Advanced search

Javier Bardem belongs to a family of actors that have been working on films since the early days of Spanish cinema.

He was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, to actress Pilar Bardem (María del Pilar Bardem Muñoz) and businessman José Carlos Encinas Doussinague. His maternal grandparents were actors Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, and his uncle is screenwriter Juan Antonio Bardem. He got his start in the family business, at age six, when he appeared in his first feature, "El picaro" (1974) (A.K.A. The Scoundrel). During his teenage years, he acted in several TV series, played rugby for the Spanish National Team, and toured the country with an independent theatrical group. Javier's early film role as a sexy stud in the black comedy, Jamón, Jamón (1992) (aka Ham Ham) propelled him to instant popularity and threatened to typecast him as nothing more than a brawny sex symbol. Determined to avert a beefcake image, he refused similar subsequent roles and has gone on to win acclaim for his ability to appear almost unrecognizable from film to film. With over 25 movies and numerous awards under his belt, it is Javier's stirring, passionate performance as the persecuted Cuban writer, Reynaldo Arenas, in Before Night Falls (2000) that will long be remembered as his breakthrough role. He received five Best Actor awards and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal.

Rossy De Palma was born September 16, 1964. She was discovered in 1986 by Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer Pedro Almodóvar at a café in Madrid. She appeared in several of his films: Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), Broken Embraces (2009), and two of which earned her two Goya nominations for performances in Kika (1993) and The Flower of My Secret (1995).

Kira Miró was born on 13 March 1980 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Broken Embraces (2009), Ferpect Crime (2004) and Paco y Veva (2004).

Victoria Luengo was born on 7 April 1990 in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Antidisturbios (2020), Suro (2022) and Born (2014).

Antonia San Juan was born on 22 March 1961 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress and director, known for All About My Mother (1999), The Platform (2019) and La China (2005).

Nathan Baesel was born in La Palma, California in 1974. He is a popular theater actor on both coasts having graduated from 'The Juilliard School of Drama' (which chose over Yale). He has a BA in Theatre from UCLA and began his collegiate career at Fullerton College. He is a member of Group 31. He has also appeared in various national television spots. Nathan is a founding member of NY-based Theater Mitu and he performs regularly for the South Coast Repertory.

Ana Wagener was born in 1962 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Biutiful (2010), The Invisible Guest (2016) and The Candidate (2018).

Mónica López was born on 30 May 1969 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Rapa (2022), En la ciudad (2003) and The Uninvited Guest (2004).

Spanish-born Josep Lluis Moll studied music in Madrid and at the Paris Conservatoire. Having changed his name to Fortunio Bonanova (which, at the time, would have sounded more becoming of a budding musical star), he went on to make his international opera debut as a baritone in 1922. A protégé of the famous Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin Sr., he was hailed as a major talent and launched on a successful tour of Europe and South America in 1923. For most of the 1920's, he was based in Paris, performing and writing plays and short stories.

His first fling with the movies took place in 1922, when he starred in the title role of Don Juan Tenorio (1922), a Spanish production filmed in Barcelona. During the late 20's and early 30's, he ran his own repertory company in South America. Bonanova subsequently moved to the United States, settling down permanently after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. While in the U.S., he divided his time between appearing on stage (including two performances on Broadway) and acting in small supporting roles in Hollywood. His looks and temperament inevitably got him typecast as excitable, or pompous Latin Americans, Spaniards or Italians. He often played aristocratic dons, opera singers, managers or police chiefs, either humorous and serious.

Many of his appearances on screen were all too brief. At his most memorable, he was the exasperated opera coach Signor Matiste, desperately trying not to lose patience with his talentless pupil, the wife of Citizen Kane (1941). He was also effective as down-on-his-luck Sam Galopis, clumsily attempting insurance fraud in Double Indemnity (1944); and as Carmen Trivago, a sad wannabe opera star, who sees his priceless collection of Caruso recordings smashed to pieces by a brutish Mike Hammer, in the process of coercing him to divulge information in Kiss Me Deadly (1955).

Bonanova played a multitude of similar roles until his retirement in the mid-1960's. He died in Woodland Hills, California, in April 1969 at the age of 74.

Salva Reina is an actor born in Málaga, Spain. He is known for films like La isla mínima (2014), 321 días en Michigan (2014) and Bla Bla Bla (2015). He is also know for the TV show Allí abajo.

He didn't study art at first but he ended up being a humorist and an actor. He starting his acting career at SOS Estudiantes a TV show for the regional channel Canal Sur. Nowadays, he is filming the fourth season for Allí Abajo.

Alba Brunet was born in 1993 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. She is an actress, known for Operation Mincemeat (2021), Barcelona 1714 (2019) and Paraíso (2021).

Marven Gabriel Suarez-Brinkert was born in 2003 in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. He is an actor, known for The Social Experiment (2022), Tatort (1970) and Barcelona Crime (2017).

Laura Kohoot was born in Tres Palmas, Paraguay. She is known for Jumping the Broom (2011), All the Wrong Reasons (2013) and Haven (2010).

