La Madrastra
Encyclopedia
La Madrastra is a Mexican
telenovela
. It was produced by Televisa
and broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas
in Mexico from 7 February 2005 through 29 July 2005. The program became an unexpected success, garnering ratings in excess of 30 points. Starring Victoria Ruffo
and César Évora
, who last appeared together in 2000's Abrázame muy fuerte
, La madrastra tells the story of María, a woman who lost twenty years of her life after being falsely accused of murder and who returns to Mexico to exact revenge on her husband and friends who abandoned her and to see her beloved children once more.
La Madrastra is fourth in a series of remakes of the 1981 Chile
an production of the same name
. The program aired five nights a week, Monday through Friday, at 9 pm for 25 weeks. A follow-up special, La madrastra: años después, aired shortly after the finale on 30 July 2005.
. María (Victoria Ruffo
) hears a gunshot and finds her friend Patricia (Montserrat Olivier
) dead; in the confusion of the moment, she picks up the gun. María is thus found guilty of murder and is sentenced to life in jail. Her husband, Esteban (César Évora
), an important businessman, does not believe her proclamations of innocence, and when he returns to Mexico
he divorces her, buys the silence of all who were with them on the trip, and tells his young children that their mother died in an accident. He then erects a painting of another woman, whom he names Montserrat, above the fireplace
Twenty years later, María is freed from prison as a result of her good conduct and returns to Mexico City
in search of vengeance. She wants to find Patricia's real killer and confront Esteban, whom she now hates for abandoning her, but what she wishes for most is to have her children, Héctor (Mauricio Aspe
) and Estrella (Ana Layevska
), back. The first thing that María does when she arrives is to confront everyone who was with her on the trip: Esteban; Servando (Lorenzo de Rodas), one of Esteban's business associates at the Empresas San Román; Demetrio (Guillermo García Cantú
), Esteban's corporate lawyer; Daniela (Cecilia Gabriela
), Demetrio's wife and the aunt of Esteban's fiancée, Ana Rosa (Martha Julia
); Bruno (René Casados
), another of Esteban's business associates; Fabiola (Sabine Moussier
), Bruno's wife who is nonetheless in love with Esteban; and Alba (Jacqueline Andere
) and Carmela (Margarita Isabel
), Esteban's two aunts. Everyone is horrified to see María, and she puts fear and doubt into them when she tells them that she did not kill Patricia, and that the real murderer has lived among them for the past twenty years.
In the course of her investigation, María finds a portion of Patricia's diary and learns that her friend was not the good person whom she appeared to be: Patricia knew the secrets and weaknesses of everyone in their group and purposefully made María believe that Esteban had made sexual advances toward her. Furthermore, María learns that Patricia never loved her own son, Leonel (Eduardo Capetillo
), and María resolves to prevent Leonel from learning this terrible truth.
María remarries Esteban so that she can win back her children's love; however, Héctor and Estrella are unaware that María is their real mother and loathe her, believing that María has come to usurp the rightful place of their mother, whom they have idealized. Plus, María must deal with the intrigues of her former friends, most notably Alba, who secretly harbors an incest
uous love for her own nephew and hates all of the women who grow close to him, and Fabiola, who was once engaged to Esteban and resents María for winning his heart despite her low socioeconomic background.
María is also stunned to learn that Esteban has a third child, Ángel (Miguel Ángel Biaggio
), whose mother Esteban refuses to name. Ángel is a frequently ill and insecure young man, and María accepts him immediately and treats him with love, and vice versa. Thanks to María's support, Ángel grows into a self-confident and optimistic man. Little by little, María wins her own children's love without revealing the true ties that unite them. She helps Estrella to mature and leave behind her life as a superficial and capricious youth, and helps her to understand that of her two suitors, Carlos (Sergio Mayer
) and Greco (José Luis Reséndez
), it is the latter who truly cares for her. Héctor is also immature and arrogant, and María helps him to accept responsibility when he falls in love with and impregnantes Vivian (Michelle Vieth
), María's former cellmate.
However, María's biggest problem is Esteban. María finds herself at a crossroads when she realizes that she still loves her husband, and that he still loves her. Now, her heart hardened by twenty years of suffering, loneliness, and abandonment, María must find the strength to choose between vengeance and forgiveness.
In the original ending, Demetrio is revealed to be Patricia's murderer immediately after he shoots Ana Rosa in the abandoned warehouse; it is also revealed that Demetrio is a crossdresser, and that he was able to cast suspicion on his wife, Daniela, because he committed the murders while wearing her clothing and a hairpiece identical to hers. Demetrio is soon seen to be slightly unhinged, and he sets out to murder Esteban, Bruno, Fabiola, and Carmela for having abandoned him after claiming to be his friends. He is ultimately arrested after attempting to kill María in the final episode, and he is sent to prison, where it is strongly implied that he is rape
d by the other inmates.
