The last time Argentines saw Sandra Ballesteros on the small screen was in 2007, when she played «Vicky» in the series Lalola. But what few know is that this role not only marked her exit from television, but the beginning of a radical transformation. At 46, the actress who had been the femme fatale of national fiction decided to turn off the set lights and turn on those of a new life deep in the countryside.
An only child of Irma and Héctor, Ballesteros grew up in a home tied to service: her parents owned a gas station in Villaguay, Entre Ríos. But she chose another path. Her beauty and talent took her to the top: she was Eliseo Subiela’s muse in El lado oscuro del corazón, and had leading roles in Gasoleros, Verano del 98 and Resistiré. However, at the peak of her career, something broke.
«I didn’t need so much exposure or to go through the ‘outward’,» she confessed in her last interview, in 2022. A trip to India opened a spiritual door that led her to rethink everything. When her father told her he was going to sell the gas station, she didn’t hesitate: «I told him almost without thinking not to sell it, that I would take charge.» Thus, the screen diva became the owner of the YPF in downtown Villaguay, a place that was renovated in 2019.
But her new life is not limited to dispensing fuel. Ballesteros found in faith a fundamental pillar. «I direct a choir, I set up a living Stations of the Cross and a Pentecost with local people, who are not actors,» she revealed. She belongs to the prayer group Abba Father, at the Santa Rosa de Lima Church, within the Charismatic Catholic Renewal. «I don’t want to sing anything other than for God. When I sing something for Him, I am transported to heaven and I am happy and fulfilled,» she assured.
The actress also turned to nature. She has an organic garden that provides her with fresh food, and the surplus she shares with her neighbors. Although in Buenos Aires she was a strict vegan, life in the countryside led her to relax her diet to share barbecues with her loved ones, always with respect for animals. «Vegetables, fruits and legumes are the base,» she clarifies.
Does she miss the spotlight? Not at all. Ballesteros confessed that television «made her suffer.» «It gave me a lot of nerves and anxiety that there was no time to study, but I did it because it was a job,» she explained. However, she holds a special affection for Resistiré, a novel that «broke many parameters.» Today, her routine passes between commerce, faith and daily encounters with her family, whom she visits almost every day.
Until a few years ago, she harbored a deep desire: to adopt a child between 10 and 15 years old. The outcome of that project remains private, shielded from the media spotlight. What is certain is that Sandra Ballesteros found in Villaguay what she was looking for: a life of service, spirituality and inner peace. Far from the flashes, but closer than ever to herself.
Para mí esto es una cachetada a los zurdos de mierda que lloran por todo. Sandra labura en un surtidor mientras ellos piden planes. ¡Viva la libertad carajo! Así se hace, patriotas, dejando de lloriquear y rompiéndose el lomo. Los zurdos boludos no entienden el esfuerzo real.
Para mí esto es la caradurez del capitalismo más rancio: Sandra laburando en un surtidor mientras los chetos de Recoleta se creen dueños de la cultura. Me parece una cachetada a los laburantes que tienen que elegir entre el arte y comer. ¡Viva la lucha de clases, carajo!