María Gabriela de Faría: The Venezuelan actress who triumphs in Hollywood, but yearns ‘to return home’

Since she was a child, the life of María Gabriela de Faría (Caracas, 31 years old) has been marked by the cameras. At the age of six she was already doing advertising campaigns in her native Venezuela, and at 10 she got the role of Marifé in the Venezuelan soap opera Trapos íntimos, followed by another one in La señora de Cárdenas. It was in her teens that she rose to international fame: at just 16 she moved to Colombia to star in Nickelodeon’s musical series Isa, TKM, a huge hit with teenagers.

Having become a star throughout the continent, she moved to Miami to work in the youth series Grachi and Yo Soy Frankie, and since then she decided to bet on the United States, settling in Los Angeles, where she studied English and acting. However, as happens to so many stars who make the leap to Hollywood, she did not have it easy: after two years of living there she had spent all of her savings and lost all hopes. Then, in 2019, she got the opportunity to work on the series Lethal Class, filmed in Vancouver (Canada) and broadcast on Prime Video. Finally, her first major film starring role came in 2022 with El exorcismo de Dios, a Venezuelan film with wide international distribution.

After having worked national cinema and also in productions in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, now De Faría arrives to the big screen in Hollywood as one of the protagonists of the film The Duel, which premiers on July 31 and where she shares credits with actors Dylan Sprouse, Callan McAuliffe, Patrick Warburton, Denny Love, and also with her husband, Venezuelan actor Christian McGaffney (who starred in Simon last year). She is also preparing for the 2025 release of Superman: Legacy, directed by James Gunn, where she will play the villainous Angelica Spica, aka The Engineer.

Question. As a Venezuelan, how do you feel about being part of the Hollywood film The Duel?

Answer. Ah, incredible. We were just talking about that, because we, Latin Americans, are 19% of the population that goes to the movies, so it means that we are the ones that fill the movie theaters. And thank God we have more and more representation on the big screen. But as Venezuelans we are not so many, in reality we are very, very, very few. And to be able to feel that we are somehow making our way into the industry and trying to open doors not only for us, but for our compatriots, is a privilege. And especially with a film like this, which is a film where the Latino characters are not the typical Latino characters. And we are not Latino characters that are kind of back there, we are the ones who make the story happen. Thanks to them, everything happens.

Q. The film is a drama with shades of comedy. What was it like working on set with this group of young actors like Dylan Sprouse, Callan McAuliffe, Patrick Warburton and Denny Love?

A. It was all during the pandemic. We filmed in October 2020 and we were in a kind of social bubble. We all lived in the same house and we had a little bit of those nerves that if someone got sick, the film would stop. And being an independent film, it [would have been] very difficult to revive it, that’s the truth. So, at that moment we all decided that this was our film, that we were going to protect it, and all the decisions we were making as individuals were in favor of that. But hilarious, because the cast is so young and the directors, who are also the writers, are so young. It’s the first time they write, the first time they direct, and they’re crazy about making this story that, although it’s a reflexive satire, I feel has a wonderful depth and it is very well told. It’s really an enormous privilege.

Q. How does it feel to see the movie poster with your name on it and also sharing credit with your husband, Christian McGaffney?

A. It’s wonderful to see ourselves there, and to see ourselves there as Latinos. Seeing us together is also very special. We have worked in television together before, we met doing television, but we had never made films together, and the truth is that we never imagined making American films, in another language, and having such a good time doing it. It’s a bliss, we’re really happy.

Q. You have said that in the acting industry, you have to be persevering and emotionally strong. What has been your secret to get to where you are now?

A. As Venezuelans, we have no other option, that is, we have no country to return to, we have no industry to support us. For better or worse, we are on our own. Our industry died many years ago, so we have to make it happen. We have no option B, we have no cushion. And the truth is that both of us are very stubborn and both of us are very positive, and I think that’s also very important to have. Perseverance has a lot to do with not believing that the possibility of failure exists, the failing in the long run. But to take those daily failures, those daily mistakes, because we know that those are stepping stones that are going to take us to another place.

Q. How do you see your country, Venezuela, from abroad?

A. I’m a little optimistic about the elections at the end of the month. And many beautiful things are happening. Our soccer team has also left us in a good place in the Copa América, which is wonderful. Very nice things are also happening abroad in the industry... Hope is the last thing to be lost. And we are actively participating in any way we can to generate a change in our country, because we are in the United States, but we are always eager to return, to come back home.

Q. You are also part of the cast of the upcoming Superman: Legacy movie. How was the physical training to play the role of Angelica Spica, aka The Engineer?

A. It was hard. I really thought I wasn’t going to make it. I mean, when I saw my character and realized who I was, I didn’t think I had the mental strength to do everything that I had to do, which was not only to change my diet and food restriction, but also the intense exercise routine, three to four hours a day of physically hurting yourself to achieve something for so long, because I’ve been doing it for almost a year since I got the character. But it has shown me many things about myself, and has made me grow a lot as a professional, but above all as a person. And it has given me a lot of confidence, and I have found my strength doing it and realizing that I can, and acquiring the tools along the way. It has been very nice.

Q. You have been in a relationship with Christian McGaffney for more than 10 years. What is the day-to-day life of that relationship like?

A. Marriage is very hard, and it is an everyday decision to say I am going to love this person who I don’t particularly like today, and I am going to make the decisions that I have to make to elevate my marriage, to honor my marriage and my promise to be in this relationship, and to be a better person or wife. But it is an everyday decision. And on many days it may be very difficult and very uphill, but it is always worth it. I believe that there is no more important decision, and there is no priority more important to me than our marriage.

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