In the alternate ending, the killer is not revealed to the audience until the penultimate episode, at which point Bruno discovers the videotape of Fabiola murdering Patricia. In a fit of insanity, Fabiola stabs Bruno to death and then psychotically runs through the streets of Mexico City, alternately searching for María and hiding behind lampposts. She eventually corners María in the San Román home with a gun, but the police arrive and she is arrested and sent to a mental institution. In this version Demetrio has a happy ending in which he is reunited with Ángel and Carmela at Alma (Ximena Herrera) and Ángel's wedding; in the original version Fabiola, too, has a happy ending in which she and Bruno abandon their glamorous personalities and devote themselves to one another.
The alternate ending has only ever aired in Mexico; the 2009 re-run of La madrastra on Telefutura
in the United States used the original ending in which Demetrio is the killer. The DVD set of La madrastra, which was released in 2006, also features the Demetrio ending. Furthermore, there exists no alternate version of the follow-up special to the novela, Años después, for the Fabiola ending; Demetrio is Patricia's killer in this special.
's El Canal de las Estrellas (XEW-TV) on 7 February 2005 at 9:00 PM, replacing Mujer de madera
. The program aired weeknights at this time for one hour until 15 July 2005, when the telenovela was originally scheduled to end after a 115-episode run. However, after La madrastra became such a ratings success, Televisa ordered an additional ten episodes, bringing the episode total to 125. These final episodes were reduced from the normal hour length to thirty minutes each, ceding the latter portion of the hour to La esposa virgen. The series finale aired on 29 July 2005, with the Años después special airing the following evening. The novela was then replaced with La esposa virgen, which expanded to take up the entire hour. Televisa later re-aired the program, with a new ending, in 2007.
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Notes
on 21 March 2006. The series was considerably abridged in order to fit on the three double-sided DVD set, which contains 710 minutes of material. In addition to the abridged novela, the release also features the post-finale Años después special, as well as the original trailer for the novela, blooper
s, and promotional photographs. The DVD release also has optional English subtitles
.
The telenovela gained notice in the English-speaking United States in 2005 after being featured on numerous episodes of E!
network's The Soup
. Host Joel McHale
often singled out Bruno for the amount of eyeliner that the character wore and Alba for what McHale described as her "crazy eye" that appeared to bulge noticeably larger than the other during particularly intense scenes. The Soup also mocked particular scenes of the novela, such as when Alba poisoned Rebeca with rat poison, causing the latter to flail and foam at the mouth before dramatically dying on the floor. McHale at one point emphatically stated that "I can think of fifteen network shows I understand that aren't this good!"
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
. It was produced by Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
and broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas
Canal de las Estrellas
Canal de las Estrellas is one of the cornerstone networks of Televisa, with affiliate stations all over Mexico, flagshipped at XEW-TV in Mexico City. Many of the programs of Canal de las Estrellas are seen in the United States on Univision, Telefutura, and Galavisión...
in Mexico from 7 February 2005 through 29 July 2005. The program became an unexpected success, garnering ratings in excess of 30 points. Starring Victoria Ruffo
Victoria Ruffo
Victoria Ruffo is a Mexican actress. Ruffo, the surname she uses professionally, is actually her maternal grandfather's surname.- Biography :...
and César Évora
César Évora
César Évora is a Cuban actor.- Biography :Évora started out his career in his native Cuba appearing in more than ten movies before moving to Mexico in the early 1990s. He became known for playing minor roles in the seminal Corazón salvaje and the long-running Agujetas de color de rosa in 1993 and...
, who last appeared together in 2000's Abrázame muy fuerte
Abrázame Muy Fuerte
Abrázame muy fuerte is a Mexican telenovela that aired in 2000–2001, under the production of Salvador Mejia and with Aracely Arámbula and Fernando Colunga as the protagonists.-Plot:...
, La madrastra tells the story of María, a woman who lost twenty years of her life after being falsely accused of murder and who returns to Mexico to exact revenge on her husband and friends who abandoned her and to see her beloved children once more.
La Madrastra is fourth in a series of remakes of the 1981 Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an production of the same name
La Madrastra (Chile)
La Madrastra was a Chilean telenovela made by Canal 13 in 1981. It was one of the first Chilean telenovelas and it met with great success because it was one of the first. It starred Uruguay-born actors Jael Unger and Walter Kliche. It has been remade by Mexican telenovela giant Televisa...
