Mia Maestro: poised, prepped, and primed for around-the-globe adventures

Until recently, most Latin actresses who weren't named Jennifer, Salma, or Penelope had trouble finding steady work in Hollywood. But since moving to Los Angeles five years ago, Buenos Aires-born Mia Maestro has managed A-OK, appearing in more than a dozen films, including this month's Motorcycle Diaries, in which she plays the young Che Guevara's love interest.

"I'm very happy with my career," says Maestro, a classically trained singer who left home at 18 to study music in Berlin, singing Weill and performing Brecht before turning to film acting in the Oscar-nominated Spanish-language drama Tango (1998). Although her resume leans heavily toward art-house productions like Timecode (2000) and Frida (2002), the 26-year-old actress courted the mainstream this year as Jennifer Garner's estranged sister on the popular TV series Alias--a character so well received she'll be back this fall. "Of course, I don't think there are enough Latin roles in Hollywood," says Maestro, "but it's a strange concept because playing a Mexican isn't the same thing as playing a Colombian or a Peruvian. Everybody's different, and you can't just throw all these wonderful countries into one big bag."

With a hodgepodge of English- and Spanish-language films on the horizon, Maestro hopes to keep acting in both worlds, though paradoxically, she finds it easier to work in English. "Because I have a very specific Argentine accent, I can get typecast [in Spanish-speaking films]," she explains. "But in English, I can play Europeans, Mexicans, Cubans. Anything I want, really."

Juan Morales is a Los Angeles-based film critic.

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