# Mía Maestro
**Mía Maestro** (born 1978 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine actress, singer, and documentary producer whose screen work spans Argentine cinema, Hollywood features, and American television, with roles in *Alias* and *[The Strain](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-strain-tv-series)* alongside a parallel career as an indie recording artist.[1](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Argentine nationality[1](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro) |
| Film debut | *Tango* (1998), directed by Carlos Saura, playing Elena Flores; the film received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Film[1](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro) • [2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro) |
| Breakout film roles | Cristina Kahlo in *Frida* (2002) and Chichina Ferreyra in *The Motorcycle Diaries* (2004)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) |
| Television | Nadia Santos on *Alias* (from season 3); Nora Martinez on FX's *The Strain*, 2014–2015, 26 episodes[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) |
| Award | Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress, 2004, honoring Latino members of the entertainment industry[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) |
| Music | Debut album *Si Agua* (2014), released by Arts & Crafts and Nacional Records; recorded in Iceland, produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson[4](https://www.miamaestro.com/) |
| Documentary producing | Co-producer of *Into the Okavango* (2018), a National Geographic film nominated for a DGA Award[2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro) |
| Recent work | *The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future* (2022), *Extrapolations* (2023), *After This Death* (2025)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) |
## Early life and training
Maestro was born in Buenos Aires in 1978.[1](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro) At 18 she moved to Berlin to train as a classical music vocalist, also studying dance and acting along the way. She returned to Argentina two years later and made her film debut with Carlos Saura's *[Tango](https://www.edgepedia.org/tango-1998-film)* (1998), playing Elena Flores.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) That first film gave her an unusually prominent start: *Tango* earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Film.[2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro)
## Film career
Her early credits after *Tango* included *The Venice Project* (1999), *Timecode* (2000), *Picking Up the Pieces* (2000), and *El astillero* (2000).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) In Argentine cinema, her registered work spans 1998 to 2020 and includes eight films, among them *La niña santa* (2004), in which she played Inés, and *Las mantenidas sin sueños* (2005), as Celina.[1](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro) She appeared in Lucrecia Martel's *The Holy Girl* (the Argentine *La niña santa*), which she also sang for.[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mia-maestro/credits/3000054794/)
**International profile.** Two roles in the early 2000s brought her to a wider audience: she played [Cristina Kahlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/cristina-kahlo), sister of [Frida Kahlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/frida-kahlo), in the biopic *Frida* (2002), for which she also served as choreographer for the film's tango sequence, and Chichina Ferreyra in *The Motorcycle Diaries* (2004), based on the young [Che Guevara](https://www.edgepedia.org/che-guevara)'s travels.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) Later mainstream work included *Poseidon*, Oliver Stone's *Savages* (2012), as Dolores, and the vampire Carmen in *The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1* and *Part 2* (2012).[2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) Her recorded single "Llovera" appeared on the *Breaking Dawn* soundtrack.[6](https://arts-crafts.ca/artists/mia-maestro.html)
More recent film work includes Sonia in *End of the Century* (*Fin de siglo*, 2019), Emma in *The Binding* (2020), Magdalena in *The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future* (2022), and Isabel in *After This Death* (2025).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/)
## Television
Maestro made her television debut in 2000 starring in the TV movie *For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story*.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) In 2004 she met producer J.J. Abrams intending to audition for *Lost*, and was instead cast in his spy drama *[Alias](https://www.edgepedia.org/alias-tv-series)* late in the third season as Nadia Santos, daughter of Arvin Sloane and Irina Derevo and half-sister of Sydney Bristow; the character became a regular in the fourth season.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) She won a 2004 Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/)
**The Strain.** From 2014 to 2015 she played Dr. Nora Martinez, an epidemiologist fighting a vampire virus outbreak, in the first two seasons of [Guillermo del Toro](https://www.edgepedia.org/guillermo-del-toro)'s FX series *The Strain*, appearing in 26 episodes.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) • [4](https://www.miamaestro.com/) Her later television credits include Elise Martin on *Scandal* (2015), Allegra Pazzi on *Hannibal* (2015), Rosa on *Nashville* (2018), Sederica Palomo on *Mayans M.C.* (2019–2021, 9 episodes), and Mariama Cruz in Apple TV+'s climate-change anthology *[Extrapolations](https://www.edgepedia.org/extrapolations-tv-series)* (2023), opposite [Edward Norton](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-norton).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/) • [2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro)
## Music
Maestro trained as a classical vocalist before acting, and music has run alongside her screen career. She released her debut album *Si Agua* in 2014 as a joint venture between the Canadian indie label Arts & Crafts and Nacional Records, with lyrics alternating between English and Spanish.[4](https://www.miamaestro.com/) • [6](https://arts-crafts.ca/artists/mia-maestro.html) She has described the title as having no direct translation, roughly "If Water."[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/mia-maestro) The album was recorded in Iceland over seven days with her band, produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, and features a supporting ensemble including Ben Frost, Thomas Bartlett, Shahzad Ismaily, Colin Stetson, and Nico Muhly, who wrote and conducted the string and brass arrangements, as well as a collaboration with [Damien Rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/damien-rice).[4](https://www.miamaestro.com/) • [7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/mia-maestro)
## Producing and advocacy
Maestro has built a documentary-producing practice alongside acting. She was co-producer of the [National Geographic](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-geographic) film *Into the Okavango* (2018), which received a Directors Guild of America Award nomination, and has been a producer on the short *Blue Eyed Sailor* (2012) and the forthcoming *Daughters of the Forest* (2026).[2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/)
Since 2018 she has been an active member of Healing Dialogue and Action, leading mindfulness circles in [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california)'s level 4 prisons and juvenile halls, and she serves as an ambassador for the Surfrider Foundation and the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund.[2](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro) She also practices and teaches the Chinese ceremonial tea tradition Cha Dao.[4](https://www.miamaestro.com/)
## References
1. [Mía Maestro: filmografía completa, cinenacional.com](https://cinenacional.com/persona/mia-maestro)
2. [Mia Maestro, Unreasonable Mentor, Unreasonable Group](https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/mia-maestro)
3. [Mía Maestro, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535502/)
4. [About Mia, miamaestro.com](https://www.miamaestro.com/)
5. [Mía Maestro List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mia-maestro/credits/3000054794/)
6. [Mia Maestro, Arts & Crafts](https://arts-crafts.ca/artists/mia-maestro.html)
7. [The Multiple Lives of Mía Maestro, Interview Magazine (Feist, August 2014)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/mia-maestro)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › Latin American actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license