. The program aired five nights a week, Monday through Friday, at 9 pm for 25 weeks. A follow-up special, La madrastra: años después, aired shortly after the finale on 30 July 2005.
Plot
A terrible tragedy puts an end to a group of friends' vacation in ArubaAruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
. María (Victoria Ruffo
Victoria Ruffo
Victoria Ruffo is a Mexican actress. Ruffo, the surname she uses professionally, is actually her maternal grandfather's surname.- Biography :...
) hears a gunshot and finds her friend Patricia (Montserrat Olivier
Montserrat Olivier
Montserrat Oliver is a Mexican fashion model, business entrepreneur, actress, and talk-show host.-Life and career:Oliver started her modeling career at the age of 16...
) dead; in the confusion of the moment, she picks up the gun. María is thus found guilty of murder and is sentenced to life in jail. Her husband, Esteban (César Évora
César Évora
César Évora is a Cuban actor.- Biography :Évora started out his career in his native Cuba appearing in more than ten movies before moving to Mexico in the early 1990s. He became known for playing minor roles in the seminal Corazón salvaje and the long-running Agujetas de color de rosa in 1993 and...
), an important businessman, does not believe her proclamations of innocence, and when he returns to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
he divorces her, buys the silence of all who were with them on the trip, and tells his young children that their mother died in an accident. He then erects a painting of another woman, whom he names Montserrat, above the fireplace
Twenty years later, María is freed from prison as a result of her good conduct and returns to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in search of vengeance. She wants to find Patricia's real killer and confront Esteban, whom she now hates for abandoning her, but what she wishes for most is to have her children, Héctor (Mauricio Aspe
Mauricio Aspe
Mauricio Aspe is a Mexican actor.- Career :He began as a child model before emerging as an actor at age 17, when he joined the school of acting of Televisa to become an actor. His first acting role was in Maria la del Barrio, where he shared credits with Mexican singer/actress, Thalía...
) and Estrella (Ana Layevska
Ana Layevska
Anna Laevski Rastsvetaeva , better known as Ana Layevska, is a Russian-Mexican actress.-Early life:Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Ana is the only child of Russian parents, Sergei Laevski and Inna Rastsvetaeva. Ana and her family moved to Mexico when she was nine years old...
), back. The first thing that María does when she arrives is to confront everyone who was with her on the trip: Esteban; Servando (Lorenzo de Rodas), one of Esteban's business associates at the Empresas San Román; Demetrio (Guillermo García Cantú
Guillermo García Cantú
Guillermo García Cantú is a Mexican actor best known for his work in telenovelas. He began his acting career when he was 26.-Telenovelas :* Triunfo del Amor - Guillermo Quintana, main male antagonist/villain * Camaleones - Augusto Ponce de León, main male antagonist villain Guillermo García Cantú...
), Esteban's corporate lawyer; Daniela (Cecilia Gabriela
Cecilia Gabriela
Cecilia Gabriela Vera Sandoval, known professionally as Cecilia Gabriela, is a Mexican actor known best for her work in telenovelas.-Telenovelas:* Llena de amor .... Camila "Muñeca" Rivero de Porta-Lopez...
), Demetrio's wife and the aunt of Esteban's fiancée, Ana Rosa (Martha Julia
Martha Julia
Martha Julia López Luna is a Mexican actress. She is best known in the telenovela Destilando Amor as Isadora Duarte Montalvo.-Personal life:...
); Bruno (René Casados
René Casados
René Casados Morales is a Mexican actor best known for his roles in telenovelas.-Biography and personal life:Casados began working as an actor in the 1970s, appearing in films, television, and theatre, as well as working as a co-host of the program Xe-Tu with Érika Buenfil...
), another of Esteban's business associates; Fabiola (Sabine Moussier
Sabine Moussier
Diana Sabine Moussier is a German-Mexican actress who is best known for her work, frequently as a villainess, in numerous Mexican telenovelas such as El privilegio de amar, Entre el amor y el odio, and La madrastra.-Early life:...
), Bruno's wife who is nonetheless in love with Esteban; and Alba (Jacqueline Andere
Jacqueline Andere
Jacqueline Andere is a Mexican actress.- Biography :...
) and Carmela (Margarita Isabel
Margarita Isabel
Margarita Isabel is a Mexican film and television actress.Born as Margarita Isabel Morales y González, she is a multiple Ariel Award-winning actress. Five times nominated, she has won three Silver Ariel awards: in 1992, 1995 and 1996. Her son, Mario Iván Martínez Margarita Isabel is a Mexican film...
