The Most Famous

ACTORS from Spain

This page contains a list of the greatest Spanish Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 171 of which were born in Spain. This makes Spain the birth place of the 11th most number of Actors behind Italy, and Australia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Spanish Actors of all time. This list of famous Spanish Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Spanish Actors.

1. Antonio Banderas (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 69.69, Antonio Banderas is the most famous Spanish Actor. His biography has been translated into 87 different languages on wikipedia.

José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas (IPA: [anˈtonjo βanˈdeɾas]), is a Spanish actor and director. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a European Film Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards. Banderas made his acting debut at a small theater in Málaga, where he caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who gave the actor his film debut in the screwball comedy Labyrinth of Passion (1982). They have since collaborated on many films including Matador (1986), Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), and The Skin I Live In (2011). For Almodóvar's 2019 film Pain and Glory, Banderas earned various accolades in the Best Actor category including the Cannes Film Festival Award, Goya Award, and nominations from the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. In 1992, Banderas made his American film debut with the musical drama The Mambo Kings (1992). He subsequently appeared in a series of American films such as Philadelphia (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Assassins (1995), and Evita (1996). In 1998, he portrayed Zorro in the swashbuckler film The Mask of Zorro, and reprised the role in The Legend of Zorro (2005). In 1999, he made his directorial debut with the comedy film Crazy in Alabama. He is a frequent collaborator with director Robert Rodriguez, having starred as El Mariachi in the Mexico Trilogy films Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), the first three films of the Spy Kids series (2001–2003), and Machete Kills (2013). He also provided the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise (2004–present) starting with Shrek 2 (2004) and most recently Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). In 2003, Banderas made his US theater debut as Guido Contini in Nine, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award. He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his roles in the television film And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2004) and the second season of Genius (2018); his portrayal of Pablo Picasso in the latter garnered him critical praise.

2. Penélope Cruz (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 65.39, Penélope Cruz is the 2nd most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 100 different languages.

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. Cruz made her acting debut on television at 16, and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles included Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), Don Juan (1998), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000), and Woman on Top (2000). She is known for her frequent collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I'm So Excited! (2013), Pain and Glory (2019), and Parallel Mothers (2021). For her role in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Cruz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other Oscar-nominated roles were in Volver (2006), Nine (2009), and Parallel Mothers (2021). Other notable films include Vanilla Sky (2001), Blow (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), The Counselor (2013), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Everybody Knows (2018), Official Competition (2022), L'immensità (2022) and Ferrari (2023). For her role as Donatella Versace in the miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018), she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Since 2010, Cruz has been married to Spanish actor Javier Bardem. She has done modelling work for Mango, Ralph Lauren, and L'Oréal, and along with her younger sister Mónica Cruz, designed clothing for Mango. She has been a house ambassador for Chanel since 2018. She has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission. She is the only Spanish actress to have won an Academy Award and to have received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

3. Carmen Amaya (1913 - 1963)

With an HPI of 65.26, Carmen Amaya is the 3rd most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Carmen Amaya Amaya (2 November 1918 – 19 November 1963) was a Spanish Romani flamenco dancer and singer, born in the Somorrostro district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She has been called "the greatest Flamenco dancer ever" and "the most extraordinary personality of all time in flamenco dance." She was the first female flamenco dancer to master footwork previously reserved for the best male dancers, due to its speed and intensity. She sometimes danced in high-waisted trousers as a symbol of her strong character.

4. Fernando Rey (1917 - 1994)

With an HPI of 63.31, Fernando Rey is the 4th most famous Spanish Actor. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Fernando Casado Arambillet (A Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for his roles in the films of surrealist director Luis Buñuel (Viridiana, 1961; Tristana, 1970; Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, 1972; That Obscure Object of Desire, 1977) and as the drug lord Alain Charnier in The French Connection (1971) and French Connection II (1975), he appeared in more than 150 films over half a century. The debonair Rey was described by French Connection producer Philip D'Antoni as "the last of the Continental guys". He achieved his greatest fame after he turned 50: "Perhaps it is a pity that my success came so late in life", he told the Los Angeles Times. "It might have been better to have been successful while young, like El Cordobés in the bullring. Then your life is all before you to enjoy it."

