Patricia Velásquez is a Venezuelan actress, producer and model, of indigenous, of the Wayuu tribe, and Spanish descent.
She made her film debut in the French movie "Le Jaguar" (1996), where she shared the screen with Jean Reno and Patrick Bruel. In 1999, she played in "Beowulf" alongside Christophe Lambert and Rhona Mitra, but it is thanks to her role as Ankh Su Namun in the famous films "The Mummy" (1999) and "The Return of the Mummy" (2001) that she achieved international success. In 2008, she joined the cast of the successful lgbtqia+ series "The L Word", for several episodes of the fifth season. In 2011, she starred in the drama "Cenizas eternas", a film she also produced. In 2014, she played the lead role as well as the role of associate producer for the romantic comedy "Liz en Septiembre".
Besides her acting career, Patricia Velasquez is also a great activist for human rights, especially the rights of minority communities such as lgbtqia+ and indigenous people.
In 2003, she was named UNESCO Artist for Peace (Goodwill Ambassador), in the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous People. She was also honored in recognition of her actions for the protection of these populations in Latin America and for the safeguard of their cultural heritage.
In 2009, she received the Women Together Award at the United Nations, in recognition of her valuable contribution to the creation of a more equal society. She also received the Solidarity Award the following year.
In 2012, she participated in the twelfth season of "The Apprentice" on behalf of her charity Wayúu Tayá Foundation, which she founded in 2002 and aims at helping the indigenous Wayuu people, located in northwestern Venezuela and northern Colombia.
In 2015, the LA Femme Film Festival awarded her their Humanitarian Award. In 2018, the Organization of American States (OAS) named her a Goodwill Ambassador for the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Also an author, she published in 2015 a powerful and captivating autobiography, which was inspired by her daughter Maya, entitled "Straight Walk: A Supermodel's Journey to Finding her Truth", which details her incredible career and in which she reveals that she is a lesbian.
In it, she talks about how she hid her sexuality from her loved ones for years and dated both men and women. "It's very difficult to face your past, so I put off doing anything like this for a long time. But as my daughter started growing up and I was teaching her to be honest and proud, I knew it was time for me to set an example - and that meant facing my truth. For me, living life with truth and honesty is the one thing I want to make sure she understands." (© EOnline)
Her fight for the visibility and rights of the lgbtqia+ community earned her the honor of the 2018 Visibility Award presented to her by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest civil rights organization for lgbtqia+ people.
Patricia Velasquez is also a member of the Leadership Council of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet. "I’ve realized you can do the work you love, and the results can manifest on many different levels,” she concludes. “You can take those things, turn them around, and create something environmentally friendly, sustainable, new, or beneficial to the world. Everything feeds off each other. It all comes from the same creative place."
https://patriciavelasquez.com/
📸: © OEA - OAS CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
