Elena Anaya Gutiérrez (born July 17, 1975 in Palencia, Spain) is a Spanish actress.
She's been acting since 1995 in her native country. She first gained international recognition in Van Helsing as Aleera, and then as the villainous Doctor Poison in Wonder Woman.
She is a lesbian and has one son with her partner, Tina Afugu Cordero.
Selected Filmography
- Sex and Lucia (2001) as Belén
- Van Helsing (2004) as Aleera
- Dead Fish (2005) as Mimi
- Fragile (2005) as Helen Perez
- Alatriste (2006) as Angélica de Alquézar
- In the Land of Women (2007) as Sofia Buñuel
- Miguel And William (2007) as Leonor
- Savage Grace (2007) as Blanca
- Walking Vengeance (2008) as Ana
- Cairo Time (2009) as Kathryn
- Hierro (2009) as Maria
- Room in Rome (2010) as Alba
- The Skin I Live In (2011) as Vera Cruz
- The Infiltrator (2016) as Gloria Alcaino
- Wonder Woman (2017) as Isabel Maru / Dr. Poison
- Rifkin's Festival (2020) as Jo Rojas
Tropes Associated With Her Works:
- Actor-Inspired Element: For Van Helsing, she studied the movements of bats and tried to incorporate them into her character; specifically with how Dracula and his brides kiss more like bats than normal humans.
- Casting Gag: In two movies she has played a woman who wears a mask to cover damage to her face - Wonder Woman (2017) and The Skin I Live In. In fact, Patty Jenkins is a big fan of Pedro Almodóvar, and it was a deliberate nod to the film.
- Enforced Method Acting: In order to convey The Reveal in The Skin I Live In that they were actually the same person, she and Jan Cornet spent a long time together and matched their movements.
- Fake Nationality:
- Possibly in Van Helsing. Aleera's nationality is never stated so she could be Spanish.
- For In the Land of Women she plays a Mexican in Los Angeles.
- Ms. Fanservice: A number of her films involve sex, nudity and lesbian scenes. Perhaps most interesting is The Skin I Live In, where her body is front and center, but she's actually playing a man.
- Queer Character, Queer Actor:
- Alba from Room in Rome is a lesbian like herself. She mostly plays straight women otherwise.
- Aleera in Van Helsing is Ambiguously Bi, and her attraction to Anna was more explicit in deleted scenes.
- She Also Did: That's her in Justin Timberlake's video for "Sexy Back".
- Star-Making Role: Sex & Lucia was her breakout role in Spain.
- Typecasting: In America, she's often cast as a Femme Fatale. Even in the "SexyBack" video!
- What Could Have Been: For the ball scene in Van Helsing, she took several dancing lessons alongside Kate Beckinsale and Richard Roxburgh, only for her scenes to end up cut. A screencap does exist of Aleera licking Anna's neck while wearing a sparkly red dress.
