Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haifi Stela Popescu a cikin dangin malamai a ƙauyen Slobozia-Hodorogea, Orhei. Abu na farko da ta tuna shi ne
Harkokin Soviet na Bessarabia. A 1940, an tura mahaifinta zuwa Siberia kuma ba ta san abin da ya faru da shi ba har tsawon shekaru 19. A cikin 1944, lokacin da Sojojin Red suka sake mamaye Bessarabia, bayan da sojojin Romania suka 'yantar da ita a 1941, mahaifiyarta ta gudu tare da' yarta zuwa Brașov a cikin Romania mai 'yanci. A shekara ta 1953, ta wuce jarabawar shiga kwaleji kuma an tura ta zuwa Makarantar Harshe ta Rasha "Maxim Gorki". Ta yi watsi da karatun bayan shekara daya da rabi lokacin da ta shiga gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Ma'aikatar Cikin Gida. A cikin 1956, an shigar da ita cikin Cibiyar Gidan Wasanni da Cinematography, yayin da take ci gaba da yin wasan kwaikwayo.