Begoña Basauri

Begoña Andrea Basauri Díaz (born August 25, 1981) is a Chilean actress and television presenter. She began her acting career in theater before moving into television, where she became known for roles in Chilean telenovelas including El señor de La Querencia, Los ángeles de Estela, Aquí mando yo, La sexóloga, Mamá mechona, and Verdades ocultas. She has also worked as a television presenter, panelist, and radio host.

Basauri won the 2018 Copihue de Oro for Best Panelist or Reporter and the second season of MasterChef Celebrity Chile in 2022. She returned to scripted television in 2025 as Vanessa Riesco in Mega's El jardín de Olivia. In 2026, she appeared on TVN's Mamá por Siempre and continued to work in television.

Early life and education

Basauri was born in Santiago, Chile, on August 25, 1981. Her mother, María Paz Díaz, worked as a cultural manager and her father, Rodrigo Basauri, is a film director. She was raised as an only child by her parents, although she has paternal half-siblings. Her parents met as teenagers, and her mother became pregnant with Basauri while still in high school. Basauri later described her parents' early years and subsequent separation as difficult for the family.

Her parents married when she was four and divorced two years later. They subsequently reunited when she was 15 and separated again several years later. She spent part of her childhood with her mother at the home of her maternal grandparents in Las Condes. At age six, following another separation between her parents, she moved with her mother to a community in Lo Cañas, in La Florida.

She attended the Colegio Latinoamericano de Integración in Providencia and later the Colegio Francisco de Miranda in Peñalolén, where she participated in theater activities. She also attended theater workshops at the Ñuñoa municipal cultural center. She studied acting at the University of Chile's Faculty of Arts and graduated in 2005. In 2003, she appeared with Francisco Melo in a documentary commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état.

Basauri is the niece of artist Gonzalo Díaz Cuevas, a recipient of the National Prize for Plastic Arts, and of opera singers Pilar Díaz and María Soledad Díaz. Her cousins include photographer Gabriel Díaz Alliende, designer Juana Díaz, and actress Alicia Rodríguez.

Acting career

Theater and television debut

Basauri began appearing in theater while studying and made her professional theater debut in 2005 in Tartuffe by Molière, directed by Raúl Osorio at the Chilean National Theater. She played Elmire alongside Blanca Mallol, Francisco Melo, and Lorena Bosch.

Although television was not initially among her career plans, Melo invited her to audition for a telenovela about Olympic athletes at TVN. She was cast as Soledad Yavar in Amor en tiempo récord (2005). She subsequently appeared in Disparejas and Floribella, both directed by María Eugenia Rencoret, in 2006.

In 2007, Basauri had a supporting role in Corazón de María, playing a high-school student who concealed a pregnancy from her parents. She appeared the following year in Viuda alegre alongside Mauricio Pesutic, Néstor Cantillana, and Álvaro Espinoza.

Breakthrough and television work

Basauri gained wider recognition for her performance as Herminia Pradenas in the 2008 telenovela El señor de La Querencia. Her character was a prostitute who falls in love with Lucrecia, a young aristocratic woman played by Lorena Bosch.

In 2009, Rencoret offered Basauri a role in Hijos del Monte after Celine Reymond left the production during its run. She subsequently appeared in several episodes of ¿Dónde está Elisa?.

Basauri played Laura Alcázar, a principal antagonist, in Los ángeles de Estela (2009), alongside Jorge Zabaleta, María Elena Swett, and Coca Guazzini. During the same period, she portrayed Chilean poet Teresa Wilms Montt in the television film El vuelo del poeta, directed by Marcelo Ferrari.

In 2010, Basauri appeared in an episode of the historical documentary series Algo habrán hecho por la historia de Chile, portraying Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer ("La Quintrala"). She also had a recurring role in 40 y tantos.

In 2011, she took a major comedy role in the sitcom Ala chilena, playing a flight attendant. She also starred opposite Fernando Larraín in the romantic comedy telenovela Aquí mando yo, playing María Carolina Silva, a woman who returns to her husband after leaving him for another man. Her performance earned her a Best Comedy Actress award from the Foro de Televisión y Espectáculos de Chile (FOTECH).

In 2012, Basauri played Griselda Garay, the principal antagonist, in Vicente Sabatini's La sexóloga. The production received low audience ratings during its broadcast, despite commentary praising Basauri's performance.

