Margarita Valderrama ​

I'm a Colombian-Canadian screenwriter, playwright, Dora Mavor Moore Award and ACTRA V.O. Award-nominated actor, and producer. Some backstory: I was born in Buenos Aires, raised in Bogotá, Mexico City, Medellín, and Toronto. I now split my time between Toronto and London, UK. Clearly just slowly migrating more and more north east! I have no relation to Wilmer but if you know about football, I'm also not related to El Pibe, and believe it or not I was not named after the drink.

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I write a lot of stories inspired by my family because they are hilarious and wonderful. My writing centres complex female and queer characters that are vulnerable, miserable, toxic and funny. My cultural background and immigrant experience always inform my work, which showcases Latine communities’ humour, diversity, and generational differences with a lot of laughter and heart. 

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As an actor, I'm very lucky to voice big and funny characters like the feisty Lia Venegas on Bakugan: Battle Planet, the adorable Lime Chiffon on Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City, and the ever-enthusiastic Hayley Daily on Paw Patrol. Most recently, I played Lina in Christine Quintana's El Terremoto at Tarragon Theatre alongside an incredible cast and amazing production team. I'm also very proud of and love performing in my own work (Date Night, Eyes Open, Cat Sitters).

 

Some notables: I am a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize protégé (2021), a shortlist nominee for the RBC Emerging Playwright Award (2023), an alum of the Reelworld Emerging 20 Film Program  (2023) and the Canadian Film Centre's Norman Jewison Film Writers Lab (2023). I've been part of Factory Theatre's Playwriting Unit (The Foundry 2019-2020), two Playwriting Residencies through Aluna Theatre, and the Stratford Festival's Playwrights Retreat (2022). I was also selected for the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative Professional Development Program (2020). 

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But more importantly, I'm a karaoke and chisme enthusiast.