Sonya Eleonora Smith Jacquet [ˈsonja eleoˈnoɾa (e)smit ʝaˈket] (born April 23, 1972) is an American-born Venezuelan actress best known for her roles in telenovelas.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is the daughter of German-born Venezuelan actress Ileana Jacquet and Frederick Smith, who is American. Her maternal great-grandfather was French. After her parents divorced, her actress mother along with Smith went back to Venezuela; Smith grew up in Venezuela and identifies herself with the Venezuelan culture. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, and German; the latter is learned from her mother who is a German who grew up in Venezuela. She studied college for psychology in Universidad Central de Venezuela

Her breakthrough came in the early 1990s when she played Estrellita Montenegro, the main character in Cara Sucia, her most successful telenovela as the lead actress. Smith remains a popular actress not only in Venezuela, also in other countries where her telenovelas have shown. In 2006, she returned to telenovelas with Olvidarte Jamás, her biggest hit as the lead actress since Cara Sucia, which was shot in Miami; this is the time where Smith returned to her birth country, but this time in Miami. Later, in 2007, she reappeared in Acorralada, in which she was one of the main stars and which has been a huge success. There, she was Fedora Gaviota.

During 2005, Smith made her Hollywood debut, playing Angela La Salle in Cyxork 7, where she acted alongside Ray Wise; although Smith recently lives in the United States and appeared in a Hollywood film, she still wants to remain more in the Spanish media of the country because the Spanish media opened opportunities for her to fame. In 2007, she participated in another Hollywood film, Ladrón que roba a Ladrón, where she shared credits with actors, Fernando Colunga, Gabriel Soto, Miguel Varoni, and Saúl Lisazo among others.