She joined the cast of Canal 13's romantic comedy Mamá mechona in 2014, alongside Sigrid Alegría. In 2015, she appeared with Daniel Muñoz in the series Príncipes de barrio, playing Miranda, a businesswoman associated with Chilean soccer.

Basauri returned to TVN in 2016 to co-star with Benjamín Vicuña in the telenovela Un diablo con ángel, playing Bernardita Undurraga. In 2018, she joined the cast of Mega's Verdades ocultas as Muriel Droguett.

In 2025, Basauri returned to scripted television in Mega's daytime telenovela El jardín de Olivia, playing journalist Vanessa Riesco, the partner of protagonist Clemente Walker. Mega described Vanessa as a character whose relationship with Clemente is threatened by the arrival of Diana, the telenovela's protagonist. Basauri said that she returned to teleseries because she considered the story particularly appealing and described Vanessa as a villainous role she enjoyed playing.

Television presenting and other work

Basauri began working as a television presenter in 2015, when she hosted the interview and culture program Magnum on UCV-TV. She later hosted Noches de seducción. In 2017, she joined TVN's morning program Buenos días a todos as a panelist.

In January 2017, Basauri was elected Reina Huasa of the Festival del Huaso de Olmué, receiving 44 percent of the vote. She said that she would donate the prize, consisting of jewelry, to support firefighters and others involved in combating wildfires in Chile.

From 2018 to 2020, Basauri was a panelist on Mega's morning program Mucho gusto. She left the program in July 2020 after nearly two years. Basauri said that the program had changed direction and that she had left on good terms with the network.

In November 2018, she won the Copihue de Oro for Best Panelist or Reporter, following her nomination in the category for her work on Mucho gusto.

In 2021, Basauri competed in the second season of MasterChef Celebrity Chile, which was filmed in Colombia. The season aired from 2021 to 2022, and Basauri won the final in January 2022, defeating Tutú Vidaurre and Pollo Castillo. She received a prize of 25 million Chilean pesos.

In 2022, she was a panelist on the Canal 13 program Juego textual. In 2024, she and Trinidad Cerda hosted a live companion program for the second season of Top Chef VIP, broadcast through YouTube and Twitch.

In 2026, Basauri appeared on TVN's Mamá por Siempre, where she discussed aspects of her experience of motherhood, including the unexpected birth of her daughter by cesarean section.

Basauri has also worked in radio, including at FM Tiempo and Radio Romántica. During her time at Radio Romántica, she hosted the program Felices a las cuatro.

Personal life

Basauri began a relationship with architect Sebastián Undurraga in 2016. They have one daughter, Rosa, who was born in February 2023.

2011 controversy and Basauri's account of abuse

In 2011, Basauri became the subject of extensive Chilean entertainment-media coverage following reports concerning an encounter involving actor Felipe Braun, who was married at the time to actress María Elena Swett. The reports concerned a gathering at Swett's home in Tunquén and led to public speculation about the circumstances of the encounter.

In a 2011 interview with Paula, Basauri described the circumstances as confusing and said that she had been intoxicated. She said that Swett had placed her in a bed and that she later woke to find Braun there. When asked about allegations that Braun had sexually abused her, she declined to discuss the matter at that time.

During the same year, chef Sebastián Cienfuegos published a letter defending Basauri and accusing Braun of sexual abuse. Swett denied the accusation, while actress Claudia Di Girolamo publicly expressed support for Basauri.

After leaving TVN in 2012, Basauri said that she had not been allowed to defend herself publicly. She subsequently discussed the episode in an interview with Caras, while declining to provide a detailed public account of the alleged abuse.

In 2020, Basauri discussed the episode publicly in a conversation with television presenter Francisco Saavedra. She said that she had been unable to consent because she was intoxicated and described what happened as abuse. She also discussed the way the incident had been portrayed by entertainment media and her decision not to speak publicly about it at the time.

Activism

Basauri has supported the legalization of civil unions for same-sex couples in Chile and has promoted animal-welfare causes. She appeared in the campaign Nací libre, which advocated improved conditions for egg-laying hens. She said that she was neither vegan nor vegetarian but considered herself an advocate for animal welfare. She has also volunteered with the Unión de Amigos de los Animales (UAA).

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Dramaturgy

• Hoy (2010), with Andrea García-Huidobro

Music videos

• GOST – "Secretamente Intensamente"
• Javier Barría – "2 AM"
• Alacrania – "Erotízame"
• Noche de Brujas – "Cómo te Olvido"
• Flor de Rap featuring Américo – "No Voy A Olvidarte"