About Yareli
Award-winning actor, writer, and producer, Yareli Arizmendi is best known for her performances as Rosaura in Like Water for Chocolate and Lila Rodriguez in A Day Without a Mexican which she also co-wrote and co-produced. Other films include Don’t Let Me Drown by Cruz Angeles, América by Sonia Fritz with Eddie Olmos, Fast Food Nation by Rick Linklater, and Naco Es Chido by Sergio Arau, which she co-produced, as well. In her 30+ year professional career, she has starred in numerous American episodic shows beginning with "NYPD Blue," all the way up to "House," "Medium," "24," "Six Feet Under," and "Heroes." She has lent her voice to many products, public awareness campaigns, and audiobooks. Starting with Like Water for Chocolate (1996), she has narrated a wide array of audiobooks, including Violeta by Isabel Allende, Ursula Le Guin’s Always Coming Home, Maria Hinojosa’s Una Vez Fui Tu, Reyna Grande’s The Distance Between Us, and Jeannine Cummins’ American Dirt (audible.com).
As an activist, Yareli’s experience with documentary filmmaking sharpened her interviewing skills. A partial list of those interviewed by her includes Noam Chomsky, Jesse Jackson, Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine), Junot Diaz (The Brief Life of Oscar Wu), Lila Downs, Maria Hinojosa, Rigoberta Menchú, Amy Goodman (host of Democracy Now), and John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man).
Yareli worked extensively at the Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory and The Mark Taper Forum among others, both as actress and dramaturg developing new work for the stage. Her list of translated Latin American plays and novels is extensive. Her solo shows, Nostalgia Maldita: 1-900- Mexico and Who Buys Your Shoes? toured universities in the United States and Mexico, as did Penny Envy: A Freudian Approach to the Free Trade Agreement as part of the Performance Art Network. One of the most unique projects in her journey is Tocada & Fuga: A StandÓpera. Based on her partner Sergio Arau’s music album by the same name and egged on stage by her love of theater, the couple created a comedic review of classical music with an unexpected twist. The libretto is written by Yareli and counts on Arau’s improvisational savvy and their special relationship on stage.
Taking a departure from writing work completed in performance, Yareli is working on a novel entitled Past Perfect, which will be published in both Spanish and English in the coming year. The Arau-Arizmendi team is also working on the script and production of the film Another Day Without a Mexican: This time it’s personal, due to go into production in 2025.
Born in Mexico City to a Cuban mother and Mexican father, Yareli earned her BA in Political Science and her MFA in Theatre at the University of California, San Diego.
Quotes that move her through life and creative work:
"How do you make the invisible visible? You take it away."
-Yareli Arizmendi
"You deny that which is closest to you and which you fear the most."
-Yareli Arizmendi
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
-Chinese Proverb
