Lumi Cavazos

Lumi Cavazos Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: December 21, 1968

Age: 56 years old

Birth Place: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Gifted and dynamic actress Lumi Cavazos appeared in the Mexican feature "Romelia's Secret" (1989) before landing the role that would prove her breakthrough in Alfonso Arau's "Like Water for Chocolate." In this mystical romance set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, she was Tita, the youngest daughter whom tradition dictates is fated to spend her life in service to her controlling widowed mother. When Tita's true love (played by Italian-born Marco Leonardi, who became Cavazos' offscreen companion) weds her sister in order to stay near to her, she expresses her unconsummated passion through cooking.

Cavazos shone in the role, her dark beatific beauty and transcendent performance proved enchanting to international moviegoers, including the surprisingly large audience the film won in the USA. Looking to make the most of her increased visibility to an American audience, the dark-haired actress with the large expressive eyes relocated from her Mexican home to Los Angeles in pursuit of a film career.

She went on to act in "Snakes and Ladders" (1992), another Mexican production before appearing opposite Leonardi in Joseph B Vasquez's final film "Manhattan Merengue" (1994). The couple additionally acted together in the Italian features "Banditi" and "Viva San Isidoro" (both 1995). That same year, Cavazos earned her first credit in an official US production with a role in the independent "Land of Milk and Honey."

Next up was an impressive comedic turn as a Cuban motel maid romanced by Luke Wilson in Wes Anderson's acclaimed "Bottle Rocket" (1996). While the role was substantial and her work praised by critics, it didn't do as much to further her American film career as it could have, primarily because it required her to speak only Spanish and did not exhibit her improving English-language skills.

That opportunity arose with a featured turn in the 1997 TNT original movie "Last Stand at Sabre River," a post-Civil War western starring Tom Selleck and on the Los Angeles stage as photographer Tina Modotti in Andrea Centazzo's modern opera "Tina" in 1998.1999 saw Cavazos win a pair of English-speaking roles in American productions, proving her relocation to the United States to pursue acting work a fruitful endeavor.

In the independent "Mascara," the actress gave an impressive performance as Laura, a newlywed whose quest for perfection threatens to ruin her as she struggles to save her already rocky marriage, cure her husband of his financial problems and keep her conservative parents happy. She followed with a keen turn as a popular Mexican singer in "Sugar Town," Allison Anders and Kurt Voss' look at the smaller scale music scene in Los Angeles. Cavazos had one of the more interesting and morally ambiguous roles in the film, as a confident and powerful woman intent on seducing a happily married guitar player (John Doe) she pointedly recruited for her touring backup band.

With her career on the rise, she segued to a supporting role in the major Hollywood release "Bless the Child" (2000), which starred Kim Basinger as a woman protecting her young niece from the drug addict mother who abandoned her years before when the woman returns with wealthy husband in tow, both evil occultists who seek to tap into the girl's supernatural powers.

Credits

Sierra Madre: Prohibido pasar

Actor
Show
2024

Lalola

Actor
Show
2023

Cecilia

Actor
Show
2022

Esto no es Berlín

Actor
Susana
Movie
2019

Olimpia

Actor
Mamá de Hernán
Movie
2018

La promesa

Actor
Marta
Movie
2018

La marca del demonio

Actor
Cecilia de la Cueva
Movie
2018

Paramédicos

Actor
Show
2012

Gritos de Muerte y Libertad

Actor
Show
2010

Sístole Diástole

Actor
Show
2010

Érase una vez en Durango

Actor
La madre
Movie
2010

Rock Marí

Actor
Raquel
Movie
2010

La mitad del mundo

Actor
Juana
Movie
2009

High School Musical, el Desafío (México)

Actor
Madre de Mariana
Movie
2008

The Black Pimpernel

Actor
Ana Contreras
Movie
2007

Emma's Bra

Actor
Dra. Ortega
Movie
2007

El Brassier de Emma

Actor
Dra. Ortega
Movie
2007

Contra Todo ... Against All Odds

Actor
Movie
2006

Hijas de su Madre: Las Buenrostro

Actor
Movie
2006

7 Days

Actor
Sra. Garza
Movie
2005

Ciudad Juárez: Tan infinito como el desierto

Actor
Show
2004

Exposed

Actor
Laura Silvera
Movie
2003

In the Time of the Butterflies

Actor
Patria
Movie
2001

Atlético San Pancho

Actor
Rebeca
Movie
2001

Bless the Child

Actor
Sister Rosa
Movie
2000

Sugar Town

Actor
Rosio
Movie
1999

Mascara

Actor
Laura
Movie
1999

Entre la tarde y la noche

Actor
Movie
1999

His Highest Praise

Actor
Show
1997

Last Stand at Saber RiverStream

Actor
Luz
Movie
1997

Fibra Óptica

Actor
María Ponce
Movie
1997

Sístole Diástole

Actor
Movie
1997

Bottle RocketStream

Actor
Inez
Movie
1996
86%

Viva San Isidro!

Actor
Antonia
Movie
1995

Manhattan Merengue

Actor
Rosita
Movie
1995

Land of Milk and Honey

Actor
Rosie
Movie
1995

Bandits

Actor
Anna
Movie
1995

FriendsStream

Guest Star
Cristina
Series
1994
78%

Like Water for ChocolateStream

Actor
Tita
Movie
1992
88%

El secreto de Romelia

Actor
Blanca
Movie
1988