Juan Diego Botto

Along with established talents such as Leonardo Sbaraglia or Ernesto Alterio , the Buenos Aires native Juan Diego Botto is part of that generation of actors who came from Argentina, but whose film career was gestated and, above all, developed in Spain. In the case of Juan Diego Botto, his appearance as a rebellious and rebellious young man, with a certain irresponsible streak, has made him suitable for being part of many Spanish films that featured this type of role.

Born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on August 29, 1975, Juan Diego is the son of fellow actors, Diego and Cristina. Tragedy soon overtook the future interpreter, because in 1977, when he was only two years old, his father was assassinated by the Military Junta of the Argentine dictatorship. After that terrible loss, her mother Cristina decided to flee the country and went to Spain, along with her two children, María and Juan Diego, who had already turned four. Back in Madrid he studied acting at the school where his mother taught and later he furthered his studies in New York. Juan Diego Botto defines himself politically on the left and is one of those who actively militates, as he has shown by directing a segment of the electoral documentaryThere is reason! (2004).

He began his career very early, with slight appearances in very mediocre films, such as Tuesday and thirteen, neither marry nor embark (1982) or Power Game (1983). His following projects had a greater scope,Berta’s motives , by José Luis Guerín , and El río de oro , by Jaime Chávarri . As a teenager, he was part of other films of some renown in the final years of the 80s, such asIf they tell you that I fell , an adaptation of the novel by Juan Marsé ;How to be a woman and not die trying , the same as the novel by Carmen Rico-Godoy ; or even1492. The conquest of paradise , by Ridley Scott , where he played the very son of Christopher Columbus. He also starred in those years in the French-American television series Las nuevas aventuras del Zorro , which had no less than 87 episodes. But things didn’t really start to change for the actor, until Montxo Armendáriz signed him to star inHistorias del Kronen , dark adaptation of the novel by José Ángel Mañas . Botto plays Carlos, a young man who pushes his experiences with drugs, sex and alcohol to the limit. The film defined a type of Spanish youth, bewildered and without ideals, whose life was just a blind flight forward.

After that role, the actor’s face became more famous and a time of relative popularity began, although in general his films do not reach a high quality and abuse rudeness and risque tone: it was Calixto in the version ofGerardo Vera ‘s matchmaker , appeared in the homosexual comedyMore than love, frenzy and “accommodated”In the arms of the mature woman with Faye Dunaway . In 1997 she went up a notch with the remarkableMartín (Hache) , solid drama by his compatriot Adolfo Aristarain , with whom he would happily work again seven years later inRome (2004) . Although he continued to do some comedies, such asI will survive , the directors already counted on him for another type of more substantial roles: a disturbing type –Plenilunio (1999), based on the novel by Antonio Muñoz Molina orThirteen chimes (2002)– or in larger dramas, such asDance Steps (2002), directed by John Malkovich . Montxo Armendáriz, one of the directors who has best known how to take advantage of his talent, brought him back to the fore with two more than worthy films:Broken silence (2001), the story of a maquis, andObaba (2005), a collection of prints set in the town created by the Basque writer Bernardo Atxaga .

In recent years, Botto has excelled in dramatic films, such asLa fiesta del Chivo (2005), an adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa ;Go away from me (2006), together with Juan Diego; eitherThe Anarchist’s Woman (2008), with María Valverde . And with her latest film so far, she has shown greater maturity and versatility. Is aboutEverything you want , directed by the prestigious Achero Mañas .