Panama is internationally famous for the Canal, tropical islands, jungles, banking and its extraordinary position between North and South America. But there is another part of Panama's international identity that is sometimes overlooked: Panamanians have been making their mark in international cinema for decades.
The list is surprisingly interesting. Panama has produced internationally recognized actors, while other major film personalities were born in Panama or have Panamanian family connections. Some became Hollywood stars, others built careers in Latin American cinema, and others helped develop Panama's own film industry.
Perhaps the biggest name is Rubén Blades, but he is certainly not the only one.
Rubén Blades: Panama's great crossover star
If you were making a list of Panamanians who have had the biggest international careers in entertainment, Rubén Blades would be extremely difficult to leave out.
Blades is primarily known around the world as a legendary salsa musician and songwriter, but he has also had a substantial acting career. He was born in Panama City in 1948 and has appeared in dozens of films and television productions. His international film credits include The Milagro Beanfield War, Mo' Better Blues, Predator 2, The Devil's Own, Color of Night, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Counselor and other productions. IMDb currently lists dozens of acting credits for him.
His film career is particularly interesting because he never stopped being Rubén Blades the musician while becoming Rubén Blades the actor.
He could appear opposite major Hollywood stars while simultaneously maintaining his career as one of the most important figures in Latin music.
That makes him something of a Panamanian cultural ambassador without necessarily being limited to playing "the Panamanian character." He became a recognizable international actor in his own right.
Jordana Brewster: the Panamanian connection to Fast & Furious
Then there is one of Panama's most surprising connections to modern Hollywood.
Jordana Brewster was born in Panama City on April 26, 1980. She became internationally famous as Mia Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, one of the most successful action-film series in modern cinema.
Mia is the sister of Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, and Brewster remained associated with the character across multiple films in the franchise.
Her other film work includes The Faculty, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Annapolis, while her television career includes Dallas, Lethal Weapon and American Crime Story.
There is an interesting qualification to the "Panamanian movie star" description. Brewster was born in Panama and has Panamanian citizenship, but she was raised internationally, including in London, Rio de Janeiro and New York. Her mother is Brazilian and her father American.
So she isn't a Panamanian actress in quite the same way as someone who grew up and built their career in Panama. But Panama City is literally her birthplace, and she has become one of the most internationally recognizable actors with a Panamanian connection.
For a country of Panama's size, having a major Hollywood franchise star born in its capital is pretty remarkable.
Patricia de León: from Miss Panama to American television and film
Another important Panamanian actress is Patricia de León, who was born in Panama City and later built a career in American television and film. She won the Miss Panama title in 1995 before moving into television and acting.
Her career has included American television programs such as Cold Case, Crossing Jordan and Lincoln Heights, along with film work including The Pool Boys.
Her career is an interesting example of the route taken by many Latin American performers trying to break into the American entertainment industry.
Instead of appearing exclusively in Spanish-language productions, de León moved between Latin American television, American television and cinema.
That crossover is particularly significant because Los Angeles and Hollywood have historically been difficult markets for Latin American actors to enter without being confined to narrowly defined roles.
Panamanian cinema is more than Hollywood
When people hear "Panamanian cinema," they sometimes immediately think about Hollywood productions that happen to have a Panamanian actor.
But Panama has its own film tradition.
Panamanian filmmakers have produced films dealing with the country's history, multicultural society, Canal Zone experience, Caribbean identity, migration, politics, crime, family and everyday life.
The country's geographic position also makes it an interesting cinematic location. Panama can look Caribbean, Central American, South American or distinctly tropical depending on where a film is shot.
You can go from skyscrapers in Panama City to colonial Casco Viejo, Caribbean islands, Pacific beaches, cloud forests and remote jungle without travelling particularly far.
That gives Panamanian cinema an unusually diverse visual palette.
A small country with a surprisingly international screen presence
One of the strange things about Panama's entertainment history is how many internationally known people have connections to the country.
Some were actually born there. Others have Panamanian parents or grandparents. Others developed their careers in Panama before moving abroad.
This distinction is important because "Panamanian celebrity" can mean several different things.
There is a difference between:
Born in Panama
Raised in Panama
Panamanian nationality
Panamanian ancestry
A career developed in Panama
A Hollywood actor with a Panamanian connection
All of these connections are interesting, but they shouldn't be treated as identical.
Jordana Brewster, for example, was born in Panama but largely raised elsewhere. Rubén Blades was born and raised in Panama and became internationally famous while retaining a strong connection to the country. Patricia de León was born in Panama and developed her career through both Panamanian and international entertainment.
Miguel Bosé: a movie star born in Panama
Another fascinating case is Miguel Bosé.
Bosé is primarily known internationally as a Spanish and Italian pop singer, but he has also acted in films. More importantly for Panama, he was born in Panama City in 1956 while his family was there because of his father's work. Panamanian media regularly include him among internationally famous people born in Panama.
Bosé therefore represents another unusual category: a major international entertainment personality whose birthplace happens to be Panama.