), Esteban's two aunts. Everyone is horrified to see María, and she puts fear and doubt into them when she tells them that she did not kill Patricia, and that the real murderer has lived among them for the past twenty years.
In the course of her investigation, María finds a portion of Patricia's diary and learns that her friend was not the good person whom she appeared to be: Patricia knew the secrets and weaknesses of everyone in their group and purposefully made María believe that Esteban had made sexual advances toward her. Furthermore, María learns that Patricia never loved her own son, Leonel (Eduardo Capetillo
Eduardo Capetillo
Eduardo Capetillo is a Mexican actor and singer. He was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He belongs to the Capetillo family, who have a long tradition of being bullfighters....
), and María resolves to prevent Leonel from learning this terrible truth.
María remarries Esteban so that she can win back her children's love; however, Héctor and Estrella are unaware that María is their real mother and loathe her, believing that María has come to usurp the rightful place of their mother, whom they have idealized. Plus, María must deal with the intrigues of her former friends, most notably Alba, who secretly harbors an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous love for her own nephew and hates all of the women who grow close to him, and Fabiola, who was once engaged to Esteban and resents María for winning his heart despite her low socioeconomic background.
María is also stunned to learn that Esteban has a third child, Ángel (Miguel Ángel Biaggio
Miguel Ángel Biaggio
Miguel Ángel Olivares Biaggio , also known as Miguel Angel Biagio,Mike Biagio, Mike Biaggio, is a Mexican actor....
), whose mother Esteban refuses to name. Ángel is a frequently ill and insecure young man, and María accepts him immediately and treats him with love, and vice versa. Thanks to María's support, Ángel grows into a self-confident and optimistic man. Little by little, María wins her own children's love without revealing the true ties that unite them. She helps Estrella to mature and leave behind her life as a superficial and capricious youth, and helps her to understand that of her two suitors, Carlos (Sergio Mayer
Sergio Mayer
Sergio Mayer Breton Izturiz Pinilla, is a Mexican actor, singer and producer.-Biography:Sergio started his career in 1982 in a group called Chévere Internacional, which he belonged to for 4 years. With the group, he toured all over Latin America and the United States...
) and Greco (José Luis Reséndez
José Luis Reséndez
José Luis Reséndez Santos won the national male pageant El Modelo México and represented his country in Mister World 2003, held in London, England, where he became the third runner-up...
), it is the latter who truly cares for her. Héctor is also immature and arrogant, and María helps him to accept responsibility when he falls in love with and impregnantes Vivian (Michelle Vieth
Michelle Vieth
Michelle Vieth Paetau is an American-Mexican actress, best known for starring in telenovelas.- Biography :...
), María's former cellmate.
However, María's biggest problem is Esteban. María finds herself at a crossroads when she realizes that she still loves her husband, and that he still loves her. Now, her heart hardened by twenty years of suffering, loneliness, and abandonment, María must find the strength to choose between vengeance and forgiveness.
Alternate ending
Two endings to the novela currently exist: following the original airing in 2005, La madrastra was rerun in 2007 in the 6pm time slot on Televisa. Producer Salvador Mejía Alejandre arranged to reunite most of the cast in order to re-film the ending so that viewers could once again eagerly anticipate discovering the killer's identity. The two versions thus diverge at the point when Ana Rosa is murdered in Aruba, although some new scenes were included in earlier episodes.In the original ending, Demetrio is revealed to be Patricia's murderer immediately after he shoots Ana Rosa in the abandoned warehouse; it is also revealed that Demetrio is a crossdresser, and that he was able to cast suspicion on his wife, Daniela, because he committed the murders while wearing her clothing and a hairpiece identical to hers. Demetrio is soon seen to be slightly unhinged, and he sets out to murder Esteban, Bruno, Fabiola, and Carmela for having abandoned him after claiming to be his friends. He is ultimately arrested after attempting to kill María in the final episode, and he is sent to prison, where it is strongly implied that he is rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by the other inmates.
In the alternate ending, the killer is not revealed to the audience until the penultimate episode, at which point Bruno discovers the videotape of Fabiola murdering Patricia. In a fit of insanity, Fabiola stabs Bruno to death and then psychotically runs through the streets of Mexico City, alternately searching for María and hiding behind lampposts. She eventually corners María in the San Román home with a gun, but the police arrive and she is arrested and sent to a mental institution. In this version Demetrio has a happy ending in which he is reunited with Ángel and Carmela at Alma (Ximena Herrera) and Ángel's wedding; in the original version Fabiola, too, has a happy ending in which she and Bruno abandon their glamorous personalities and devote themselves to one another.
