Elena has worked on over 100 movies & TV shows, ranging from $200K indies to $300M blockbusters, that have totaled over $10 Billion at the worldwide box office.

Born in Germany to a German mother and Spanish father, Elena started performing during her childhood in plays such as "Return to Neverland" and "The Nutcracker." After graduating from Cornell University she continued her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Elena's feature film debut as an actress was the global blockbuster The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, where she played Cecelia, the tribute from District 8.  She has since shared the screen acting in scenes opposite Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Tim Roth, and William Forsythe, and has performed alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Chris Pratt, and Gerard Butler. Elena's television appearances include roles on CBS’s NCIS: New Orleans, FOX’s Sleepy Hollow, and AMC’s The Walking, where she memorably killed off bratty villain Sebastian Milton in the final season.

Elena has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in Avengers: Endgame, has been nominated five additional times, and has been nominated for two Taurus World Stunt Awards.

Elena can currently be in the feature film Open, and can next be seen in Bone Face, Cold Deck, and Rewind, to be released in 2024.

“Good work! Thanks for being a part of DMZ!”
– AVA DUVERNAY (Director/Academy Award and Emmy nominee)

“...beyond being an arresting presence in front of the camera, Elena is just a delightful, charming, generous, and disarming human being who made our set and our film better and brighter by her presence.”
– MILES DOLEAC (Director of Demigod and Open)

“[Elena was] very professional and always searching for better ways to do the scenes.”
– DEMIAN BICHIR (Director/Academy Award nominated Actor)

“Elena is hard working, professional and has a fantastic energy onset which really helps bring the best out of others.”
– BEN YOUNG (Director of Devil's Peak

“Sanchez is a consummate professional who always gives it her all, whether acting behind a mask or setting herself on fire.”
– MICHAEL D. HORN (Director of Bone Face)