Lúcia Moniz facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lúcia Moniz
Moniz in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Ana Lúcia Pereira Moniz
Born	(1976-09-09) 9 September 1976 (age 48) Lisbon, Portugal
Genres	Pop folk rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress
Years active	1996–present

Ana Lúcia Pereira Moniz (born on September 9, 1976) is a talented singer and actress from Portugal. She became well-known when she represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. Lúcia has released five music albums and has also acted in many TV shows, plays, and movies. One of her most famous roles was in the 2003 British film Love Actually.

About Lúcia Moniz and Her Career

Lúcia Moniz was born in Lisbon, Portugal. She is the older of two daughters. Her father, Carlos Alberto Moniz, is a composer and conductor, and her mother, Maria do Amparo, is a singer and actress. Lúcia spent her early childhood on Terceira Island in the Azores. Her family moved to Lisbon after a big earthquake hit the islands in 1980.

From age 5 to 14, Lúcia studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. She later decided to focus on visual arts instead of music. In 1993–1994, she was an exchange student in Minnesota, USA, where she finished high school. While there, she sang in the school choir and performed in a musical called Kiss Me, Kate.

Eurovision Song Contest

When Lúcia was 19, she entered the Festival da Canção, a music competition in Portugal. She sang a song called "O meu coração não tem cor" and surprisingly won the final in March 1996. This meant she would represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. She finished sixth out of 23 contestants, which was a great achievement for Portugal at the time. As of 2025, Lúcia Moniz is still Portugal's second most successful participant in Eurovision.

Acting on TV and in Movies

In 1997, Lúcia started acting on TV. She played twin sisters in the soap opera A Grande Aposta. This show was very popular, and she soon got another role in the successful soap opera Terra Mãe. Her acting career took off so much that she didn't have time to finish her design degree.

In 2003, Lúcia got her big international break. She played the character Aurélia in the movie Love Actually. In the film, her character only speaks Portuguese, while the character played by Colin Firth only speaks English. By the end of the movie, they fall in love and get engaged. This role made her known to audiences around the world.

In 2017, Lúcia returned to her role as Aurélia for Red Nose Day Actually. This was a short film made to raise money for the charity Comic Relief. In 2021, she won the Best Performance award at the Raindance Film Festival for her role in the 2020 film Listen. In this movie, she played a mother struggling to care for her deaf child.

Music Albums

Lúcia released her first music album, Magnolia, in 1999. It was named after the village in the United States where it was recorded. The album featured pop songs in both Portuguese and English. It became a top 20 hit in Portugal and was certified Gold, meaning it sold many copies.

Her next album, 67, came out in 2002. It was named 67 because it took 67 days to make. After a break, Lúcia released Leva-me p'ra casa in 2005. She then released Fio de Luz in 2011 and Calendário in 2015.

In 2011, Lúcia also worked on the design for a cookbook, which won an award. Two years later, a book of her photographs called Vou Tentar Falar Sem Dizer Nada was published.

Selected Film and TV Roles

Lúcia Moniz has appeared in many films and television shows. Here are some of them:

Film Roles

Television Roles

Music Albums by Lúcia Moniz

• Magnólia (1999)
• 67 (2002)
• Leva-me p'ra casa (2005)
• Fio de Luz (2011)
• Calendário (2015)

See also

In Spanish: Lúcia Moniz para niños