The alternate ending has only ever aired in Mexico; the 2009 re-run of La madrastra on Telefutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
in the United States used the original ending in which Demetrio is the killer. The DVD set of La madrastra, which was released in 2006, also features the Demetrio ending. Furthermore, there exists no alternate version of the follow-up special to the novela, Años después, for the Fabiola ending; Demetrio is Patricia's killer in this special.
Años Después
A follow-up special to La madrastra entitled La madrastra: años después (English: The Stepmother: Years Later) aired on El Canal de las Estrellas on 30 July 2005, the day after the series finale. Set ten years after the finale's quintuple wedding, the special portrays the happily reunited San Román family, including four new grandchildren, as well as the Xochimilco residents (reformed villains Bruno, Fabiola, and Daniela do not appear in the special; Daniela is said to have happily married an older man, while Bruno and Fabiola have devoted themselves to helping sick children). The San Románs go to Patricia's lake cabin in order to celebrate their shared ten-year wedding anniversary, unaware that Demetrio, whom they believe died after escaping from prison a year prior, is actually alive and well and is conspiring with his grandson, Ángel and Alma (Ximena Herrera)'s young son Angelito, and the San Román grandchildren's nanny, Diana, to kill the entire family. After numerous failed plots to kill his family members, Angelito lures María to a shack in the woods where Demetrio is holding Estrella hostage. Esteban comes to their rescue, but while fighting with Demetrio a candle is knocked over and sets the structure on fire, killing Demetrio and Diana. Angelito is left near death after the event, but María's prayers to the Virgin Mary save the child, and his grandmother gives him the silver figurine of the Virgin that she made in prison in order to remind him to always be good.Cast
- Victoria RuffoVictoria RuffoVictoria Ruffo is a Mexican actress. Ruffo, the surname she uses professionally, is actually her maternal grandfather's surname.- Biography :...
— María Fernández Acuña de San Román - César ÉvoraCésar ÉvoraCésar Évora is a Cuban actor.- Biography :Évora started out his career in his native Cuba appearing in more than ten movies before moving to Mexico in the early 1990s. He became known for playing minor roles in the seminal Corazón salvaje and the long-running Agujetas de color de rosa in 1993 and...
— Esteban San Román - Eduardo CapetilloEduardo CapetilloEduardo Capetillo is a Mexican actor and singer. He was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He belongs to the Capetillo family, who have a long tradition of being bullfighters....
— Leonel Ibáñez - Jacqueline AndereJacqueline AndereJacqueline Andere is a Mexican actress.- Biography :...
— Alba San Román - Ana MartínAna MartínAna Martín is a Mexican actress best known for her work in telenovelas, movies and the stage. She has had a very successful and lengthy career since winning the Miss Mexico title in 1963.-Early life and career:...
— Socorro de Montes - Cecilia GabrielaCecilia GabrielaCecilia Gabriela Vera Sandoval, known professionally as Cecilia Gabriela, is a Mexican actor known best for her work in telenovelas.-Telenovelas:* Llena de amor .... Camila "Muñeca" Rivero de Porta-Lopez...
— Daniela de Rivero - Martha JuliaMartha JuliaMartha Julia López Luna is a Mexican actress. She is best known in the telenovela Destilando Amor as Isadora Duarte Montalvo.-Personal life:...
— Ana Rosa Márquez - Guillermo García CantúGuillermo García CantúGuillermo García Cantú is a Mexican actor best known for his work in telenovelas. He began his acting career when he was 26.-Telenovelas :* Triunfo del Amor - Guillermo Quintana, main male antagonist/villain * Camaleones - Augusto Ponce de León, main male antagonist villain Guillermo García Cantú...
— Demetrio Rivero - René CasadosRené CasadosRené Casados Morales is a Mexican actor best known for his roles in telenovelas.-Biography and personal life:Casados began working as an actor in the 1970s, appearing in films, television, and theatre, as well as working as a co-host of the program Xe-Tu with Érika Buenfil...
— Bruno Mendizábal - Sabine MoussierSabine MoussierDiana Sabine Moussier is a German-Mexican actress who is best known for her work, frequently as a villainess, in numerous Mexican telenovelas such as El privilegio de amar, Entre el amor y el odio, and La madrastra.-Early life:...
— Fabiola de Mendizábal - Margarita IsabelMargarita IsabelMargarita Isabel is a Mexican film and television actress.Born as Margarita Isabel Morales y González, she is a multiple Ariel Award-winning actress. Five times nominated, she has won three Silver Ariel awards: in 1992, 1995 and 1996. Her son, Mario Iván Martínez Margarita Isabel is a Mexican film...
