Maria Bakalova facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maria Bakalova
Мария Бакалова
Bakalova in 2024
Born	Maria Valcheva Bakalova (1996-06-04) 4 June 1996 (age 29) Burgas, Bulgaria
Alma mater	National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2017–present
Awards	Full list

Maria Valcheva Bakalova (/bəˈkɑːləvə/ BƏ-kah-LƏ-və; born 4 June 1996) is a Bulgarian actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Critics' Choice Movie Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.

Born and raised in Burgas, Bakalova began her career in Bulgarian cinema while attending the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. She mostly portrayed dramatic roles in films such as Transgression (2017), The Father (2019), Last Call (2020) and Women Do Cry (2021). She rose to prominence after starring in the 2020 mockumentary film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Bakalova has since had starring roles in films of various genres, including Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) and The Apprentice (2024). She also had voice roles, including in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) as Cosmo the Spacedog, and in the DC Universe series Creature Commandos (2024).

Life and career

1996–2020: Early life and career beginnings

Maria Valcheva Bakalova was born on 4 June 1996 in Burgas to Rumyana Bakalova and Valcho Bakalov. She began taking singing lessons and playing the flute around age six. Bakalova enrolled in acting classes at the age of 12, majoring in drama theater and minoring in flute at the National School of Music and Stage Arts in Burgas, where she was a straight A student; she recalled, "I was a super-disciplined child. I was reading too many books. I was obsessed with Dostoyevsky, at like 15, 16." As a teenager, Bakalova developed an interest in literature, especially the works of Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Mikhail Bulgakov, as a method of escapism. She was inspired to pursue film acting after watching The Hunt, and has cited filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg as her biggest influence alongside Susanne Bier, Pedro Almodóvar, Paolo Sorrentino and Andrea Arnold as other major influences.

The National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, where Bakalova studied acting

Bakalova later moved to Sofia where she majored in drama at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. As a student, she appeared in various stage productions, including Kennedy's Children and The Trial. Bakalova made her on-screen debut playing a supporting part in the 2017 comedy-drama film XIIa. In the same year, she made her first headlining appearance in Transgression, where she played Yana, a young girl who has an unusual relationship with an aging rock musician. She secured the role after a classmate of hers signed her up for a blind audition during her first year at university. The film was screened at several film festivals in Europe and North America, before being released through HBO Max in 2021. In 2018, Bakalova won the award for Best Actress at Toronto's Alternative Film Festival for her performance.

Bakalova on the set of Last Call in 2019

In her third year of studies, she volunteered to help filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, who taught the only film acting class at the academy, with scheduling and other tasks, and traveled with them to the set of a film they were working on so that she could watch how they worked and learn from them. One of the directors invited her to audition for a bit in their film The Father (2019); she landed the part and filmed a brief flashback scene as the young version of one of the characters. The Father won the Crystal Globe award for Best Film at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Driven by her fascination with Danish cinema—particularly with the work of Vinterberg, Lars von Trier and their Dogme 95 movement—Bakalova convinced her parents to take her on a trip to Denmark a few months before graduating. There, she visited Zentropa's headquarters, and asked if she could become a P.A. or a runner on von Trier's next film; she was told that she would have to learn Danish, which she agreed to do. She then began studying the language, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree and moving to Los Angeles in 2019. Bakalova next starred in the 2020 comedy-drama Last Call as Alexandra. Her performance was received positively by critics, and Yanko Terziev of Capital wrote that her portrayal of the character brought "warmth and lyricism" to the film.

2020–present: Hollywood breakthrough

In 2020, Bakalova portrayed Tutar Sagdiyev, the daughter of fictional Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, in the mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, alongside Sacha Baron Cohen. Although she was initially credited as Irina Nowak, reports later revealed her involvement. ..... The film was lauded as "the most impactful piece of political entertainment" in the weeks leading up to the 2020 United States presidential election, as a scene in which Rudy Giuliani appears to put his hands down his trousers while reclining on a bed in the presence of Bakalova's character garnered significant media attention. Critics praised her performance, with some stating it was among the year's best. Matt Fowler of IGN noted that "the film's fantastic find, Maria Bakalova, every bit Sacha Baron Cohen's on-screen equal, is who, and what, most people will be talking about." Los Angeles Times film critic Justin Chang described her performance as "terrific," praising her portrayal of her character's journey "with madcap energy and touching conviction." For her performance, Bakalova received several awards, including the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globe Awards. She became the first Bulgarian actress to be nominated for these awards.

Bakalova with Chase Sui Wonders and Rachel Sennott at SXSW in 2022

Bakalova next starred as Sonja, a 19-year-old girl who discovers she is HIV positive and is in denial about her need for treatment, in Women Do Cry (2021), directed by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova. The film premiered to positive reviews from critics at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed in the Un Certain Regard section, and received a Queer Palm nomination. The same year, Bakalova joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a member of the Actors Branch.

In 2022, she starred alongside Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson in A24's horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies. The film received predominantly favorable reviews; some felt that her comedic talents were wasted by playing a serious character. Her next role was in Judd Apatow's The Bubble (2022), part of an ensemble cast that included Karen Gillan, David Duchovny, Leslie Mann and Pedro Pascal. The film generated mostly negative reviews, and New York Times critic Ben Kenigsberg wrote that it "underused" Bakalova. After voicing Cosmo the Spacedog in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), she starred in the romantic comedy The Honeymoon (2022), which marked her first production venture. The film saw her play Sarah, whose honeymoon is ruined by her husband's troublesome best friend and who is pursued by the Italian gangster Giorgio, played by Lucas Bravo.

Bakalova next appeared in Andrew Durham's directorial debut Fairyland (2023), which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. She reprised her role as Cosmo the Spacedog in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), also providing the motion capture performance for the character. With box office takings of $845.6 million worldwide, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the fourth highest-grossing picture of the year, and became Bakalova's highest-grossing film.

Bakalova began 2024 by starring in Hala Matar's directorial debut Electra. After making a cameo appearance in Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut Unfrosted (2024), Bakalova starred as Ivana Trump in The Apprentice (2024), directed by Ali Abbasi, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d'Or. She next reunited with The Father directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov for the black comedy Triumph (2024), which she also produced. The film marked her return to Bulgarian cinema following her Hollywood breakthrough. It premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.

In November 2022, Bakalova joined the cast of the action thriller film Dirty Angels, directed by Martin Campbell. She will also star in Madeleine Sackler's sci-fi comedy drama O Horizon. In April 2024, she was cast in the Apple TV+ action adventure film Mayday.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	XIIa	Milena
	Transgression	Yana
2019	The Father	Young Valentina
2020	Last Call	Alexandra
	Borat Subsequent Moviefilm	Tutar Sagdiyev
2021	Women Do Cry	Sonja
2022	Bodies Bodies Bodies	Bee
	The Bubble	Anika
	The Honeymoon	Sarah	Also producer
2023	Fairyland	Paulette
	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	Cosmo the Spacedog (voice)
2024	Electra	Francesca
	Unfrosted	Rada Adzhubey
	The Apprentice	Ivana Trump
	Triumph	Slava Platnikova	Also producer
	Dirty Angels	The Bomb
2025	The Bad Guys 2	Pigtail (voice)	In production
TBA	O Horizon	Abby	Post-production
	Mayday	TBA

Television

Awards and nominations

Bakalova is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020). She has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globe Awards, also for her performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020).

See also

In Spanish: Maria Bakalova para niños

• List of Bulgarian Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of European Academy Award winners and nominees