Daniela Vega

Daniela Vega was a Chilean singer and actor who received international acclaim in 2017 for her performance in the Oscar-winning drama "A Fantastic Woman" (2017). Born and raised in San Miguel, Santiago, Vega's rare talent for singing was first discovered by a teacher when she was only 8 years-old. The teacher encouraged Vega to sing opera, and before long she was performing in productions throughout Santiago. All of this quickly developed into a love of performance for Vega. After high school Vega found work as a hair stylist, but never lost her love for the arts. She soon gravitated towards acting in local theater productions and in 2011 starred in the play "The Butterfly Woman." In later interviews, Vega revealed that she used her experience as a transgender woman to play the lead character in "The Butterfly Woman" - a biographical play about transfiguration. The success of "The Butterfly Woman" allowed Vega to appear in more plays in Chile, thus earning her a reputation as a talented young stage actor on the rise. Then in 2014 Vega made her big screen debut in "The Guest" (2014). The film, about a transgender woman who upsets her conservative family by unexpectedly showing up at her father's wake, earned Vega widespread praise. Her follow up film was Chilean director Sebastian Lelio's drama "A Fantastic Woman." That film won the 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, becoming the first Chilean film to do so. Daniela Vega also made history at that year's Oscars ceremony by becoming the first transgender person in history to be a presenter at the Academy Awards. She introduced American singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens' performance of "Mystery of Love," which was featured in the romantic drama "Call Me By Your Name" (2018).