Profiles: Cristina Umaña | Proimágenes Colombia

Born in Ibagué, Tolima, she is a seasoned actress with an extensive career. From a young age, she took literature and theater workshops and joined the theater group at Las Esclavas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús high school. At 18, she moved to Mexico to study at Televisa's Centro de Educación Artística (Center for Artistic Education). She later expanded her training with acting workshops led by John Strasberg in New York, character development with Agustín Alezzo in Buenos Aires, Theater of the Absurd with Agustín Alezzo in Bogotá, clown training with Hernán Gené, the Suzuki method with Helen Lauren, and character creation with Miguel Ponce. She also took private lessons with actress Victoria Hernández.
 
She made her television debut in the 1990s with telenovelas such as La mujer del Presidente (The President's Wife; Caracol, 1997), in which she played the role of Robin. This breakout role earned her the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1998 TV y Novelas Awards and the Best New Actress award at the 1998 Shock Awards. Her first lead role came soon after in Yo amo a Paquita Gallego (I Love Paquita Gallego; RTI, 1998–1999). She went on to appear in La traga maluca (Bad Crush; Caracol TV, 2000–2001), Siete veces amada (Seven Times Loved; Caracol TV, 2002), Punto de giro (Turning Point; RCN TV, 2003), Todos quieren con Marilyn (Everybody Wants Marilyn; RCN TV, 2004), Vuelo 15-03 (Flight 1503; Caracol TV, 2005–2006), Amnesia (Amnesia; Caracol TV, 2006), Tiempo final (Final Time; FOX Telecolombia, 2007), Mujeres asesinas (Killer Women; Vista Producciones–RCN TV, 2007), La dama de Troya (The Lady of Troy; FOX Telecolombia, 2008), Sin retorno (No Way Back; FOX Telecolombia, 2008), ¿Dónde está Elisa? (Where Is Elisa?; RCN, 2012), three seasons of Cumbia ninja (Cumbia Ninja; FOX Telecolombia, 2014), and Sala de Urgencias (Emergency Room; 2015), among others.
 
In recent years, she has appeared in a range of streaming series, including Capadocia (Max), Jack Ryan (Prime Video), Noticia de un secuestro (News of a Kidnapping, Prime Video)—a role that earned her a Platino Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Series—Distrito salvaje (Wild District, Netflix), Season 3 of La casa de las flores (The House of Flowers, Netflix), Narcos (Netflix), 15 a la hora (Minimun Wage, Paramount+), Primate 2 (Prime Video), and Consuelo (MediaPro).

She made her film debut in Malamor (Bad Love, 1999), directed by Jorge Echeverri, and went on to appear in the short films Quién paga el pato (Who Pays the Price, 2001) by Pablo Mora, and Hoy es un día distinto (Today is a Different Day, 2005) by Pablo González. She later starred in El Rey (The King, 2003) by Antonio Dorado Zúñiga, co-starred in Dios los junta y ellos se separan (God Brings Them Together and They Split Up, 2004) by Harold Trompetero, and appeared in Lecciones para un beso (Lessons for a Kiss, 2011) by Juan Pablo Bustamante, La vida era en serio (Life Was for Real, 2011) by Mónica Borda, Virginia Casta (2017) by Claudio Cataño, Wait For Me (2018) by Juan Carlos Castañeda, and Los iniciados: el diario de las sombras (The Initiated: Written From the Shadows, 2024) by Carlos Moreno.

Her theater credits include Los Demonios (The Demons, 2000), directed by Pawel Nowicki; Como aprendí a manejar (How I Learned to Drive, 2001), directed by Juan Ángel; Hombres en escabeche (Men in Marinade, 2005), directed by Manolo Orjuela and Fanny Mikey; Carta a una desconocida (Letter to an Unknown Woman, 2005–2006), directed by Manolo Orjuela; and Prima Facie, directed by Nicolás Montero.
 
In 2025, she was elected President of the Board of Directors of the Colombian Academy of Film for the 2025–2027 term, succeeding her colleague, Natalia Reyes.