[2] When Varela was a child, her family fled Chile after the 1973 military coup d'état.

[3] Varela also had a short recurring role in the Fox Television series Arrested Development as the original Marta.

[4] In 2012, she appeared as Marta Del Sol on the TNT television series Dallas.

[5] Varela was engaged to Billy Zane, her co-star in the 1999 miniseries Cleopatra, (aired in 1999, released to video in 2001).

In November 2012, Varela and Akoskin welcomed their first child together, a son named Matteo.