Pilar López de Ayala Arroyo (born 18 September 1978) is a Spanish actress. She won a Goya Award for Best Actress for her performance playing Joanna of Castile in 2001 film Mad Love.
Life and career Early life Pilar López de Ayala Arroyo was born in Madrid on 18 September 1978. Her parents are Rodrigo López de Ayala Sánchez-Arjona and Pilar Arroyo Gallego. On her father side she descends from the rural nobility of Extremadura and is twice descendant of Christopher Columbus through Diego Colón.Jaime de Salazar y Acha. Estudio Histórico Sobre una Familia Extremeña – Los Sánchez-Arjona, Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía, Madrid, 2000, p. 342 She studied at the public school Francisco de Quevedo in Majadahonda.
Career beginnings For her film debut as an actress, she appeared in a minor role in the children's film (1995), a promotional vehicle for the musical ensemble . From 1997 to 1999, she portrayed Carlota in 418 episodes of teen daily television series Al salir de clase. Her film career continued with a performance in Gracia Querejeta's By My Side Again (1999). In Fill Me with Life (2000), she delivered her first leading performance in a film, portraying twentysomething María alongside Unax Ugalde in a tragic story about the descent into drugs and prostitution in Madrid. Also by the turn of the century, she appeared in the comedy films Living It Up and Kisses for Everyone. For her performance in the latter film portraying Rocío, an "upper-class mommy's girl and husband-hunter", she earned a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actress.
Peak and first hiatus She obtained critical acclaim for playing Joanna of Castile in Vicente Aranda's period drama Mad Love. The film, an international co-production with Italy and Portugal, premiered in September 2001 at the 49th San Sebastián International Film Festival, with López Ayala being awarded the Silver Shell for Best Actress. It also was a box office success in Spain. López de Ayala went on to win the Goya Award for Best Actress and an Actors Union Award for Best Leading Performance in Film.
Despite the success she had massed with Mad Love, López de Ayala did not meaningfully work in the Spanish film industry from 2001 to 2005. She did however play a role in the English-language in The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004), a co-production with France and the United Kingdom.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1995 1999 Cuando vuelvas a mi lado (By My Side Again) 2000 Báilame el agua (Fill Me with Life) María 2000 La gran vida (Living It Up) 2000 Besos para todos (Kisses for Everyone) Rocío 2001 Juana la Loca (Mad Love) Juana 2004 The Bridge of San Luis Rey La Perichole 2005 Obaba Maestra 2006 Bienvenido a casa (Welcome Home) Eva 2006 Alatriste Mujer de Malatesta 2007 En la ciudad de Sylvia (In the City of Sylvia) Ella 2007 Las 13 rosas (13 Roses) Blanca Brisac 2008 Comme les autres (Baby Love) Fina 2008 Sólo quiero caminar (Just Walking) Paloma 2010 O Estranho Caso de Angélica (The Strange Case of Angelica) Angélica 2010 Lope (Lope: The Outlaw) Elena Osorio 2011 Buenas noches España 2011 Intruders Luisa 2011 Medianeras (Sidewalls) Mariana 2014 Night Has Settled Luna 2016 Rumbos (Night Tales) Lucía 2017 Agadah Dans la chambre du sultan (Close to the Sultan) Jeanne
Accolades Year Award Category Work Result 2001 Best New Actress Kisses for Everyone Best Newcomer Best Spanish Actress Fill Me with Life San Sebastián International Film Festival Silver Shell for Best Actress Mad Love 2002 Best Actress 2006 Best Supporting Actress Obaba 2011 Best Supporting Actress Lope: The Outlaw 2012 Best Actress Sidewalls Best Supporting Actress Intruders
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