Anne Igartiburu

Few people remember that before greeting half of Spain every afternoon, Anne Igartiburu studied drama at the University of the Basque Country. The presenter's friendly on-screen image overshadowed for decades an actress who made her feature film debut when almost no one outside Bilbao was betting on her.

Nobody expected to see her dressed as a nun in front of Antón Reixa's camera.

Born in Elorrio in 1969, her youth was spent studying business management in the United States and taking training stints in France and Luxembourg. She spoke several languages and was working for an engineering firm in Mondragón when she decided to step into the spotlight on the local TV station Arrasate Telebista in 1993. She alternated modest studio shows with long hours behind the camera before making the leap to Madrid with the game show Una pareja feliz in 1994.

From modest films to the San Sebastián festival

In 1996, Carlos Suárez gave her her first shot on the big screen with the comedy Adiós, tiburón, alongside Josema Yuste. The following year she appeared in the crime drama Suerte, directed by Ernesto Tellería and co-starring Daniel Guzmán. They weren't leading roles, but they helped her take the pulse of the national film industry.

Then came an anecdote that still baffles science fiction fans. During a visit to the Paramount studios in Los Angeles in 1998, she managed to sneak in as an extra on the set of Star Trek: Insurrection. It was a silent appearance lasting just a few seconds in the final cut.

Her most emotionally demanding film role came in 2009 with Zorion perfektua, directed by Jabi Elortegi and presented in the Zabaltegi section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. In the film she played Ainhoa, a pianist with severe psychological scars after witnessing a terrorist attack as a teenager. Igartiburu brought the emotional intensity of a broken character, far removed from any commercial gloss.

That silent performance left film critics puzzled.

Stage and live TV pressure

Theater was no stranger to her either. In 2000 she starred in the stage version of Educating Rita alongside Josu Ormaetxe, touring dozens of cities with a two-actor production. Few faces from everyday entertainment dare to take on the stage with tightly scripted plays. Her work on the theater scene had already earned her the Ercilla Theater Award for Odio a Hamlet in 1998.

But public television kept her busy. From July 1997 she took on the daily hosting duties of Corazón on Televisión Española, a show that ran uninterrupted for more than two decades. In 2003, Antón Reixa cast her in a brief role in El lápiz del carpintero, and that same year she played the villain Loreto in the telenovela Luna negra.

For seventeen consecutive years she hosted the live New Year's Eve broadcast on La 1. On New Year's Eve 2022, the public broadcaster unexpectedly broke that tradition, which led the presenter to broadcast the grapes live on Twitch alongside Ibai Llanos and Ramón García, reaching a huge online audience.

Her presence on television continued with appearances in series such as Estoy vivo in 2017 and with hosting the weekend program D Corazón in 2024, alongside Jordi González.

The official box office figures for Zorion perfektua during its Spanish theatrical release in 2009 recorded 11,238 moviegoers and earnings of 67,412 euros, according to figures from the Ministry of Culture.