Ivana Baquero on La Viuda Negra: "I didn’t play music at the gym — I listened to Maje’s real calls to become her."

The Catalan actress returns to lead the cast of a Spanish production after five years of projects abroad.

Actress Ivana Baquero (Barcelona, 1994) has been living away from Spain for over a decade. During this time, she has built a career abroad but has not completely stopped working in Spanish productions. She now stars in La Viuda Negra (A Widow's Game), the Netflix feature film that brings the Patraix crime to the screen, available on the platform starting May 30.

“I was dying to come back. I had been wanting to work in Spain again for a long time. I was immersed in another project when I got the audition, and I had to rearrange everything to be able to start. I couldn’t miss the opportunity,” she tells Vogue Spain with a palpable excitement.

Baquero leads the cast as Maje Moreno, a nurse sentenced to over 20 years in prison for orchestrating the 2017 murder of her husband by one of her lovers, Antonio Moreno. The cast also includes Tristán Ulloa, Carmen Machi, Pepe Ocio, Joel Sánchez, and Pedro Casablanc.

“I didn’t know about this story. It’s curious because everyone I talk to seems to know the case — it was very high profile. The trial went a bit more under the radar because it happened during COVID. Once I got the audition, I started researching,” Baquero explains. “I went in with zero information, and maybe that worked in my favor because I wasn’t influenced when it came to learning the material Ramón [Campos, executive producer and screenwriter] and Carlos [Sedes, director] wanted me to. In the end, it’s just a fiction.”

Playing a character based on a real person is different from portraying a completely fictional one. After all, Maje is someone who could see this portrayal at any time. “That kind of preparation becomes almost obsessive. I’d go to the gym and instead of listening to music, I’d listen to Maje’s voice recordings. I listened to wiretapped calls to get into character. This isn’t a documentary, but we wanted to do justice to the story with sensitivity and respect, without falling into sensationalism. Our goal, ultimately, was to bring it closer to the truth,” shares the actress.“I had to try to get into Maje’s head without judging her, to understand why she did what she did. The director gave me a lot of creative freedom and let me ask questions that sometimes had no answers. That’s something that happens with the case itself — there are loose ends we had to fill in ourselves.”

The fictional Maje is portrayed as explosive, seductive, and deeply Valencian.

“It was very important to convey the natural essence of Valencia for everything to make sense and for the story to take shape,” she admits. It’s a role that’s a gift for any actor. The accused wove a web of lovers and lies to stay afloat.

“She adapts to whatever’s in front of her to project the image she wants. She’s magnetic and manipulative. Aside from embodying that, the character offers a huge emotional arc. It’s a gift because she goes through all kinds of emotions, including the darkest and most disturbing, but also has moments of extreme joy,” reflects Baquero. “It was a challenge.”

The Black Widow arrives on Netflix at a time when true crime is under more scrutiny than ever. That was evident with Burning Body, the series where Úrsula Corberó played Rosa Peral, convicted for the Guardia Urbana crime, and even more so with the release of Dahmer, when families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims spoke out.

“It’s a sensitive subject. We tried to approach it with the utmost humanity and respect. Obviously, people will have a wide range of opinions, and I respect them all. I’m aware there is a real victim here and a family that’s grieving,” says the actress.“I just hope I’ve been able to do justice to the story we’ve tried to tell.”

The general public first met Ivana Baquero when she was only twelve years old. She starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, a film that holds the record for the longest standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. For that role, Baquero won the Goya Award for Best New Actress, becoming the youngest ever recipient in the award’s history. But all that is in the past — the actress is now about to turn 31.

“Age is so relative. Turning 30 was definitely impactful, but when I saw the candles and the number, all I could think was that I still feel like a baby,” she laughs.“In my head, I stayed at 25. That’s where I am.”

After so many years in the entertainment industry, do you still set goals for yourself?

I’ve learned to stop setting goals. This is such a volatile and unstable profession that setting goals can be counterproductive. I consider myself ambitious in the sense that I like to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone. I’m learning more and more to go with the flow and accept what comes.

What has living and working abroad for so many years brought you?

That could take another twenty minutes to answer! [laughs] My most formative years were spent abroad. I grew up in Spain, though I was already traveling and working internationally. When I was 18, after filming a movie in Portugal, I moved away. I lived in New Zealand, the U.S… I had to mature very young. And when you’re dealing with so many different things and people much older than you, and moving around in an adult industry, you grow up faster.

What’s the best advice you’ve received in your career?

Professionally, the best advice was to try to be kind to everyone on set.

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Photos by: Valerio Rioja

© Vogue Spain (May 2025)

(c) Interview by Vogue Spain

Translation by Ivana Baquero Italia.