Melina Matthews

Spanish actress (born 1986)

Melina Matthews
Matthews in 2018
Born	1986^[1] Barcelona, Spain^[1]
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present

Melina Matthews is a Spanish actress and presenter, known as a presenter for the Sitges Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya), and for her acting roles as Ana in the 2018 film Silencio, as Juana in season 2 of La peste (The Plague) (2019), as new teacher Carmen in season 2 of La otra mirada (A Different View) (also 2019), and as Sister Shannon Masters in Warrior Nun in 2020.

Early life

Melina Matthews was born in 1986,^[1] in Barcelona; she is the daughter of a Welsh father and a French mother,^[2] who were both interpreter/translators.^[1] At the age of 19, Matthews moved to London to study for a BA Hons degree in Investigative Journalism at the University of Westminster, graduating in 2009.^[1] During her time as a student in London, Matthews studied theatre at the Central School of Speech and Drama working at The Old Vic theatre and at the Southbank Centre, with hopes of pursuing an acting career.^[1] Her initial involvement in theatre, was as an accent trainer and dialogue coach, helping American actors to polish their English and Spanish accents.^[1]

Acting career

Matthews debut appearance on the big screen was as Laura Moffat in the film Savage Grace in 2007, opposite Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne.^[3] In 2013, Matthews played the voice of 'Mama' in the Guillermo del Toro produced horror film Mama.^[4]

In 2016, Matthews landed a role as Sofía Marín alongside Jodie Comer in the BBC television miniseries Thirteen.^[5] Melina Matthews co-starred alongside Marc Clotet as lovers in the film El jugador de ajedrez (The Chess Player), which featured at the Málaga Film Festival 2017.^[6] Matthews played the lead actress role as 'Ana' in the Mexico-based 2018 film Silencio.^[7]

In 2019, Matthews starred as Juana in season 2 of La peste (The Plague) set in bubonic plague ridden 16th century Seville.^[8] Matthews was a replacement for Cecilia Freire playing a main character of new teacher Carmen in season 2 of La otra mirada (A Different View) in 2019.^[9] Matthews had a short guest role as Sister Shannon Masters, the former 'Halo-bearer' in Warrior Nun in 2020. ^[4]

Non-acting

For many years, Matthews has been a presenter at the Sitges Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya), which is a Spanish film festival specialising in fantasy and horror films.^[10]^[11] In 2017, Matthews was reported to be in a relationship with Spanish film actor and director Raúl Arévalo,^[2] whom she purportedly met while filming El Negociador (The Negotiator) in 2014.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2007	Savage Grace	Lorna Moffat
2008	Sing for Darfur	Isabelle
2013	Mama	Mama (voice)
	Panzer Chocolate	Julie Levinson
	The Returned	Eve
2014	Negociador (Negotiator)	Sophie	^[13]
2015	Don't Speak	Samantha
2015	The Gunman	Cox's Secretary
2016	Realive	Technician
	Nick	Amber
	Lucas	Jane Lipkiss
2017	Rex	Lopez
2017	El jugador de ajedrez (The Chess Player)	Marianne Latour
2018	Silencio	Ana
	My Masterpiece	Verdulera
	XConfessions Web Series (video)	Olivia
2019	El Cerro de los Dioses (The Hill of the Gods)	Melina Matthews
2019	An Affair to Die For	Lydia Alan
2020	Black Beach	Susan
2021	Battle in Space: The Armada Attacks	Lt. Arsys
	More the Merrier (formerly: Donde caben dos (Where two fit))	Belén
	Official Competition	Directora de fotografía
2022	Lucas	Jane Lipkiss
2024	The Room Next Door	TBA

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005–2006	El Cor de la Ciutat (The Heart of the City)	Fadila Choukri	6 episodes
2011	Arròs covat	(voice)	Episode: "Arròs d'Arenys amb mostassa a la mel"
2013	Aída	—	El imperio (de la morcilla) contraataca
2014–2015	The Refugees	Victoria	Episodes: "Sacrificio" and "El éxodo"
2015	Vis a vis (Locked Up)	Locutora	Episode: "La cruda realidad"
2015	Magnum Opus	Allie Berg	3 episodes
2015–2016	El Príncipe	Sophie	12 episodes
2016	Thirteen	Sofía Marín	4 episodes
2017	Playground	Laurence	10 episodes
2018	Fugitiva	Isabel Lafuente	7 episodes
2019	La peste (The Plague)	Juana	6 episodes
2019	La otra mirada (A Different View)	Carmen	8 episodes
2020–present	Warrior Nun	Sister Shannon Masters	3 episodes
2021	Santuario	Valle	Podcast series; 12 episodes
2021	L'última nit del karaoke	Eli	3 episodes
2022	The Girls at the Back (Spanish: Las de la última fila)	Girl at the Back	1 episode
2022	Apagón	Marina	Episode: "Emergencia"
2023	A Town Called Malice	Lola	6 episodes
2023	Cristo y Rey	Mireilla Darc	Episode: "A un rey no se la deja"
2022–2023	Sentimos las molestias	Victoria	12 episodes

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Melina Matthews". aisge.es. 5 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Todo lo que no sabes de Melina Matthews, la novia de Raúl Arévalo". revistalove.es. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017.
^ "Savage Grace (18-May-2007)". nndb.com. 18 May 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Who is Melina Matthews?". hitc.com. 7 July 2020.
^ "BBC Three announces cast for Thirteen, original drama series by Marnie Dickens". BBC. 28 July 2015.
^ "Marc Clotet and Melina Matthews - El Jugador de Ajedrez - Festival Malaga". fotogramas.es. 24 March 2017.
^ "Silencio cast and crew". silencio2018.com. 26 October 2018.
^ "Moviestar+ La Peste". elespanol.com. 2019.
^ "La otra mirada Season 2". vimeo.com. 2019.
^ "Interview with Cláudia Bassols and Melina Matthews, who present at the Sitges Film Festival". barnafotopress.com. 18 October 2013.
^ "Sitges 50: Entrevista con Melina Matthews". goliathisdead.com. 27 September 2017.
^ "Premier Goya Awards Raúl Arévalo y Melina Matthews". elespanol.com. 2017.
^ Young, Neil (2 October 2014). "'Negotiator' ('Negociador'): San Sebastian Review". The Hollywood Reporter.