Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images
Victoria Alonso, 52, is a film producer and Vice President of Film Production at Marvel responsible for producing most of the iconic films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was co-producer on the first Iron Man (2008) film which kick-started the studio’s global popularity and was also co-producer on Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. She was Executive Producer on The Avengers (2009) and has been Executive Producer on every Marvel film since.
Victoria made headlines recently because of a notorious Indonesian scammer, known as the “Con Queen of Hollywood”, has been impersonating her and luring aspiring actors into sexually explicit phone conversations. The scammer would contact the actors and have lurid conversations under the guise of it being a telephone audition. The Con Queen would contact these victims via email then schedule phone conversations for them to audition for non-existent film roles.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alonso said of the situation, “People need to understand that this is not what Marvel or I would ever do,” Adding she felt humiliated and angry, “It’s a horrible, horrible thing. I’ve had an unimpeachable 30-year career. That somebody is claiming I have done these things — I’ve spent many, many sleepless nights.”
Victoria is currently working on the next two Marvel movies, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.3 and Black Widow.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Victoria Alonso Left Buenos Aires to Be an Actress
Photo credit should read ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty ImagesArgentine producer Victoria Alonso (L) and US actor Mark Ruffalo joke during a press conference to promote the film “Avengers: Infinity War”
Alonso was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and left when she was 19 to pursue a career in acting in New York. After being rejected numerous times, she decided to switch her career to working behind the scenes.
She moved to Los Angeles and began her career in the Visual Effects industry, starting out in commercials before moving on to feature films. She was the Visual Effects Producer on films including The 6th Day, The Core, 50 First Dates, and Big Fish, which was nominated for a BAFTA award “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects”.
2. She’s Actively Working on Adding the First LGBTQ+ Superhero to the Marvel Universe
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for DisneyActor Tessa Thompson (L) and producer Victoria Alonso at the Los Angeles World Premiere of Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER
After expanding the inclusivity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther and Captain Marvel, Alonso is now focused on creating a film with the first openly gay superhero. During an Ask Me Anything session on the Marvel MCU subreddit, Alonso noted that the best part of working for Marvel Studios was “to be able to show new generations the characters that represent them in each and every way.” and later added that she “would feel honored to have a member of the LGBTQ+ group represented in our films and I hope the future shows that.”
She also said that “The world is ready, the world is ready.” for an openly gay superhero. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige echoed her comments, telling ET that the studio had ideas “percolating.”
3. She Was the First Woman Ever to Win the Harold Lloyd Award from the Advanced Imaging Society
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
In 2016, Victoria Alonso became the first woman in history to win the Harold Lloyd Award which is presented to “a filmmaker who in the judgment of the Society has created a body of work, and specific achievements in 3D, that advanced the motion picture art form.” She was given the award for her visual effect work on Marvel movies including Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3.
“Harold Lloyd helped create and advocated for the use of technical innovations to thrill movie audiences in more than 200 films here in Hollywood,” Suzanne Lloyd, chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment, said in a statement. “As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Harold first stepping in front of the camera, I know he would be thrilled that this award, bearing his name, be presented to an artist of Victoria Alonso’s passion and achievement.”
She was also the first woman to receive the Visionary Award at the 15th annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards in 2017. According to VES, the award “recognizes an individual who has uniquely and consistently employed the art and science of visual effects to foster imagination and ignite future discoveries by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.”
4. She’s Married to Actor and Designer Imelda Corcoran
Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Victoria is married to Australian actor Imelda Corcoran who is known for her roles in LOST and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The two have an 8-year-old daughter, Olivia.
According to an interview with Whisky + Sunshine, the power couple adopted their daughter following the first Avengers film in 2010. “I was packed to go to San Diego for the first biggest Comi-Con of our careers, first Avengers,” said Alonso “And we get a call from her birth mom in Chicago, and we left. And I called the boys and I said, ‘I gotta go. I’m gonna go get my girl’. And I did. And I came back a week later with Olivia. And I brought her to work for 18 months, 3 days a week.”
5. She Grew Up In a Military Dictatorship
Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney
Alonso got her fearless demeanor growing up in a military dictatorship in Argentina. In an interview with Whisky + Sunshine, she described her upbringing and how it turned her into who she is, saying “People were getting taken away and killed. And my mother—my father died when I was 6, and my mother never remarried. She was a high official in the ministry of education, and she kept us safe. She kept us strong. She kept us open-minded.” Adding, “And she never took anything from anybody, not the military, not no one.”
Her childhood was filled with traumatic experiences, “My mom’s the woman that was left on the road bleeding with me on her hands for not saying something” she said, “these thugs came and beat her and left her for dead on the street—I’ve never told this story before—with me in her arms. I was a baby. She’s a strong, strong girl. And she just whenever she regained consciousness, she got up and took us and off we went.”
According to Alonso, her mother gave her the strength and determination to get her where she is today.