— Carmela San Román - Lorenzo de Rodas — Servando Maldonado
- Patricia Reyes SpíndolaPatricia Reyes SpíndolaPatricia Verónica Núñez Reyes Spíndola is a Mexican actress, director and producer in films, TV series and theatre plays.She studied to become an actress in several ateliers in Mexico and London. She made her début in the movies in 1972, with El señor de Osanto, and two years later she started...
— Venturina García - Joaquín CorderoJoaquín CorderoJoaquin Cordero is a Mexican actor of the cinema, theatre, and telenovelas.-Biography:Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Mexico City, and in the following years he studied in a seminary and even considered becoming a priest, but eventually he decided to pursue a law career...
— FatherPriesthood (Catholic Church)The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
Belisario - Michelle ViethMichelle ViethMichelle Vieth Paetau is an American-Mexican actress, best known for starring in telenovelas.- Biography :...
— Vivian Sousa de San Román - Ana LayevskaAna LayevskaAnna Laevski Rastsvetaeva , better known as Ana Layevska, is a Russian-Mexican actress.-Early life:Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Ana is the only child of Russian parents, Sergei Laevski and Inna Rastsvetaeva. Ana and her family moved to Mexico when she was nine years old...
— Estrella San Román Fernández de Montes - Sergio MayerSergio MayerSergio Mayer Breton Izturiz Pinilla, is a Mexican actor, singer and producer.-Biography:Sergio started his career in 1982 in a group called Chévere Internacional, which he belonged to for 4 years. With the group, he toured all over Latin America and the United States...
— Carlos Sánchez - Mauricio AspeMauricio AspeMauricio Aspe is a Mexican actor.- Career :He began as a child model before emerging as an actor at age 17, when he joined the school of acting of Televisa to become an actor. His first acting role was in Maria la del Barrio, where he shared credits with Mexican singer/actress, Thalía...
— Héctor San Román Fernández - Miguel Ángel BiaggioMiguel Ángel BiaggioMiguel Ángel Olivares Biaggio , also known as Miguel Angel Biagio,Mike Biagio, Mike Biaggio, is a Mexican actor....
— Ángel San Román - Ximena Herrera — Alma Martínez de San Román
- Mariana Ríos — Lupita Montes de Ibáñez
- José Luis ReséndezJosé Luis ReséndezJosé Luis Reséndez Santos won the national male pageant El Modelo México and represented his country in Mister World 2003, held in London, England, where he became the third runner-up...
— Greco Montes - Carlos Bonavides — Rufino "El Pulpo" Sánchez
- Arturo García Tenorio — Leonardo "DaVinci" Montes
- Irma SerranoIrma SerranoIrma Serrano is a Mexican actress of film, television, and theater; and also a singer, screenwriter and politician. Thanks to her beauty, her figure and her way of being controversial, coming out of the standards of the time, Serrano managed to attract the attention of directors and producers, so...
— La Duquesa
Broadcast history
La madrastra premiered on TelevisaTelevisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
's El Canal de las Estrellas (XEW-TV) on 7 February 2005 at 9:00 PM, replacing Mujer de madera
Mujer de Madera
Mujer de Madera is a Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa in 2004. One unusual feature of this telenovela is that the main character is played by different actresses before and after her stay in hospital due to a forest fire....
. The program aired weeknights at this time for one hour until 15 July 2005, when the telenovela was originally scheduled to end after a 115-episode run. However, after La madrastra became such a ratings success, Televisa ordered an additional ten episodes, bringing the episode total to 125. These final episodes were reduced from the normal hour length to thirty minutes each, ceding the latter portion of the hour to La esposa virgen. The series finale aired on 29 July 2005, with the Años después special airing the following evening. The novela was then replaced with La esposa virgen, which expanded to take up the entire hour. Televisa later re-aired the program, with a new ending, in 2007.
