Why Becca From Blue Miracle Looks So Familiar
Everyone loves a good underdog story, and the latest feel-good tale that will make everyone root for the underdog should be "Blue Miracle," which premiered on Netflix on May 27, 2021. It's a classic "kids triumphing against the odds" story, in the vein of films like "Stand and Deliver" or "The Great Debaters."
"Blue Miracle" stars Jimmy Gonzales ("Mayans MC") as Omar Venegas, the operator of an orphanage for underprivileged children in Cabo San Lucas. When the orphanage faces the threat of foreclosure, Omar turns to a washed-up fishing boat captain (Dennis Quaid) to help the kids win a fishing competition for a big cash prize.
In addition to Gonzales and Quaid, "Blue Miracle's" cast includes Raymond Cruz ("Breaking Bad"), Bruce McGill ("Timecop"), and Fernanda Urrejola. Urrejola is a Chilean actress who plays Becca, the wife of Gonzales' character. In the movie, Omar and Becca run the Cabo San Lucas orphanage that dozens of children call home. Compared with Gonzales and Quaid, Urrejola doesn't get as much screen time. But if you're wondering where you've seen Fernanda Urrejola before, here are some of her most well-known acting roles.
She played the ultimate bounty hunter in Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman
Relatively few North American viewers saw the film "Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman," which is a shame for anyone who enjoys a bloody homage to 1970s grindhouse movies. Urrejola technically isn't the main character in Ernesto Diaz Espinoza's Chilean action-comedy, but she more than steals the show.
The story follows a mild-mannered gamer named Santiago who makes an ill-advised promise to a mobster to track down Machine Gun Woman, the mobster's ex and the most badass bounty hunter around. The film is heavily influenced by video game culture, and it's made to look and feel like a "Grand Theft Auto" game.
Grindhouse isn't for everyone, and "Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman" only has a 50% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But reviewer Ryan Aldrich raved about it for Screen Anarchy in 2012, praising its "wildly sexy violence."
Urrejola played a cartel leader's wife on Narcos: Mexico
"Narcos: Mexico" premiered in 2018 as a companion series to the hugely popular "Narcos." It chronicles the rise of the Guadalajara cocaine cartel in the 1980s, as told through the eyes of its leader, real-life kingpin Félix Gallardo (Diego Luna). Fernanda Urrejola played Gallardo's wife, Maria Elvira.
Urrejola discussed the challenges of playing Maria Elvira in an interview with ET Online. Far from a passive observer to her husband's activities, Maria Elvira's father was a narco, so she understands the business intimately. She fully supports her husband's idea to build the largest possible drug empire. But the couple's problems start when Félix loses sight of what's most important. Urrejola said that one line from the fourth episode of Season 1 sums up Maria Elvira: "Ocupate de tus negocios, pero también protege a esta familia," or "Take care of your business, but also protect this family."
"Narcos: Mexico" was renewed for Season 3 in October 2020, but Luna won't be returning, as reported by Deadline. That means Urrejola likely won't, either.
She played the mother of the Acosta kids on the Party of Five reboot
The "Party of Five" reboot premiered on Freeform in January 2020, and it was a reboot in every sense of the word. It was a major departure from the original "Party of Five," which was about the five Salinger siblings struggling to adjust following the death of their parents in a car accident.
The new "Party of Five" was created by the same writers, Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser, but this time, it was a multicultural show focusing on the Acosta family of Los Angeles. In the first episode of the reboot, parents Javier (Bruno Bichir) and Gloria Acosta (Fernanda Urrejola) are deported, forcing their five children to run the family restaurant by themselves.
Gloria and Javier are deported within the first five minutes of the pilot and spend most of the series separated from their children. Filming the deportation scene was so intense emotionally that Urrejola and fellow cast member Emily Tosta both cried on set, according to Refinery29.