Almodóvars Muse

Elena Anaya, 36, is the latest Spanish actress to be awarded her country’s crown jewel: the lead in a new Pedro Almodovar him. The Skin I Live In, which also stars Antonio Banderas, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; it will open here this month, through Sony Pictures Classics. Based on a novel by Thierry Jonquet, it is the 19th feature him by the consistently fascinating auteur and possibly his most perverse creation. Banderas plays a renowned plastic surgeon whose wife burned in a car crash, and who develops a super-strong human skin. Anaya plays the young person who serves as the doctor’s guinea pig.

The youngest of three children, Anaya has been working steadily as an actress since she was 18. She got serious critical attention in Sex and Lucia (2001) and had her hrst chance to work for Almodovar in a small role in Talk to Her (2002). “Acting is a science you can never be the master of,” she says. “Every time you start a new work, it’s a blank picture. You have no idea what it’s going to look like until you’re done.” Of working for Almodovar, she says, “He knows each character so well, because he created them and understands how they feel.” She adds, “Pedro is one of the most famous people in Spain, even though he is behind the camera. He belongs to our culture. He breaks down boundaries.” -KRISTA SMITH

KRISTA SMITH