For a long time, I’ve told stories from many different places, but today I want to tell this one from here — from my experience as an actress. Because there are moments in life when everything suddenly makes sense, even if it has taken more than 35 years to do so.

In one of my previous reflections, I spoke about beginnings, about cycles closing and new ones opening. About how this year marked a personal “year one” for me. What’s fascinating is that, without actively looking for it, this new beginning has led me straight back to the origin: acting.

Over the past few months, unexpected, surprising, and deeply revealing things have happened to me. Situations that have made me look back and understand that what is happening now actually started much further back than I ever imagined.

This wasn’t planned. In fact, it happened almost by accident.

About a month ago, a woman named Mara contacted me on WhatsApp. She told me they were looking for young actors who spoke English for an upcoming series. My instinct was simply to help. I mentioned two young people I know — one who prefers to stay behind the camera and another who is quite shy — and I offered to share the casting call with my international contacts and acting groups.

A few days later, she wrote again:
“We’re also looking for someone to play the mother. It’s a small role. Could you send a video of yourself saying your name, age, etc., so the director can see you?”

My response was honest and immediate:
“I do speak English, but I’m not an actress.”

She replied: “That’s fine, just send it anyway.”

So I recorded myself, with no expectations at all, and sent the video along with a very clear message:
“I hope I don’t get chosen.”
We both laughed. Weeks went by and I completely forgot about it.

Until one Friday night, close to midnight, I received another message from her:
“Please, if possible, when you wake up, record yourself saying these lines. The director wants to see you.”

The next morning, I hesitated. A lot. And then I thought:
What’s the worst that can happen?

So, without makeup, hair completely wild, I recorded the lines and sent them. And once again, I added the same message:
“I hope I don’t get chosen.”

A couple of hours later, production was calling me to send the contract and tell me I needed to be on set on Monday.

They sent me a 117-page script and one very clear sentence:
“You are the mother.”

That weekend was intense. Memorizing lines, figuring out wardrobe, building a character with very little background information. Sunday night, I didn’t sleep at all. I kept repeating the lines over and over. And when I woke up, I said something to myself that I hadn’t said with that much conviction in years:
“Nuria, you can do this. Trust yourself.”

I arrived early on set. Slowly, the crew began to arrive, and from that moment on, everything felt both unreal and strangely familiar at the same time. Makeup, hair, wardrobe, generous fellow actors, respectful and professional producers, an incredible technical team, and a director who treated me like an actress from the very first moment.

I filmed for five days. Five intense, emotional, and transformative days. Each day was better than the last. The team made me feel supported and confident. And although I can’t yet share anything about the series itself, I can say this:
the experience reconnected me with something that had never truly left me.

And this is where everything comes full circle.

From a very young age — even before falling in love with dance — I dreamed of being an actress. During my years in the United States, I worked as an extra, appeared in commercials, and even came close to accepting an important role in a film. But life took me in a different direction. I returned to Miami, focused on other priorities, and that dream was put on hold.

Now, more than 30 years later, acting has knocked on my door again.

I don’t arrive the same. I arrive with lived experience, with wrinkles, with a real body, with depth and perspective. But the passion of that little girl is still very much alive inside me.

Time — and the universe — will decide where this new chapter leads.
As for me, I’m ready to live it.