Paola Turbay Gómez is a Colombian-American actress, model, beauty queen, and television presenter. Related to Julio César Turbay Ayala, Turbay represented Bogotá in the Miss Colombiabeauty pageant, which she won in 1991. She was the first runner-up in the 1992Miss Universe competition. After finishing her studies in psychology at the Universidad de los Andes, Turbay focused on her career as a model and presenter in entertainment news segments on Noticias QAP and Noticiero C newscasts, as well as an actress, with shows like Hola Paola during the 1990s. In 2005 she was the official presenter, with Miguel Varoni, of the National Beauty Pageant. She has also made cameo appearances in several Colombian series like O todos en la cama, Ecomoda and Leche. After studying acting inHollywood, Florida, Turbay became the main character of the RCN TV comedyNoticias calientes in 2002. Two years later she would star the telenovelaLas noches de Luciana and in 2006 would present the Colombian version of Dancing with the Stars, Bailando por un Sueño. Paola has also made brief appearances in films such as Lenny the Wonder Dog and Love in the Time of Cholera. In 2007, Turbay played Isabel Vega on the CBS series Cane, which was canceled in May 2008 after only one season. In 2008 she has been participating as a recurring guest star on the ABC series The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She also guested on the Showtime series Californication and had a recurring role as an LAPD detective during the fifth season of TNT's The Closer. On Jan. 6, 2010, she played the role of Beatriz on the CBS series The Mentalist. Paola has been cast on the role of Antonia Gavilán de Logroño for the fourth season of the HBO series True Blood airing in 2011. Starting in 2010, she had a recurring role on Royal Pains as Marissa Cassaras, Boris' love interest, and mother of his son. On 2014 she founded IndieBo, the Bogotá Independent Film Festival and since then she is the executive director of it. IndieBo, is a showcase of the best Colombian and International Independent films held in Bogota, Colombia. It was founded in September 2014 with the firm belief that Bogota needs spaces that contribute to the evolution of film and audience alike. IndieBo aims to convert the city into a stage that brings great media and technology together, and to create an audience that is willing to take more artistic risks.