International broadcasts
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Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
Canal 13 Canal 13 (Argentina) El Trece is an Argentine television network and the flagship station of the same network, located in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.- Foundation :... |
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Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the... |
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Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
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Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
Red Televisiva Megavisión Red Televisiva Megavisión MEGA, formerly known as Red Televisiva Megavisión, is the first private TV channel of Chile. It currently airs in Santiago on digital frequency channel 27 for HDTV.Among the many TV shows broadcast on MEGA are:... Telecanal Telecanal Telecanal is a private owned TV channel of Chile. It currently airs in Santiago on VHF channel 2. It mostly airs American films and TV series, and some original entertainment TV shows.-Controversy:... |
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Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... |
RCN TV RCN TV RCN Televisión , is a Colombian private television network. It started as a production company in 1967... |
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Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... |
Viva Viva Vive, Viva and can refer to:-Arts and entertainment:*Viva , a Warhol "superstar"*Viva La Vida, an iconic artwork by Frida Kahlo, the title meaning... |
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Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... |
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European Union European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958... |
TINovelas Televisa Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract... |
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Paraguay Paraguay Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the... |
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Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... |
América Televisión America Television America Television , better known as America TV, is a Peruvian television network affiliated with Televisa of Mexico. It was founded on December 15, 1958 by Antonio Umbert F., Nicanor Gonzalez V., and Avelino Aramburu. The network belongs to the Plural TV group formed by the daily newspapers El... |
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Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
Telenovela Channel Telenovela Channel Telenovela Channel is a Spanish cable channel in the Philippines network owned by Beginnings at Twenty Plus, Inc. The channel operates non-stop 24/7.... |
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Slovakia Slovakia The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south... |
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Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
Antena 3 Antena 3 (Spain) Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel owned by Antena 3 de Televisión. Some of the more popular programmes broadcast by Antena 3 include Aquí no hay quien viva, El Barco, Los Protegidos, Los Simpson and El Internado.... Antena.nova Antena.nova Nova is a Spanish television channel operated by Antena 3 de Televisión. The network runs 24 hours a day in the Spanish language. The service is aimed at women and the schedule reflects that. Normally during the day, lifestyle programmes like cookery are screened. During the evening films and some... |
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United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Univisión Univision Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva... (2005) Telefutura TeleFutura TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time... (2009) |
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Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
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Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
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Notes
- A The original airing of La madrastra in the United States consisted of only 120 episodes, as Univisión combined the final ten half-hour episodes into five hour-long broadcasts.
Prior versions
La madrastra is a remake and is the fifth version of this telenovela to be broadcast. The four previous versions are:- La madrastraLa Madrastra (Chile)La Madrastra was a Chilean telenovela made by Canal 13 in 1981. It was one of the first Chilean telenovelas and it met with great success because it was one of the first. It starred Uruguay-born actors Jael Unger and Walter Kliche. It has been remade by Mexican telenovela giant Televisa...
(1981), produced by Canal 13Canal 13 (Chile)Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
in Chile with Jael Unger as Marcia (María) and Walter Kliche as Esteban. - Vivir un pocoVivir un pocoVivir un poco is a Mexican telenovela, which was produced and broadcast by Televisa in 1985. The story was a remake of the very popular Chilean telenovela, La Madrastra from 1981. Vivir un poco tells the story of the quest of Andrea to find justice and her long-lost children but must face the lies...
(English: To Live a Little; 1985), produced by Televisa in Mexico with Angélica AragónAngélica AragónAngélica Aragón is a Mexican actress of telenovelas and such films as Dune, A Walk in the Clouds, Bella, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Vivir un poco, Mirada de mujer, Novia que te vea, and the blockbuster film Sexo, pudor y lágrimas.-Early life:Aragón was born Angélica Espinoza Stransky in Mexico...
as Andrea (María) and Rogelio Guerra as Gregorio (Esteban). - Para toda la vida (English: For All of Life; 1996), produced by Televisa in Mexico in conjunction with MegavisiónMegaVisionMegaVision is an American company that manufactures high-end digital photographic equipment. It was founded in 1983 to create a state-of-the-art image processing computer...
in Chile, with Ofelia MedinaOfelia MedinaOfelia Medina is a Mexican actress, singer and screenwriter of Mexican films. She was married to film director Alex Philips Jr. and actor Pedro Armendáriz Jr..-Biography:...
as Elena (María) and Ezequiel Lavandero as Fernando (Esteban). - Forever (1996), produced by Fox Television in the United States in conjunction with Televisa, with Maria Mayenzet as Susan (María) and James Richer as Stephan (Esteban).
DVD release
La madrastra was released to region 1 DVDDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on 21 March 2006. The series was considerably abridged in order to fit on the three double-sided DVD set, which contains 710 minutes of material. In addition to the abridged novela, the release also features the post-finale Años después special, as well as the original trailer for the novela, blooper
Blooper
A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...
s, and promotional photographs. The DVD release also has optional English subtitles
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
.
In popular culture
La madrastra was featured in Mexican sketch comedy show La Parodia, which spoofed the program in a parody called La madre ésta. The character of María was portrayed by Gaby Ruffo, younger sister of Victoria Ruffo, who plays María in the novela.The telenovela gained notice in the English-speaking United States in 2005 after being featured on numerous episodes of E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
network's The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
. Host Joel McHale
Joel McHale
Joel Edward McHale is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community....
often singled out Bruno for the amount of eyeliner that the character wore and Alba for what McHale described as her "crazy eye" that appeared to bulge noticeably larger than the other during particularly intense scenes. The Soup also mocked particular scenes of the novela, such as when Alba poisoned Rebeca with rat poison, causing the latter to flail and foam at the mouth before dramatically dying on the floor. McHale at one point emphatically stated that "I can think of fifteen network shows I understand that aren't this good!"
