Carlos Iglesias Serrano (born 15 July 1955) is a Spanish actor and filmmaker. From 1998 to 2001, he starred as Benito in the comedy television series ''

Manos a la obra ''Manos a la obra'' is a Spanish comedy television series starring Ángel de Andrés and Carlos Iglesias that originally aired on Antena 3 from 1998 to 2001. Premise The fiction follows the mishaps of a duo of clumsy and lazy bricklayers, Ma ...

'', extremely popular for Spanish audiences throughout its broadcasting run.

Biography

Carlos Iglesias Serrano was born on 15 July 1955 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, living for a time with his family in

Quintanar de la Orden Quintanar de la Orden is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Toledo, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 87.87 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, the municipality has a registered population of 11,148. It ...

. From 1960 to 1966, he lived in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where his parents had immigrated. After returning to Spain, and living in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

and Madrid, he graduated from the

RESAD The Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático (RESAD, ) is a drama school in Madrid, Spain. History It traces its origins back to the foundation of the ''Escuela de Declamación Española'' () in May 1831. Proposed by , director of the '' Real ...

. He earned early public recognition in the 1990s for his appearances as 'Pepelu' in the late-night show '. He earned further recognition for his performance in Antena 3 comedy television series ''

'' (1998–2001), a massive audience hit that broke the 6 million viewers per episode mark, starring in a tandem alongside

Ángel de Andrés Ángel de Andrés Miquel was a Spanish theatre actor and director. Background In 1938, after the Spanish Civil War broke out, the young Andrés worked as an amateur street actor and then as a "galán cómico" in the Salvador Videgain theatre ...

, respectively portraying Benito Lopera and Manolo Jumilla, two clumsy and lazy bricklayers. The broadcasting run from 1998 to 2001 comprised 6 seasons and about 130 episodes. Iglesias starred as

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (Torrelavega, Cantabria 2 January 1940) is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. His 1973 film ''Habla, mudita'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 1977, he won the Silver Bear for Bes ...

's 2002 film ''

Don Quixote, Knight Errant ''Don Quixote, Knight Errant'' ( es, El caballero Don Quijote, links=no) is a 2002 Spanish adventure film directed and written by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, consisting of an adaptation of the second part of Miguel de Cervantes' ''Don Quixote''. It ...

'', earning a nomination to the

Goya Award for Best New Actor The Goya Award for Best New Actor ( es, Premio Goya al mejor actor revelación, links=no) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (s ...

for his performance. He returned as Benito alongside Ángel de Andrés in ' (2006–2007), a revival of the popular duo that proved to be an audience failure owing to the worn-out plots, and was cancelled after 1 season of 12 episodes. Iglesias made his feature film directorial debut with the 2006 immigration comedy-drama '' Crossing the Border'' (), in which he also starred and took over writing duties. His second feature was ''Inspansi (¡Españoles!)'', whose plot also related to the

Spanish diaspora The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain. In the Americas, the term may refer to those of Spanish nationality living there; "Hispanic" is usually a more appropriate term to describe the gener ...

. He also directed the sequel to ''Crossing the Border'', ''2 Francos, 40 pesetas'', released in 2014.

Film director

* 2006: ''

Un Franco, 14 pesetas ''Crossing the Border'', also known as ''Crossing Borders'' ( es, Un franco, 14 pesetas, links=no; ) is a 2006 Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Carlos Iglesias, who also stars in alongside Javier Gutiérrez, Nieve de Medina and . Plot Se ...

'' (''Crossing the Border'') * 2011: ' * 2014: ' * 2020: ''La suite nupcial''

Accolades

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Carlos 1955 births Living people 20th-century Spanish male actors Spanish male television actors Spanish male film actors Spanish film directors Spanish screenwriters