Martha Higareda

 Higareda was the daughter of Jose Luis Higareda and actress Miriam Higareda. She was born in Villahermosa Tabasco, Mexico. Her first passion was acting, and she also began dancing flamenco, tap, folklore and tap from a young age. At 14 she moved to Mexico City from her native Tabasco to pursue an acting career. She began her career in theater by appearing in plays such as "Little Women" or "Don Juan." She was an advanced college student, and began College at 15 years old. She studied communications at El Tecnologico de Monterrey. She was a student in the morning, while she attended acting school in evenings and performed in theater on weekends. Her mother and sister later moved to Mexico City, where she went to acting school. Her first appearance on TV was as anchor hostess on the Disney Channel's Zapping Zone. [citation neededAlfonso Cuaron came to Mexico City auditioning for Y Tu Mama Tambien, Martha got the part of Cecilia Huerta, Gael Garcia's girlfriend in the film however, due to her age and to her nakedness in the film, she was not able to play the part. Cuaron encouraged Martha to continue her acting career. She switched her major to Communications in order to pursue acting. In 2002, Higareda had her first lead role in the film Amarte Duele, directed by Fernando Sarinana, in which she co-starred with Luis Fernando Pena and Alfonso Herrera. The film was a huge box office success and gave Martha the name "The Mexican Sweetheart". Martha was awarded The Silver Goddess award for her performance as the female leading lady and was awarded the MTV movies favorite actress award