A South American Indian from the Venezuelan border, Valesquez spent the first four years of her life in Paris when her father worked for UNESCO. After Paris, her father relocated to Mexico for a few years and then returned to Venezuela. Her parents were both trained as teachers, so she and her five siblings received an excellent education. At 17, Valesquez was discovered by a modeling agency, visiting from Italy. She soon landed in Milan, where she began modeling. Soon her work was sending her to Spain, Japan and France and she was making enough money to help her mother back home. After working for all the top designers in Europe, Valesquez became one of New York's only Hispanic supermodels. In 1997, she stopped modeling to study acting in Los Angeles and New York. Now fluent in English, French and Italian, as well as her native Spanish, Valequez has appeared in films including Jaguar, Le (1996), Eruption (1997), Beowulf (1999), No Vacancy (1999), Facade (1999), Committed (2000) and Turn It Up (2000) and San Bernardo and will next be seen in the television movie Fidel.