Aitana Sánchez-Gijón de Angelis (born 5 November 1968) is a Spanish and Italian film screen and stage actress. After garnering attention for Going South Shopping (1989), she established her career in the 1990s, featuring in films such as The Bird of Happiness (1993), Mouth to Mouth (1995), The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997), Jealousy (1999), and Volavérunt (1999).
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Early life
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón was born in Rome on 5 November 1968, to a Spanish father Ángel Sánchez-Gijón Martínez, a history lecturer exiled from Francoism, and an Italian mother, Fiorella de Angelis, a lecturer. She was named after Aitana Alberti, Rafael Alberti's daughter. The latter dedicated Aitana Sánchez-Gijón some verses upon her birth. The family moved to Madrid when she was 1 year old. She is a cousin of Pablo Carbonell.
Career
Sánchez-Gijón made her television debut as an actress at age 16 in the high school series Segunda enseñanza, playing Sisi, a lesbian teenager. She landed her film debut in Romanza final (1986). In 1988, she starred as Acacia in The Unloved Woman, a play by Miguel Narros adapting Jacinto Benavente staged at the Teatro Español.
Her breakthrough role as Elena in the 1989 film Going South Shopping launched her career.
