Described by many as a Picasso come-to-life, de Palma broke the rules of beauty in 1988 when she starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and became a model and muse for designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and Sybilla. Her status as an iconic fashion character was further cemented with her role in Robert Altman’s 1994 satirical fashion film Prêt-à-Porter. Today, she is a theater actress, charity spokesperson for the Ghanian Charity OrphanAid Africa, and the face of luxury ad campaigns. Born in Palma de Mallorca, she was originally a singer and dancer for the band Peor Imposible before being discovered by filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar at a café in Madrid in 1986. He cast her in roles based on her unique, Picassoesque appearance. She is best known for her roles in Almodóvar films like La ley del deseo (Law of Desire), Kika, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and La flor de mi secreto (The Flower of My Secret). She acts in France and does modeling. She appeared in Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter as Pilar. In 2007, she released a perfume line under her name through the French cosmetics company Etat libre d'Orange. In 2009, she posed nude in an information campaign on breast cancer for the magazine Marie Claire. She currently lives in France with her two sons. She was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography

• 2026Bitter Christmas — Gabriela
• 2026Día de caza — Rosa
• 2026La Tarara
• 2026Misión imposible, no... lo siguiente
• 2025Estrella, cometa, satélite y planeta
• 2025Honeymoon Crasher — Gloria
• 2025The Opera! Arias for an Eclipse — Moire
• 2024Dear Paris — Dolorès
• 20233 Days Max — Alba Suarez
• 2023Apaches: Gang of Paris — Sarah Bernardt
• 2023Carmen — Masilda
• Escort Boys — Mimi
• La Mesías — Laia Baró (mayor)
• Cinco Tenedores — Jueza
• Once Upon a Time... Happily Never After — Narrator (voice) / María / Mamen
• 2022Rainbow
• 2022The House — Brigida
• 2022The Sweet Taste of Success — Rossy de Palma
• Carrément craignos — Héléna
• 2021Do You Do You Saint-Tropez — Carmen
• 2021El refugio
• 2021Parallel Mothers — Elena
• 2020A Mermaid in Paris — Rossy
• Little Birds — Contessa Mandrax
• 2019Despite Everything — Inés
• 2019For the Ones We Loved — Artémis
• 2019I Miss You — Rosaura
• 2019My Brother Chases Dinosaurs — Auntie Rock / Zia Dolores
• 2019The Rodriguez and the Beyond — Doctora Pilar
• 2018Black Is Beltza — Ruth Abramson (voice)
• 2018Brillantissime — Charline
• La resistencia — Invitada
• 2018Le vieux juif Blonde — Voyante
• Maestros de la costura — Invitada
• 2018The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
• 2017Lord, Give Me Patience — María Ramos
• 2017Madame — Maria
• 2017The Exchange — Dómina
• The White Princess — Isabella I of Castile
• 2017Toc Toc — Ana María
• 2016En tu cabeza — Milagros (Vecina)
• 2016Julieta — Marian
• Anchored — Palmira
• 2015Graziella — Graziella
• 2015Just a Little Chemistry — Bárbara Sullivan
• 2015Spy Time — Madre de Katia
• 2015Stranded — Mercè
• 2014Do Not Disturb — Maria
• 2014Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart — Luna (voice)
• 2014Love of My Loves — Carmina
• 2013&Me — Edurne's Mother
• 2013I Don't Know Whether to Slit My Wrists or Leave Them Long — Lola
• 2013Three Many Weddings — Madre de Ruth
• 2012Bright Spin — Amie de Patrick
• 2012Run a way — La benemérita
• 2010Gigola — Dominique
• 2010Miss Tacuarembo — Patricia Peinado
• 2009Broken Embraces — Julieta
• 2009No Pasaran — Inès
• La que se avecina — María Luisa Romero
• 2006Girlfriends — La mère de Marie
• 2006Les Aristos — La duchesse Maria de Malaga i Benidorm
• 200520 Centimeters — La Frío
• Caterina e le sue figlie — Estrella Toledo
• 2004Double zéro — Le Monocle
• 2004Have You Met Claudia? — Aldo's Claudia
• 2004People : Jet Set 2 — Pilar
• 2003Leave Your Hands on My Hips — Myriam Bardem
• 2002Dead Weight — Pauline Reggio
• 2001L'origine du monde — The Sphynx
• 2000The Mule — La Colombienne
• 1999Nag la Bombe — Leïla
• 1999The Damned Rib — Margarita
• 1999The Loss of Sexual Innocence — Blind Woman
• 1998Foul Play — Concepcion Alibera
• 1998Franchesca Page — Veronica
• 1998Talk of Angels — Elena
• 1997Airbag — Carmiña, mujer de Pazos en una fotografía
• 1997La Femme du cosmonaute — Catherine
• 1996A Body in the Woods — Teniente Cifuentes
• 1996Chicken Park — Necrophilia
• 1996The Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirlwind of Sex and Politics
• 1995Peggio di così si muore — Myrna
• 1995The Flower of My Secret — Rosa
• 1995What's It All About — Librarian
• 1994Fea
• 1994Prêt-à-Porter — Pilar
• 1993Kika — Juana
• 1993Mutant Action — Invitada de lujo
• 1993Rose rosse per una squillo — Juliette
• 1992Aquí, el que no corre... vuela
• 1992Sam's Enough — Chichi
• 1992The Naked Target — Dama 2
• 1991The Family Jewels — Donatella
• 1990Don Juan, My Dear Ghost — Viuda de Prodini
• 1990In The Rose Garden — Rosy
• 1990Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! — Camello en Vespa
• 1988Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown — Marisa
• 1987Law of Desire — Locutora tele
• Becoming Capa
• Second to Nun — Madame Laduree

Appearances as themselves (27)

• Pedro x Javis — Self
• 2024Inside the Dream: Mugler — Self
• 2023El viaje de Julieta — Self
• Late Xou con Marc Giró — Self - Guest
• Têtàtête(s) — Self - Guest
• Drag Race France — Self - Guest Judge
• Drag Race España — Self - Guest Judge
• LOL - Last One Laughing Spain — Self
• La Noche D — Self - Guest
• La gran il·lusió, relat intermitent del cinema català — Self (archive footage)
• Bailando con las estrellas — Self - Contestant
• 2018Jean Paul Gaultier : Freak & Chic — Self
• 2018Jean Paul Gaultier fait son show — Self
• Lo Siguiente — Self - Presenter
• 2018¡Ay, Carmen! — Self - Actress
• Dani&Flo con Lara Álvarez — Self - Interviewee
• 201610 Years with Bebe — self
• 2016Almodóvar, todo sobre ellas — Self
• 2015French Cinema Mon Amour — Self
• 2015The Material Boy — Self
• Planeta Calleja — Self - Guest
• 2014Untied! Reflections on Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! — Self
• Me resbala — Self - Contestant
• Danse avec les stars — Self - Candidate
• De pé a pá — Self
• 1994La Machine Mode — Self
• 1991Madonna: Truth or Dare — Self