The character arc of Yalitza Aparicio
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 11 December 1993 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, to a Mixtec father and a Triqui mother, and raised by a single mother who worked as a maid. Between then and now sit a degree in early childhood education and a second one begun in pre-school education, a job in a school, a first acting role won just before she qualified as a teacher, a language learned for the part, a film released in November 2018, an Academy Award nomination as the first indigenous American woman in that category, a place on the Time 100 in 2019, a UNESCO ambassadorship, and an invitation into the Academy in 2020. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Yalitza Aparicio?
She had no training at all, and the Oscars called.
She was born in Tlaxiaco, in Oaxaca, to parents of indigenous origin, her father Mixtec and her mother Triqui, and was raised by a single mother who worked as a maid. She was not fluent in Mixtec and had to learn it for the part she would later take. She has no formal training in acting. What she had instead was a degree in early childhood education, a second degree in pre-school education under way, and a job in a school.
She won her first acting role just before she qualified as a teacher. The film was Roma, written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, and it came out in November 2018. The reviews were not the polite kind reserved for a first-timer: one critic called her the jewel of the film. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the first indigenous American woman ever nominated in that category, along with nominations from most of the American critics' bodies.
What she did with it is the second half of the line. In 2019 Time magazine named her one of the hundred most influential people in the world and she was made a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for indigenous peoples. She appeared on the cover of a national edition of Vogue in January 2019 and on a Hollywood issue cover, and was given the keys to Panama City in April that year. She was invited to join the Academy in 2020, and has kept working since, in a horror film and a comedy series in 2022 and a comedy feature in 2023.
The moments
Yalitza Aparicio's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in Tlaxiaco
Everyday. A single mother cleaning houses, in a town in Oaxaca.
The 2010s
Two teaching degrees
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The sensible path, taken twice, and she was good at it.
A role before the certificate
Milestone, and it changed everything. Weeks from being a qualified teacher, and she took the part instead.
Audition, or qualify
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: take the part, taken, or finish the qualification. The film was released in November 2018 and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
A language for the part
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Her father's language, learned properly, for a job she had never done.
Roma
Milestone, and it changed everything. A first film, and the reviews did not read like reviews of a first film.
An Academy Award nomination
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first indigenous American woman ever nominated for it.
The Time 100, and UNESCO
Milestone, and it changed everything. A teacher from Oaxaca, made an ambassador for indigenous peoples worldwide.
The 2020s
Into the Academy
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two years after her first day on a film set, she was voting on them.
She keeps working
Milestone. Horror, comedy, anthology. Not one part like the one that made her.
Oaxaca is still where she is from and she says so in every interview. What it has set moving is a change in who gets to be seen: an indigenous woman with no training took the biggest nomination in the business, and a great many young people in Mexico now know that door is not locked.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers was a teaching degree and no acting training at all, and it reached the Academy Awards. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Yalitza Aparicio: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Yalitza Aparicio's character arc?
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What is Roma by Yalitza Aparicio?
What Academy Award nomination did Yalitza Aparicio receive?
Did Yalitza Aparicio speak Mixtec?
What has Yalitza Aparicio done since Roma?
Where does this timeline of Yalitza Aparicio's life come from?
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Sources
- Yalitza Aparicio, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Academy Awards nomination records, Best Actress, for Roma.
- UNESCO, Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, 2019.