuno/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment For more than four decades, Carmen Maura has been one of Spanish cinema's defining voices - and faces. Emerging from Madrid's theatre scene in the turbulent years after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, she became a central figure of Madrid's countercultural movement the Movida Madrileña, which is where she met an aspiring filmmaker named Pedro Almodóvar (he had a bit part part in one of the plays she was working on). Almodóvar would eventually cast her in his first feature films, where she brought a mix of wit, edge and emotional precision to wild early works like Dark Habits (1983, What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) and Matador (1986). Then came a global success: the Oscar-nominated Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown in 1988. Conflict on the set of Breakdown led to a breakup with Almodóvar (they would reconnect, nearly 20 years later, for the Oscar-nominated Volver), but Maura never looked back. Her filmography ranges from Álex de la Iglesia's dark comedy Common Wealth to Carlos Saura's Civil War drama Oh, Carmela! and even includes a supporting turn in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro, in a role originally written for Javier Bardem. Along the way, she's picked up three best actress Goyas -Spain's Oscar equivalent - more than any other actress in history. Related Stories Movies Venice: Gaza Protests Hit Lido as Activists Unveil "Free Palestine" Banner in Front of Red Carpet Movies Mike Goodridge's Chaos Theory: U.K. Exec on His Packed Festival Slate and Taking Everything Trump Says "With a Pinch of Salt" The 79-year-old legend arrives at the Venice Film Festival with Calle Málaga, directed by Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani and premiering in the festival's Venice Spotlight section. The Morocco-set drama follows a Spanish woman determined to keep her childhood home - it's a story about memory, belonging and second chances. True to form, Maura approached it with the same fearless instincts that have defined her career - including a nude scene she admits she once would have refused. In a wide-ranging conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Maura reflects on her early battles with her conservative family, her creative bond and eventual rupture with Almodóvar and her decision to keep far away from Hollywood: "I was glad I never had that ambition. I never aimed too high, and that helped me." You come from a very traditional and conservative Spanish family [Maura's great-grandfather was Spanish royalty, a great-uncle was Spain's Conservative Prime Minister Antonio Maura]. What was their reaction when you decided to become an actress? I remember the first time my dad saw me onstage. He realized how good I was, and he completely forbade me any contact with the theater world. It wasn't easy. He even forbade me from doing it on an amateur basis - forget about doing it professionally. But I loved it so much that I was willing to have a very big fight over it. After some years, I married the university theater director, which allowed me to continue with an amateur theater group for a while. Eventually, the others all ended up doing different kinds of work, but I knew I wanted to continue. It was a big fight with my family, very hard, but I think it was the best school I could have had because I never had acting lessons. I didn't go to acting school - I just did everything: coffeehouse theater, musical theater, bit parts on TV. I think I was lucky all along because I have a very good guardian angel. This was also a transformative period in Spanish history, just after the Franco dictatorship. Did the conflict in your own family mirror what was happening in Spain? Did you see yourself as part of a countercultural movement creating a new culture for Spain? Yes, I feel very lucky to have been part of the movement in Spain - it was a big change for everyone. I don't think I would have become a professional had I stayed in that amateur group. I just knew I was good at it and wanted to keep doing it. Being part of that change put me in contact with people who had nothing to do with my environment. I discovered acting in film through short films, and I loved it. I got along so well with the camera, and I knew that could lead to great things. I never wanted to be a celebrity, just an actress. I wasn't the perfect mom or housewife, but I had special timing and made good choices. When I decided to work with Almodóvar, people told me I was crazy - that I'd ruin my career. But for me, there was no such thing as a "career." I just followed my instincts. Do you remember your first meeting with Pedro Almodóvar, and what did you learn from each other in those early years? I kn