Alejo Sauras was born on 29 June 1979 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. He is an actor, known for Estoy vivo (2017), Broken Embraces (2009) and Fermat's Room (2007).

Kimberley Tell was born in Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Ena. La reina Victoria Eugenia (2024), Hierro (2019) and Uno equis dos (2025).

Brays Efe was born on 30 September 1988 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. He is an actor and writer, known for Paquita Salas (2016), La mesa baila (2013) and Unknown Origins (2020).

Agustí Villaronga was born on 4 March 1953 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. He was a director and writer, known for Moon Child (1989), Black Bread (2010) and The Belly of the Sea (2021). He died on 22 January 2023 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Born in 1972 in Las Palmas (Spain), Mar Sodupe spent her youth between Spain, Moscow and London. After graduating in Physics at Imperial college, she followed theater training for 4 years at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles and New York . She then settled in Paris where she began working in a montage of texts by Jean Cocteau and collaborated with French filmmakers such as Michel Blanc ('Mauvaise passe'), François Dupeyron ('Le voyage'), Alain Corneau ('Les mots bleus'), Pierre Jolivet ('En plein coeur'), Jean François Richet, Julie Gavras or Mario Fanfani among others, sharing screen with Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Virginie Ledoyen, Emmanuelle Seigner, Sergi López, Vincent Lindon etc... Simultaneously she started going back and forth to her native country Spain, shooting in movies and tv shows such as I know who you are or Monteperdido. Recently has been back on stage for the National Theater in Madrid as a lead actress. She has acted in British coproductions such as The White Crow and The Mallorca Files. She has three sons.

José Elías Moreno was born on 12 November 1910 in Las Palmas, Unión de San Antonio, Jalisco, Mexico. He was an actor and writer, known for Santa Claus (1959), Las tres perfectas casadas (1953) and La bestia magnífica (1952). He was married to Beatriz Jimeno. He died on 15 July 1969 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.

Mateo Gil was born on 23 September 1972 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Agora (2009), Open Your Eyes (1997) and The Sea Inside (2004).

Adrián Guerra was born in April 1984 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. He is a producer, known for Buried (2010), Through My Window (2022) and Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End (2024).

Miguel Ángel Jiménez was born in 1981 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He is an actor, known for Wrong Side of the Tracks (2021), Policías, en el corazón de la calle (2000) and Drug Squad: Costa del Sol (2019).

Daniel Monzón was born in 1968 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Cell 211 (2009), El corazón del guerrero (1999) and El nino (2014).

Yaiza Guimaré was born in 1976 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress, known for Hierro (2019), Countdown (2007) and La fuga (2012).

Alberto Pavón is an established actor with extensive experience in film, TV and theatre, primarily in Spain. He was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on November 13, 1975. His parents are José and Josefa Pavón and he has an older brother, Baltasar, who he considers his "source of inspiration". As a child, Alberto was mischievous and, to his own admission, uncontrollable. He admits he felt the urge to touch and investigate everything that surrounded him, which led him to break apart toys and tools to understand how things worked, which got him into trouble more often than not. He was a good student, and his father initially wanted him to be a doctor, but Alberto had other plans.

As a teen he didn't particularly consider himself attractive. He describes himself, at that time, as awkward and too thin, and he claims he wasn't popular with the girls. As he turned 18, the age at which he was required to join the mandatory military service in Spain, he got involved with physical fitness, a passion that he would pursue for the rest of his life. Alberto credits his fitness regime for building up his confidence, and after the service he decided to become a personal trainer. His work as a trainer sparked his interest in modeling and acting, and it would be a natural and successful progression for him.

He was a contestant in the male beauty pageant "Mr. Baleares", held annually in the Spanish isles that share that name. He was the runner-up, and this exposure led him to other opportunities that increased his visibility in the competitive modeling industry. In the late 90s he left Mallorca for Barcelona, a major hub for the Spanish modeling segment. Once he delved deeper into training as an actor and voice-over performer, he began to appear in commercials and ads for major European and multinational brands, among them Burger King, Sony Tablet, Stefanel (Italy), Roomba, Ariel, Toyota (Japan) and ING Direct (spokesperson for Spain).

In the early 2000s he moved to Madrid, where he honed in on his acting craft by studying under the Meisner Method, on-screen and on-stage performance courses at the prestigious Centro de Artes y Técnicas Audiovisuales (CATA) and studying under renowned Spanish teachers Angeles Albadalejo and Miguel Garcés. Alberto was very busy between 2006 and 2013, appearing in theatre ("Eloisa está Debajo de un Almendro" and "Poquita Cosa", among others), TV series (notably the popular shows "La Que Se Avecina", where he played the brother, "Planta 25" and "Yo Soy Bea") and feature films, such as "Aún Hay Tiempo", "Tequila" and the teaser "La Rabia", all filmed and produced in Spain.

In 2013 Alberto moved to Mexico City, looking to cross over to the TV and film industry in the Americas. He auditioned was quickly selected for the role as the main villain in the Mexican telenovela "La Impostora', which debuted on Telemundo in January 2014. He plays against lauded Argentinian-Mexican actress Christian Bach and her son, the actor Sebastian Zurita. The show is in active production in 2014.