Honestly, if you grew up watching Televisa in the late 90s or early 2000s, Nora Salinas wasn't just an actress. She was a vibe. Whether she was wearing a neon purple wig or playing the most dramatic villain you’ve ever seen, she had this way of owning the screen. Most people just know her as "Tía Pelucas," but her career is actually a wild ride of range that most soap stars never touch.
Nora Alicia Ortiz Salinas started out in Monterrey. Before the cameras, she was a model, even taking second place in Miss Mexico 1993. That beauty-pageant-to-telenovela pipeline was real back then, but Salinas actually had the chops to back it up. She didn't just stand there and look pretty; she leaned into the weird, the mean, and the tragic.
The Roles That Defined an Era
You can't talk about Nora Salinas movies and tv shows without starting with the big one: Esmeralda (1997). This was her breakout. She played Graciela, and let’s be real, she stole the show from the leads half the time. Her character was this "damsel in distress" trapped under a crazy aristocratic mother (played by the legendary Laura Zapata). People were obsessed with her tragic romance with the poor foreman, Adrian. It was peak 90s melodrama.
Then came Rosalinda in 1999.
She flipped the script entirely and played Fedra. Pure evil. She made Thalía’s life a living nightmare, and audiences loved to hate her for it. It’s funny how she could go from the victim to the villain so fast. But then, the year 2000 happened, and everything changed with Carita de ángel.
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The Tía Pelucas Phenomenon
Basically, every kid in Latin America wanted an aunt like Estefanía Larios. She was the iconic "Aunt Wigs." In Carita de ángel, Salinas wore a different colored wig to match every single outfit. It was campy, it was fun, and it showed she didn't take herself too seriously. She went from being the terrifying Fedra to the most beloved woman on children’s television in like twelve months. That’s range.
- Agujetas de color de rosa (1994): Her debut. She played Jessica.
- María Belén (2001): She kept the momentum going as Ana del Río.
- Sueños y caramelos (2005): Another hit where she played Lupita.
Breaking Into Film: The Scars of Success
While she's the queen of the small screen, her leap into cinema was intense. In 2005, she starred in the movie Cicatrices (Scars). Forget the colorful wigs. This was a brutal, raw look at domestic violence. She played Clara, a woman trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage.
It was a heavy watch.
She actually won a "Diosa de Plata" (Silver Goddess) award for this role. It proved to the critics that she wasn't just a "telenovela actress." She could handle gritty, cinematic realism just as well as the polished world of soaps. It’s arguably her best performance, even if it’s her only major film credit.
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Later Career and That Comedy Pivot
As the 2010s rolled around, Salinas didn't fade away; she just evolved. She joined the "conservative sister" club in Fuego en la sangre (2008), playing Sarita Elizondo. It was a massive hit, though some fans felt the show was a bit over the top compared to the original Pasión de Gavilanes.
Recently, she’s been doing a lot more comedy.
In the sitcom Simón dice (2018–present), she plays Diana. It’s a totally different energy—snappy, domestic, and modern. She also held her own in La mexicana y el güero (2020) as Helena. She’s one of the few actresses from her generation who has managed to stay relevant without relying on "legacy" cameos.
What people get wrong about her "hiatus"
There’s often talk about her "disappearing," but she’s been working pretty much every year since '94. The shift is just in how we consume media. If you aren't watching the 8:00 PM slot on Las Estrellas, you might think she’s gone. She isn't. She’s just moved into more specialized roles and comedy.
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The Legacy of a Telenovela Icon
What makes the Nora Salinas movies and tv shows list so interesting is the lack of "sameness." She didn't get stuck in the "pretty girl" box. She did the kids' shows. She did the R-rated domestic drama. She did the goofy sitcoms.
If you’re looking to dive back into her work, start with Esmeralda for the nostalgia, then watch Cicatrices to see what she can actually do as a dramatic powerhouse.
To keep up with her latest work, your best bet is following the TelevisaUnivision release schedule for 2026. Many of her classic shows are now hitting streaming platforms like ViX+, which is great because trying to find old Carita de ángel episodes used to be a nightmare. Check out her recent guest spots on Como dice el dicho as well; she often pops up in these standalone moral tales, showing that she’s still one of the most reliable faces in the industry.