Najwa Nimri

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Nimri and the second or maternal family name is Urrutikoetxea.

Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea (Spanish: [ˈna.ʝwa ˈnim.ri u.ru.ti.ko.eˈtʃe.a];^[1] born 14 February 1972) is a Spanish actress and singer.

Najwa Nimri
Nimri in 2018
Born	Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea (1972-02-14) 14 February 1972 (age 53) Pamplona, Spain
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Years active	1995–present
Musical career
Genres	Trip hop downtempo alternative rock
Instrument	Vocals
Formerly of	Najwajean (with Carlos Jean)
Spouse	Daniel Calparsoro ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2000)​

In 1996, Nimri formed the musical duo Najwajean along with producer Carlos Jean, launching No Blood, an early instance of a trip-hop album in Spain.^[2] She first appeared in a film with a leading role in Jump into the Void (1995),^[3] eventually becoming one of the big names of 1990s and 2000s Spanish cinema.^[4] Film roles that came after her debut include performances in Passages (1996), Open Your Eyes (1997), Blinded (1997), Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998), Asfalto (2000), Sex and Lucia (2001), and Fausto 5.0 (2001).

After spending some time on the back burner as an actress, her popularity greatly increased in the streaming era for her television work in villain roles in crime drama series Locked Up and Money Heist.^[5][4]

Early life

Nimri's mother is from Pamplona and her father, Karam Nimri, is Jordanian.^[6][7] She has a brother, a half-brother and two half-sisters. Najwa also has a cousin who is a singer named Alexander Nimier. When she was a child she moved to Bilbao with her family and was raised in Santutxu.^[5] She now lives in Madrid.

Career

Her first major film role was in Salto al vacío, the first movie by film director Daniel Calparsoro. Her career as a singer started with small groups. In 1996, she formed the band Najwajean [es] with Carlos Jean.^[8] She has also released three solo albums. From 1995 to 2000, she was married to Daniel Calparsoro.^[9][10]

Several of her film roles won her praise: as Ana in Lovers of the Arctic Circle,^[11] and as Elena in Sex and Lucia.^[12] Both films were directed by Julio Medem.^[13] She starred next to Eduardo Noriega in Abre los ojos,^[14] and El método.^[15]

She was nominated to the Goya Award for Best Actress for her performance as amnesiac diva Lila Cassen in Quién te cantará (2018).^[16][17]

In 2020, she returned as Zulema in the spin off Vis a vis: El Oasis,^[18] starring with Maggie Civantos.^[19] She played Alicia Sierra, a policewoman inspector in (Money Heist) La casa de papel.^[20] She voiced Kate Laswell in the 2019 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.^[21]

She joined season 2 of religious horror series 30 Coins to portray paranormal hunter and video podcaster Haruka.^[22] In 2024, she featured in the hospital-set drama series Breathless, portraying a right-wing President of the Valencian Community set on dismantling the public healthcare system.^[23][24][25] She also portrayed Aurora Rodríguez in The Red Virgin.^[26]

Discography

Nimri during a concert in Sala Bikini, Barcelona (2010)

With Carlos Jean as Najwajean

• No Blood (1998) – No. 80
• Asfalto (2001) (soundtrack) – No. 175
• Guerreros (2002) (soundtrack) – No. 88
• Najwajean Selection (2002) (compilation album) – No. 108
• Till It Breaks (2008) – No. 20
• Bonzo (2015)

Najwajean singles

• I'm gonna be (1999)
• Garota de Ipanema (1999)
• Crime (2008)
• Waiting (2015)
• Bonzo (2015)
• Drive me (2016)

Solo albums

• Carefully (2001) – No. 76
• Mayday (2003) – No. 48
• Walkabout (2006) – No. 10 (50,000 copies sold; Gold)
• Donde rugen los volcanes (2012)
• Rat Race (2014)
• Viene de Largo (2020)
• AMA (2021)

