Cláudia Abreu was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 12th 1970. Her parents, Regina Abreu and Helcio Varella, divorced when she was only 4 months old. When she was 10, she began acting in the Tablado theater. She began acting in soap operas when she was 16, after she was invited to act in the series "Hipertensão" (1986) . Cláudia acted in many Brazilian soaps like "Fera Radical" (1988), "Anos Rebeldes" (1992), "Pátria Minha" (1994) and "Força de Um Desejo"(1999). After portraying her first villain, Laura Prudente da Costa, in the successful Brazilian series "Celebridade" (2003), Cláudia got her first protagonist role in the series "Belíssima" (2005).She also participated in various movies, like "Tieta do Agreste" (1996), "Ed Mort" (1997), "Guerra de Canudos" (1997) and "Homem do Ano, O" (2003).When she was 26, Cláudia married director José Henrique Fonseca. The couple has a daughter named Maria.When she has free time, she enjoys staying at home with her family, eating and studying philosophy.