5. Javier Bardem (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 63.18, Javier Bardem is the 5th most famous Spanish Actor. His biography has been translated into 70 different languages.

Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. A son of actress Pilar Bardem, he first became known for such Spanish films as Jamón jamón (1992), Boca a boca (1995), Carne trémula (1997), Los lunes al sol (2002), and Mar adentro (2004). He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls (2000), a criminal with cancer in Biutiful (2010), and Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos (2021). His portrayal of assassin Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' western film No Country for Old Men (2007) won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Bardem has also starred in Woody Allen's romantic drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Sam Mendes's James Bond spy film Skyfall (2012), Terrence Malick's drama To the Wonder (2013), Darren Aronofsky's horror film mother! (2017), Asghar Farhadi's mystery drama Everybody Knows (2018), Denis Villeneuve's science fiction films Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), and Disney's live-action remake The Little Mermaid (2023). Bardem has been married since 2010 to actress Penélope Cruz, with whom he shares two children. In January 2018, Bardem became the ambassador of Greenpeace for the protection of Antarctica.

6. La Belle Otero (1868 - 1965)

With an HPI of 62.35, La Belle Otero is the 6th most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias (4 November 1868 – 10 April 1965), better known as Carolina Otero or La Belle Otero, was a Spanish actress, dancer and courtesan. She had a reputation for great beauty and was famous for her numerous lovers.

7. Carmen Maura (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 61.41, Carmen Maura is the 7th most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

María del Carmen García Maura (born 15 September 1945) is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, she has starred in films such as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, ¡Ay Carmela!, Common Wealth, and Volver. She holds the record for most Goya Awards for Best Leading Actress (with three). She also won a Cesar Award in 2013 and a Cannes Film Festival Award in 2006.

8. Francisco Rabal (1926 - 2001)

With an HPI of 60.51, Francisco Rabal is the 8th most famous Spanish Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Rabal appeared in around 200 films working with directors including Francesc Rovira-Beleta, Luis Buñuel, José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, William Friedkin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Claude Chabrol, Luchino Visconti, and Gillo Pontecorvo. Paco Rabal was recognized both in his native Spain and internationally, winning the Award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for Los Santos Inocentes and a Goya Award for Best Actor for playing Francisco de Goya in Carlos Saura's Goya en Burdeos. One of Spain's most loved actors, Rabal also was known for his commitment to human rights and other social causes.

9. Marisa Paredes (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 60.32, Marisa Paredes is the 9th most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

María Luisa Paredes Bartolomé (born 3 April 1946), known professionally as Marisa Paredes, is a Spanish actress.

10. Sara Montiel (1928 - 2013)

With an HPI of 59.72, Sara Montiel is the 10th most famous Spanish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

María Antonia Abad Fernández MML (10 March 1928 – 8 April 2013), known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish actress and singer. She began her career in the 1940s and became the most internationally popular and highest paid star of Spanish cinema in the 1960s. She appeared in nearly fifty films and recorded around 500 songs in five different languages.Montiel was born in Campo de Criptana in the region of La Mancha in 1928. She began her acting career in Spain starring in films such as Don Quixote (1947) and Madness for Love (1948). She moved to Mexico where she starred in films such as Women's Prison (1951) and Red Fury (1951). She then moved to the United States and worked in three Hollywood English-language films Vera Cruz (1954), Serenade (1956) and Run of the Arrow (1957). She returned to Spain to star in the musical films The Last Torch Song (1957) and The Violet Seller (1958). These two films netted the highest gross revenues ever recorded internationally for films made in the Spanish-speaking movie industry during the 1950s/60s and made her immensely popular. She then established herself also as a singer thanks to the songs she performed in her films and combined filming new musical films, recording songs and performing live. Throughout her career, Montiel's personal life was the subject of constant media attention in the Spanish-speaking world. She was married four times and adopted two children.

People

Pantheon has 200 people classified as Spanish actors born between 1868 and 2005. Of these 200, 161 (80.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Spanish actors include Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem. The most famous deceased Spanish actors include Carmen Amaya, Fernando Rey, and La Belle Otero. As of April 2024, 29 new Spanish actors have been added to Pantheon including José Sacristán, Juan Diego, and María Galiana.