Solo singles

• That Cyclone (2001) from Carefully – No. 37
• Following Dolphins (2001) from Carefully – No. 68
• Go Cain (2003) from Mayday – No. 20
• Hey Boys, Girls (2003) from Mayday – No. 26
• Capable (2006) from Walkabout – No. 3
• Push It (2006) from Walkabout
• Le Tien, Le Mien (2006) from Walkabout
• El último primate (2010) from El Ultimo primate
• Como un animal (2010) from El ultimo primate.
• Donde rugen los volcanes (2012) from Donde rugen los volcanes
• Somos su nuevo invitado (2012) from Donde rugen los volcanes
• Feed Us (2014) from Rat Race
• Rat race (2014) from Rat Race
• Pijama (2014) from Rat Race
• Lento (2020) from Viene de largo
• Panpan (2020)
• Mira Como Van (2020)
• Santa Claus llego a la cuidad (2020)
• Contra Quien Luchaba (2022)
• Aperol (2022)
• Esquiando (2023)
• Big Bang (2023)
• Chia (2023) ·

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1995	Salto al vacío (Jump into the Void)	Alex		[27]
1996	Pasajes (Passages)	Gabi		[28]
1997	Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes)	Nuria		[29]
1997	A ciegas (Blinded)	Marrubi		[30]
1998	Los amantes del círculo polar (Lovers of the Arctic Circle)	Ana	Character also performed by Kristel Díaz and Sara Valiente	[31]
	9'8 m/s²	Ella		[32]
2000	Asfalto	Lucía		[33]
2001	Fausto 5.0	Julia		[34]
	Before Night Falls	Fina Correa		[35]
	Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucia)	Elena		[36]
2002	Piedras (Stones)	Leire		[37]
2003	Utopía (Utopia)	Ángela		[38]
2004	A+ (Amas) (A+)	Dam		[39]
	Agents secrets (Secret Agents)	Maria Menendez		[40]
2005	El método (The Method)	Nieves		[41]
	20 centímetros (20 Centimeters)	La Conejo		[42]
2006	Trastorno (Dementia)	Natalia		[43]
	Las vidas de Celia (Celia's Lives)	Celia		[44][45]
2007	Mataharis	Eva		[46]
	Oviedo Express	Bárbara		[47]
2010	Todo lo que tú quieras (Anything You Want)	Marta		[48]
	Route Irish	Marisol		[49]
	Habitación en Roma (Room in Rome)	Edurne		[50]
2011	Verbo	Inés		[51]
2012	The Wine of Summer	Ana
2013	10.000 noches en ninguna parte (10,000 Nights Nowhere)	Claudia		[52]
2018	Quién te cantará	Lila Cassen		[53]
	El árbol de la sangre (The Tree of Blood)	Macarena		[54]
2024	La virgen roja (The Red Virgin)	Aurora Rodríguez		[55]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015–2019	Vis a Vis	Zulema Zahir	Main cast; 40 episodes
2018	Feliz Halloween	Zulema Zahir	Special short
2019–2021	La casa de papel	Alicia Sierra Montes	Main cast (season 3-5); 25 episodes
2020	Vis a vis: El Oasis	Zulema Zahir	Lead role; 8 episodes
2021–2022	Insiders	Host	14 episodes
2022–23	Sagrada familia	Gloria Román / Julia Santos	Lead role; Seasons 1–2	[56]
2023	30 monedas	Haruka	Season 2	[57]
2023	Berlin	Alicia Sierra Montes	3 episodes
2024	Respira (Breathless)	Patricia Segura		[58]

Podcast

Year	Title	Role	Episodes
2020	Vis a vis: Cara B	Zulema Zahir	Voice role, 10 episodes

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1998	45th Ondas Awards	Best Actress	Lovers of the Arctic Circle & Open Your Eyes	Won	[59]
1999	13th Goya Awards	Best Actress	Lovers of the Arctic Circle	Nominated	[60]
2002	16th Goya Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Sex and Lucia	Nominated	[60]
2017	4th Feroz Awards	Best Main Actress in a Series	Locked Up	Nominated	[61]
2019	6th Feroz Awards	Best Main Actress in a Series		Nominated	[62]
	33rd Goya Awards	Best Actress	Quién te cantará	Nominated	[60]
	69th Fotogramas de Plata	Best Film Actress		Nominated	[63]
		Best TV Actress	Locked Up	Won	[64]
	6th Platino Awards	Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Series		Nominated	[65]
2021	8th Platino Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Series	Money Heist	Nominated	[66]
2022	72nd Fotogramas de Plata	Best TV Actress		Won	[67]
	9th Platino Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Series		Won	[68]
2024	30th Forqué Awards	Best Actress in a Film	The Red Virgin	Nominated	[69]
2025	12th Feroz Awards	Best Main Actress in a Film		Nominated	[70]
	33rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actress in a Leading Role		Nominated	[71]