Leonor Varlea wins “Best Supporting Actress” at Imagen Awards

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SANTIAGO.- Chilean actress Leonor Varela managed to take home an award for "Best Supporting Actress" at the prestigious 23rd Imagen Awards ceremony, which recognizes the most positive and accurate representations of Latinos in the U.S. entertainment industry.

Varela was nominated along with Danielle Polanco ("Missy, Step Up 2 The Streets") and Roselyn Sánchez ("Game Plan"), in her first nomination in the ceremony, which included nominations of two other Chilean artists –Jorge García, as Best Television Supporting Actor for his role on "Lost" and Cote de Pablo as Best Television Supporting Actress for her role on the series "NCIS"- although neither ended up with an award.

Varela's performance gained the only award for the film "Where God Left His Shoes", after the feature failed to gain recognition in the three other categories it had been nominated for, which included Best Film and the nomination of John Leguizamo for his leading role.

The Imagen Awards, created in 1985, have recognized many famous Spanish-speaking artists such as Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez and Héctor Elizondo.