Begonya Plaza is a bilingual actor, writer, and filmmaker. When living in Hollywood at age nine she starred in the independent film "Big Sister" and appeared in commercials of that time. But she moved around for most of her formative years between California, Guernica in Northern Spain (where her father and her mother's father are from,) and Colombia where she was born until settling down back in Los Angeles to finish high school and college where she continued to pursue an acting profession that ultimately led her to New York.

Some of the directors Begonya has worked with in film, television, and stage include: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Walter Hill, Oliver Stone, Michael Mann, Amy Jones, Tim Hunter, Clint Eastwood, and Ellen Kuras. She has acted opposite, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Robert De Niro, Willem Dafoe, Roddy McDowall, and Carroll O'Connor, among others.

Begonya has worked with the Labyrinth Theatre Company originating the role of Ms. Reyes in Stephen Adly Guirgis' "In Arabia We'd all be Kings" directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. At the Beverly Hills Playhouse she originated the role of Rose in "Old Friends" written by Martin Zurla, directed by Richard Zavaglia, produced by Dan Lauria. At New York City's avant-garde Gas Station Begonya performed a 1-person musical of Bertolt Brecht poems with compositions by Kurt Weill, directed by Austria's Kurt Palm and his theatre company. At the Ensemble Studio Theatre West she played Garcia Lorca's Yerma directed by Russian director Yuvgeny Lanskoy, and originated the role of Hannah in Ronensbourgh at IATI theatre in NYC. Also Begonya has collaborated with Culture Clash, Rachel Rosenthal, and Barry Gifford productions.

During high school Begonya was writer and anchor for the Emmy Award winning television news program, Student News on channel 58. After an internship at ABC News, she attended the Los Angeles Theatre Academy and after her role in 48 HRS she moved to New York where she studied at the National Shakespeare Company, with Geraldine Page, Bill Hickey, Herbert Berghof, Eric Morris, and Michael Howard, dance at Alvin Ailey, and voice with Graham Bernard. Throughout her career Begonya always attended independent writing courses at NYU, UCLA, AFI, and with Robert McKee.

Between acting jobs Begonya took a year off to make a documentary in the Basque country. She found the funding to write, produce, direct, and bring from Los Angeles her editor friend the Emmy Award winning editor, Jack Tucker. "Gernika Lives" is a 40-minute film about the bombing of Gernika and the 50th anniversary remembrance ceremonies. She filmed her father along with his family, and friends, survivors of the bombing of Gernika, the first ever aerial bombing prior to the Spanish Civil War. The documentary is narrated by John Randolph, a friend whom Begonya collaborated with on a multitude of socially conscious projects.

After Begonya starred in the CBS television series "Dark Justice" a co-production with Catalán tv, shot in Barcelona she remained there to have a child, form a family and live life with new perspectives that invited other probabilities. She turned down the film Mambo Kings, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and onstage Man of La Mancha.

Begonya wrote, filmed, edited, and produced the documentary, “Souvenir Views” as an homage to NYC. It's about a young man's self-imposed rite-of-passage experience in Lower Manhattan post 9/11. The film premiered at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, La Habana International Festival, aired two consecutive years on The Independent Film Channel, and traveled to East Coast universities including Wagner College and Dartmouth University.

Begonya wrote “Teresa’s Ecstasy” a three-character, full-length play. She also performed in its Off-Broadway run opposite Shawn Elliott, and Linda Larkin, at beautiful historical Cherry Lane Theatre. Directed by Will Pomerantz and produced by Jack Sharkey and Jim Weiner. Now published by Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.

Her screenplay, The Persistence of Memory is about one year in the life of Salvador Dalí and his wife, Gala, seen from the eyes of a young lover. The script garnered letters of interest from the celebrated actress Glenn Close, and director of photography, Juan Ruiz Anchía. While allowing others to pursue the funding for a film production, Begonya wrote a rendition for the stage and currently is completing the novel version.

Begonya's poem, "Love" was published in "Silver Tongued Devil Anthology / Rimes of the Ancient Mariner", Celebrating 5 years of East Village Poetry, and her poem "To Caterina from her Mother" is published in Beyond Words Magazine, November 2021, both in print & online. Other poems are in The Write Launch, The Ulu Review, L'Esprit magazine, and Rogues Scholars Press Anthology.

You can now see Begonya's 2023 recorded performance of her short 1-person play QUANTUM'S BIG PICTURE for Equity Library Theatre at the NY Public Library. Currently she is developing a full-length version. Link: www.begonyaplaza.com