Leonor Varela was born on December 9, 1972, in Santiago de Chile, Chile. Daughter of Francisco Varela and Leonor Palma, her family fled to Costa Rica living behind the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Subsequently residing in Germany, USA, and France, where Varela studied.

In the '90s she appears in the Chilean soap Tic Tac, and in other french and Europeans productions like Pony Trek, Sous le soleil, Shooting Stars, 13th Rider, Juste, Le, or Bouge!. Her career in Holywood began in 1998, when she joined the cast of The Man in the Iron Mask when she starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, and she appeared in Jeremiah opposite 'Patrick Dempsey'. The following year (1999), she played the title character in the ABC TV movie _"Cleopatra"(1999) (TV)_ opposite her future fiancé Billy Zane and Timothy Dalton

She appeared in The Tailor of Panama as Marta and in Texas Rangers as Perdita opposite Ashton Kutcher. In 2002 she appeared as the fanged vampire princess Nyssa in the action film Blade II opposite Wesley Snipes and 'Kris Kristofferson' and directed by Guillermo del Toro. After that came in Paraíso B as Gloria and in No Big Deal as Angela.

Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television show Arrested Development as the original Marta. She was nominated for the Ariel Award in 2005 in the category of Best Actress for Innocent Voices. She also had a non-recurring role in Stargate: Atlantis.

In 2005 she appeared playing Adela in Americano, and her followings projects included Goal II: Living the Dream as the journalist Jordana Garcia, Where God Left His Shoes with John Leguizamo and the TV series produced by Jennifer Lopez Como ama una mujer.

In the 2008 Sundance Film Festival she screened Sleep Dealer and the Larry Bishop's Hell Ride, opposite Michael Madsen and Eric Balfour and produced by Quentin Tarantino.
She is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Formerly engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star from the miniseries Cleopatra. Beat out 35 other actresses to play the title role in Cleopatra. Appeared on the cover of thirteen separate editions of the Maxim magazine, each naming a different North American city as the greatest on Earth. Daughter of famous Chilean biologist and philosopher Francisco Varela (1946-2001). After graduating from the Ecole du Passage and the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris, she was ready for the big screen. Her family fled to Costa Rica, leaving behind the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. As a child, she got to see her homeland another time when her family returned to Chile. Her stay in Chile was brief, and she soon found herself in Germany, then back in Chile, and finally in France in her late teens. She is half Chilean on her father's side and French on her mother's side. She lived in Paris from the age of 14. Has 3 siblings, Alejandra, Javier and Gabriel. Was featured as #11 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002" supplement. (2002)