Premios TVyNovelas
| Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Best Telenovela | Salvador Mejía Alejandre | Nominated |
| Best Actress in the Role of a Protagonist | Victoria Ruffo Victoria Ruffo Victoria Ruffo is a Mexican actress. Ruffo, the surname she uses professionally, is actually her maternal grandfather's surname.- Biography :... |
Nominated |
| Best Actor in the Role of a Protagonist | César Évora César Évora César Évora is a Cuban actor.- Biography :Évora started out his career in his native Cuba appearing in more than ten movies before moving to Mexico in the early 1990s. He became known for playing minor roles in the seminal Corazón salvaje and the long-running Agujetas de color de rosa in 1993 and... |
Nominated |
| Best Actress in the Role of an Antagonist | Jacqueline Andere Jacqueline Andere Jacqueline Andere is a Mexican actress.- Biography :... |
Nominated |
| Best Actor in the Role of an Antagonist | Guillermo García Cantú Guillermo García Cantú Guillermo García Cantú is a Mexican actor best known for his work in telenovelas. He began his acting career when he was 26.-Telenovelas :* Triunfo del Amor - Guillermo Quintana, main male antagonist/villain * Camaleones - Augusto Ponce de León, main male antagonist villain Guillermo García Cantú... |
Nominated |
| Best Lead Actress | Ana Martín Ana Martín Ana Martín is a Mexican actress best known for her work in telenovelas, movies and the stage. She has had a very successful and lengthy career since winning the Miss Mexico title in 1963.-Early life and career:... |
Nominated |
| Best Lead Actor | Joaquín Cordero Joaquín Cordero Joaquin Cordero is a Mexican actor of the cinema, theatre, and telenovelas.-Biography:Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Mexico City, and in the following years he studied in a seminary and even considered becoming a priest, but eventually he decided to pursue a law career... |
Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actress | Margarita Isabel Margarita Isabel Margarita Isabel is a Mexican film and television actress.Born as Margarita Isabel Morales y González, she is a multiple Ariel Award-winning actress. Five times nominated, she has won three Silver Ariel awards: in 1992, 1995 and 1996. Her son, Mario Iván Martínez Margarita Isabel is a Mexican film... |
Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | René Casados René Casados René Casados Morales is a Mexican actor best known for his roles in telenovelas.-Biography and personal life:Casados began working as an actor in the 1970s, appearing in films, television, and theatre, as well as working as a co-host of the program Xe-Tu with Érika Buenfil... |
Nominated |
| Best Younger Actress | Ana Layevska Ana Layevska Anna Laevski Rastsvetaeva , better known as Ana Layevska, is a Russian-Mexican actress.-Early life:Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Ana is the only child of Russian parents, Sergei Laevski and Inna Rastsvetaeva. Ana and her family moved to Mexico when she was nine years old... |
Nominated |
| Best Younger Actor | Mauricio Aspe Mauricio Aspe Mauricio Aspe is a Mexican actor.- Career :He began as a child model before emerging as an actor at age 17, when he joined the school of acting of Televisa to become an actor. His first acting role was in Maria la del Barrio, where he shared credits with Mexican singer/actress, Thalía... |
Won |
| Best Younger Actor | José Luis Reséndez José Luis Reséndez José Luis Reséndez Santos won the national male pageant El Modelo México and represented his country in Mister World 2003, held in London, England, where he became the third runner-up... |
Nominated |
| Best Telenovela Theme Song | "Víveme" by Laura Pausini Laura Pausini Laura Pausini, is a Grammy Award-winning Italian soul singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an international hit, reaching the top spot on the Italian... |
Nominated |
| Best Direction | Edgar Ramírez and Eric Morales | Won |
Premios ACE
| Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Best Scenic Program | Won | |
| Best Actress | Jacqueline Andere Jacqueline Andere Jacqueline Andere is a Mexican actress.- Biography :... |
Won |
| Outstanding Character Actress | Sabine Moussier Sabine Moussier Diana Sabine Moussier is a German-Mexican actress who is best known for her work, frequently as a villainess, in numerous Mexican telenovelas such as El privilegio de amar, Entre el amor y el odio, and La madrastra.-Early life:... |
Won |
External links
Official site on TelevisaTelevisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...