Eduard Fernández Serrano (born 25 August 1964) is a Spanish screen and stage actor from Catalonia. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including four

Goya Awards The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

Life and career

Eduard Fernández was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 25 August 1964. He trained as a

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

at the Barcelona's Institut del Teatre, and did street performances as such. He had a 25-year relationship with writer , with whom he had one daughter, Greta, who is also an actress. Following a theatre (he was a member of ) and television career, he made his feature film debut at age 30, in 1994 film ''

Souvenir A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

''. His breakthrough film role in 1999 thriller '' Washington Wolves'' earned him a nomination to the Goya Award for Best New Actor. His portrayal of Santos Vella, a contemporary

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles ( , ), also known as Mephostophilis or Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore, originating as the chief devil in the Faust legend. He has since become a stock character appearing in Mephistopheles in the arts and popular ...

, in '' Fausto 5.0'' (2001) earned him the

Goya Award for Best Actor The Goya Award for Best Actor (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación masculina protagonista'') is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. Actors that won or were nominated for this category ha ...

. Fernández starred in Alberto Rodríguez's political thriller '' Smoke & Mirrors'' (2016) as corrupt spy/fixer Francisco Paesa, clinching the Silver Shell for Best Actor at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

. In 2019, he portrayed the founder of the

Spanish Legion For centuries, Spain recruited foreign soldiers to its army, forming the foreign regiments () such as the Regiment of Hibernia (formed in 1709 from Irishmen who fled their own country in the wake of the Flight of the Earls and the Penal la ...

, one-eyed and one-armed Millán Astray, in '' While at War'', a drama film set in the early stages of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

focused on the plight of philosopher

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (; ; 29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical ...

. For his performance in the film, he won a Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in Belén Funes' social drama '' A Thief's Daughter'' in tandem with his daughter Greta. In 2021, Fernández featured in '' Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea'', in which he portrayed Open Arms founder Òscar Camps, the protagonist of the film. Fernández featured in 2022 psychological thriller '' God's Crooked Lines'' (2022), portraying psychiatric hospital director Samuel Alvar, the nemesis of lead character Alice Gould. In an interview to '' Vanity Fair'', Fernández stated that he believed his character to be "a bit misogynistic in addition to having a big ego". In 2024, Fernández portrayed two iconic roles in film: Manolo Vital in '' The 47'' and Enric Marco in '' Marco, the Invented Truth'', the former a bus driver of immigrant background who hijacked a Barcelona bus line in 1978 in order to stand for his neighbors' rights and the latter an impostor who falsely pretended to be a survivor of the Flossenburg concentration camp. For the aforementioned performances, he respectively won the Gaudí and the Goya Awards for Best Leading Actor. Also in 2024, he was awarded the

Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts () is awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featurin ...

. The year was rounded up with the short film ''El otro'', Fernández's directorial debut, which premiered at the 69th Seminci.

Partial filmography

Films

Television

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Eduard 1964 births Living people Spanish male film actors Spanish male stage actors Spanish male television actors 20th-century Spanish male actors 21st-century Spanish male actors Male actors from Barcelona Best Actor Goya Award winners Best Supporting Actor Goya Award winners