Ana Villafañe on Her West End Debut: "I Bring the Embodiment of Being Chronically Underestimated
The actress who originated Gloria Estefan on Broadway makes her West End debut as Ava Gardner, and she has a lot to say about taking up space.
Right before her West End opening night, Ana Villafañe was in her dressing room when a video arrived. Rita Moreno, the only Latina to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, had found out Villafañe was playing Ava Gardner in Sinatra: The Musical at London’s Aldwych Theatre and sent her a message.
Villafañe started crying.
“The fact that Rita, our EGOT, has seen me perform on Broadway and at the Library of Congress, knows I’m making my West End debut, and knows who I am at all is insane to me,” Villafañe told FIERCE. “She’s the blueprint. I remind myself that so many people had to walk so we could run.”
The moment was particularly powerful after years of walking into rooms not built for you, taking roles no one imagined could belong to a Latina, and showing up anyway.
Ana Villafañe on Playing Ava Gardner: “I Understand That Deeply”
Sinatra: The Musical, directed by Kathleen Marshall, opened at the Aldwych Theatre on June 24 and runs through April 2027. Ana Villafañe plays Ava Gardner, the screen icon famously in love with Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, a woman who lived with a defiance that made her magnetic and an inconvenience to the systems around her.
But what drew Villafañe to the role was not the glamour. “What drew me to the role is Ava’s inherent strength,” she said. “Her resilience. The audacity to live on her own terms truly made her magnetic, beyond external beauty, while existing in a time period and within a system that was not built to protect her. I understand that deeply.”
Asked what she brings to Ava that audiences might not expect, her answer was precise: “I bring the embodiment of being chronically underestimated. People relate to that.”
“Sometimes Without Permission”
The audition almost did not go the way Villafañe let herself hope. “When I auditioned for Sinatra, I was convinced I wouldn’t get the part,” she said. “I knew a lot of actresses who were also in the running to play Ava, and none of them were Latina. But I showed up anyway.”
And she did not stop there. “People won’t see us for all that we can be unless we show up. Sometimes without permission.”
That instinct, she says, is not bravado. Like many Latinas, her instincts are deeply connected to her upbringing. “I was raised by immigrants in an immigrant community. I was taught to be empowered and take pride in everything I am. I do not take that for granted.” The world, she says, has spent years trying to put her in a box, but her immediate instinct is to shatter it. “More and more, I challenge the idea that we belong in only one space. Latin artists have so much to offer, and our discipline is top tier.”
From Gloria to Ava: “Esa Chispa”
Villafañe made her Broadway debut in 2015, originating the role of Gloria Estefan in the Tony-nominated On Your Feet!, a performance that earned her a Theatre World Award and a Drama League Award nomination. The path from Gloria to Ava, she says, follows the same thread.
“I think there’s nothing more powerful than a self-made woman who never forgets where she came from,” she said. “Gloria and Ava actually have a lot in common: humble beginnings, losing their fathers young, being raised by hard-working mothers, and achieving icon status without ever losing their spark of authenticity. Esa chispa. These are universal truths that transcend culture.”
Between these two iconic roles, Ana Villafañe built a body of work that crosses every lane the industry tried to assign her. She played Nina Rosario in In the Heights at the Kennedy Center and Roxie Hart in Chicago during the show’s 25th anniversary Broadway run. Her portrayal of Lola in the Arena Stage revival of Damn Yankees, directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, earned her a 2026 Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical. She starred opposite Holland Taylor in the world premiere of N/A at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, directed by Diane Paulus. On Apple TV+, she voices Eva Eight on WondLa, a role that has contributed to the series’ recognition at the Emmys and the TCA Awards. She will also appear in the upcoming feature film Castro’s Daughter opposite James Franco.
Oh, but that’s not all. She is also releasing new music. Her latest single, “Suelta,” is out now.
What Holland Taylor and Diane Paulus Taught Ana Villafañe About Longevity
“Sharing a stage at Lincoln Center with Holland for an entire summer was a theatre kid’s fever dream,” Villafañe said. And Taylor’s advice stayed with her long after the run ended. “She would always tell me ‘be where your feet are.’ I’ve kept that consejo with me. Her depth knows no limits, but she approaches everything with a wicked sense of humor.”
Diane Paulus, she says, is the direct reason she is in London. “I was deciding between two projects, and ultimately she advised me to pick Sinatra because it would stretch me further artistically. I needed that push.” Both women gave her the same lesson, delivered differently. “They’ve both taught me that longevity in this industry can look however I want it to. They’ve both elevated the game by creating their own rules.”
Ana Villafañe Keeps the Vision Clear
The National Hispanic Media Coalition and other leading institutions have recognized Villafañe for her impact advancing Latino representation in entertainment. For her part, she is candid about what that work asks of her. “Sometimes it’s exhausting. I see the scripts, and the lack thereof. I see the statistics. I know we have a long way to go.”
On the nights she feels its weight, she returns to the Rita Moreno video. She returns to what it means that a woman like that, who carved a path where there was none, knows her name. “I keep the vision and my purpose clear,” she said. “Our community deserves to see ourselves at the highest level, in positions of power and dignity. To take up space unapologetically and not make ourselves smaller or ‘less’ for anyone. I want to keep adding to that however I can.”
She is adding to it right now, eight times a week, in London, playing a woman the industry never expected a Latina to play.