Adriana Paz has had a prolific acting career, work that has been recognized with three Aurell Awards, Mexican Cinema's highest honor, and Spain's Goya Award.

And yet, as high as her star has risen,

her newest project, Amelia Perez, is about to catapult her into another galaxy. Her role in the

musical, crime, comedy, drama, yes, you heard me correctly, about a Mexican lawyer who's asked

by a notorious cartel boss to help them retire and transition to life as a woman,

earned Adriana the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.

Adriana stars as Epiphania, a Mexican woman who's been abused by her husband and finds herself

in love with the film's protagonists after her transition.

Adriana and I talk about the risk and reward analysis of taking on a genre-bending project,

the realities of being a mother with great professional ambition,

and the early advice that has stayed with her to this day. Adriana, thank you so much for doing this.

Thank you so much for having me here.

I'm so happy.

You're born in Mexico City.

Your artistic ability shows up very young.

You go to college.

They put all the majors on the board. You see

drama and your heart jumps. What let you know that this was your life path? I think I knew it

since I was a little girl, but there were too many people that they were like, oh, that's not a real

profession. Do you have to have a job, a real one.

This is not for people like us. And I was like, okay, maybe I have to choose another profession,

maybe an architect or something like that, like something real, no? But when I was in high school,

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