MEXICO CITY — Playing Cleo in director Alfonso Cuaron’s Spanish-language film “Roma ” was for Yalitza Aparicio much more than putting herself in the shoes of another woman. For the lead actress of Mixtec origin praised for her moving portrayal of a domestic worker, it was personal: that was her mother’s occupation. Her mother raised Aparicio and her siblings alone after their father left the family when the actress was about 15-years-old. She accompanied her sister, who was the one originally interested, to the audition in the southern state of Oaxaca. The role of the domestic worker, which in many movies is secondary, takes on a whole new dimension in “Roma.” Aparicio achieves scenes of great expressiveness in spite of having little or no dialogue.

Source: National Post January 11, 2019 18:11 UTC