Megan Montaner

Megan Montaner arrived in Madrid with barely any money and a makeup artist certificate in her suitcase. In her hometown of Huesca, she worked with brushes and foundation, but she decided she preferred to be on the other side of the mirror. She enrolled at Cristina Rota's school and paid for her studies by taking one temporary job after another while looking for a break in the capital's casting calls.

Her first big break came in 2011 with a role that demanded unusual physical and mental endurance. Playing Pepa Balmes in El secreto de Puente Viejo meant shooting scenes for more than ten hours a day. She filmed a total of 381 episodes before her character disappeared from the main storyline.

The shooting schedule was brutal.

The Toll of Daily Television

Many actors get stuck in daytime soap operas out of fear of instability. But Montaner decided to leave the series at the peak of its popularity to pursue higher-budget projects. In 2013, she joined the cast of Gran Hotel, where she played Maite Ribelles during the third season of the Bambú Producciones drama.

That strategic move paid off because it gave her access to characters with darker story arcs. In 2014, she starred in Unknown playing María Fuentes. The story of a lawyer who discovers she is a stolen baby allowed her to explore rage and the desire for revenge over two full seasons.

And the gamble paid off.

The series ended in 2015 with average viewership of more than two and a half million viewers per episode. This success opened the doors of the Italian industry, where she filmed Lontano da te in 2019, sharing the lead with Alessandro Tiberi.

Maturity in the fantasy genre

In 2020, her career took a turn toward horror and suspense under the direction of Álex de la Iglesia. In 30 monedas, she played Elena, a veterinarian in a town besieged by demonic forces. Filming the first season required an unusual technical effort for Spanish television at the time, due to the heavy use of prosthetics and digital effects.

Between 2021 and 2022, she juggled this project with the saga of The Hunt on Televisión Española. Her role as Sergeant Sara Campos required filming in harsh natural locations such as the Benasque Valley and the Sierra de Tramuntana. The series reached its third installment in 2023 under the title La caza. Guadiana.

But film also claimed her attention.

In 2022, she starred alongside Karra Elejalde in the comedy La vida padre, directed by Joaquín Mazón. The film earned more than three million euros at the national box office during its first weeks in theaters. In 2023, she returned to period drama with Entre tierras, a production for Atresplayer set in rural Spain during the 1960s.

The production of Entre tierras had a shooting budget spread across locations in Madrid, Guadalajara and Almería. The series’ final episode aired on free TV in March 2024 with a 15.3% audience share.