Karla Souza

Karla Susana Olivares Souza (born 11 December 1985) is a Mexican actress known for her roles as Laurel Castillo on the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder and Marina Hayworth on the ABC sitcom Home Economics. She won the International Emmy Award for Best Actress in 2023 for her role as Mariel Saenz in the television movie La Caída.

Early life and education

Souza was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on December 11, 1985, to a Chilean father and a Mexican mother, Mónica. Her grandmother, Elba Silva, immigrated from Chile to New York City in the 1960s and worked as an assistant cook for the Rockefeller family for 20 years.

Having lived in Aspen, Colorado until she was eight years old, Souza credits her grandmother's immigration to the United States as the reason she holds an American passport. Souza studied acting at Centro de Educación Artística, an acting school run by Televisa, in Mexico City. She also attended acting school in France and was part of a professional theatre company that toured throughout that country. While still in France, Souza auditioned and was selected to participate in the French reality TV show Star Academy, however, she turned down the offer after receiving an invitation to study at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She graduated from the school in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in acting. Near the end of her London studies, she received a CCP award, traditionally presented to the most promising actress in London. After being selected to go to Moscow with Anatoly Smilianski for an acting intensive, she returned to Mexico City and began acting in television and film when she was 22.