He isn't normally described internationally as a "Panamanian movie star," but his connection is nevertheless part of Panama's fascinating celebrity history.
Panama and the Latin American film industry
Panama's film world also connects naturally with the rest of Latin America.
Because the country sits between Central America, the Caribbean and South America, Panamanian actors have historically had opportunities to work in different Spanish-speaking entertainment markets.
Actors can move between Panama, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Spain and the United States.
That international movement has been particularly important for performers who want to work in larger film and television industries.
Rubén Blades is perhaps the ultimate example. His career moved between Panama, New York and Hollywood, while his music connected him with virtually every major Spanish-speaking market.
Panamanian actors in Hollywood
Hollywood has also provided opportunities for Panamanian actors to become visible to enormous international audiences.
Rubén Blades represents the older generation of crossover performers.
Jordana Brewster represents a younger generation that became associated with one of Hollywood's biggest franchises.
Patricia de León represents another route through American television and independent film.
These careers are different, but they have something in common: Panama became part of an international entertainment story rather than remaining the entire story.
That is important.
A successful Panamanian actor doesn't necessarily spend their career playing Panamanians.
They become actors who happen to come from Panama.
Panama's own movie industry
At the same time, Panama has been developing its own cinema.
Local filmmakers have increasingly produced feature films, documentaries and international co-productions. Panama's film industry has also benefited from its position as a filming location and from growing international interest in Latin American cinema.
The country's filmmakers have tackled subjects ranging from Canal history and national identity to immigration, social inequality, crime, family and Panama's extraordinary natural environment.
This is where Panama's cinematic future may become particularly interesting.
For decades, international audiences often saw Panama through the eyes of foreigners: the Canal, American military history, tropical adventure stories, drug trafficking or exotic landscapes.
Panamanian filmmakers have increasingly been able to tell Panama's stories from the inside.
The Caribbean influence
Another fascinating part of Panamanian cinema is the country's Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Panama's Caribbean coast, particularly Colón and Bocas del Toro, has a distinctive cultural history shaped by migration from the Caribbean.
That has influenced Panama's music, language, food, architecture and identity, and it provides filmmakers with stories and characters that are very different from the stereotypical image of Panama City.
Panama isn't culturally uniform.
A movie set in Colón can feel completely different from one set in the mountains of Chiriquí, the islands of Bocas del Toro or the skyscrapers of Panama City.
That diversity gives Panamanian filmmakers plenty to work with.
The Canal as a cinematic subject
Few things have shaped Panama more than the Panama Canal.
It is simultaneously a technological achievement, a symbol of international power, a source of national pride and one of the defining geographical features of the country.
The history surrounding the Canal has therefore provided filmmakers and writers with enormous material.
The Canal Zone, relations between Panama and the United States, the 1964 riots, the struggle for sovereignty and the eventual transfer of the Canal to Panama all form an extraordinary historical backdrop for cinema.
Rubén Blades' work demonstrates how deeply those historical experiences can enter popular culture.
Why Panama produces interesting actors
There is also something about Panama itself that makes it a fascinating environment for performers.
Panama has always been a meeting point.
Spanish culture arrived with the conquest. Indigenous cultures survived and continue to influence the country. Africans and Afro-Caribbean communities profoundly shaped Panamanian culture. Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, European and North American immigrants added further layers.
Then there is the Canal.
For more than a century, Panama has been an unusually international society.
That means Panamanian performers often grow up around multiple cultures, languages and influences.
It shouldn't be surprising that some eventually become comfortable crossing cultural boundaries on screen.
Rubén Blades and Jordana Brewster are particularly unusual
Put Rubén Blades and Jordana Brewster together and you get an extraordinary illustration of Panama's connection to international cinema.
Blades came from Panama City and became an internationally famous musician before developing a substantial acting career.
Brewster was born in Panama City and became an international movie star through Fast & Furious.
Their careers could hardly be more different.
One is a lawyer, musician, songwriter, actor, political figure and former government minister.
The other became globally recognizable as Mia Toretto in a massive Hollywood action franchise.
Yet both have Panama City written into their biographies.
Panama's cinematic story is still being written
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that Panama's cinema story isn't finished.
The country has the locations, the cultural diversity, the history and the international connections to produce much more cinema.
Panama can offer filmmakers everything from Caribbean islands and tropical rainforest to colonial streets, Pacific beaches, modern skyscrapers, indigenous communities and some of the most dramatic biodiversity in Central America.
And increasingly, Panamanians themselves are telling those stories.
So when someone says Panama has produced movie stars, the answer isn't simply "Rubén Blades."
There is Jordana Brewster, the Panama City born star of Fast & Furious; Patricia de León, who crossed from Miss Panama into American television and film; Rubén Blades, the legendary musician who became an internationally recognized actor; and Miguel Bosé, the major Spanish entertainment figure born in Panama.
And behind those better-known names is a much larger Panamanian film community, developing its own cinema and gradually giving the world something more valuable than simply appearances in Hollywood movies: Panamanian stories told by Panamanians.