Juan Echanove

It is clear that Juan Echanove likes what he does, he enjoys it. You only have to see him in the movies, with that face that he has so unique that he seems to always be in the dark and that he accentuates by opening his mouth with a smug expression every now and then. Since he began to represent plays at school, he fell in love with acting: “being an actor is the most beautiful profession in the world,” he says without embarrassment. And of course he speaks like someone who knows the trade, since he has an extensive curriculum, both on stage and on the big screen.

Born in Madrid on April 1, 1961, Juan Echanove is the youngest of three brothers, the son of an engineer and a housewife. He studied at the Menesian Brothers school and it was there that he became interested in the world of acting, participating in plays such as “Una tal Dulcinea” by Alfonso Paso or “Thieves are honest people” by Enrique Jardiel Poncela .. He later enrolled in Law at the Complutense University, but only reached the third year. At that time he was already a regular part of some theater groups and had even created a company in San Lorenzo de El Escorial with other friends. To delve deeper into that world, he decided to attend the School of Dramatic Art in Madrid. However, although he entered easily, this occupation did not last long either. It can already be seen that life itself and the profession of an actor were the best school for him, because he preferred to continue offering his skills in professional theater companies to listening and following pedagogical techniques. And since then he has never left the world of theater, and has participated in about thirty plays. But since 1983 he has combined his work on stage with appearances in movies and on television.

His first small film role took place in El caso Almería , by Pedro Costa , which was followed by another brief appearance in La noche más hermosa (1984), by Manuel Gutierrez Aragón. Little by little, his characters began to have first and last names, as in La hora bruja (1985), by Jaime de Armiñán . It is the year 1986 that marks a before and after in his career. He shoots two renowned films with the directors Vicente Aranda and Imanol Uribe , titled Silent Time and Goodbye Little One , but above all he starts filming the episodes of the series Turno de oficio, where he plays the rookie lawyer Cosme. It is clear that his years in law school served him well, because the series, created by Antonio Mercero , was a success and the face of Juan Echanove became popular. Subsequently, although his best films of that time are dramas or thrillers such as Divinas palabras (for which he won the Goya Award for best supporting actor) or Alone with you , Echanove began to be associated with the typical light comedies of Spain in the 80s and 90s, a banal type of cinema led by people like Fernando Colomo , José Luis García Sánchez or Manuel Iborra . There are Miss Caribbean (1988),Get off the Moor (1989), Club Virginia Orchestra (1992), Historias de la puta mili (1994) –one of the few films in which he has been the headliner–, Sighs of Spain (and Portugal) (1995) or the series television show Girls Today (1991).

In 1995 he also had a prominent role in the drama La flor de mi secreto , by Pedro Almodóvar . However, her greatest success was Madregilda (1993). Directed by Francisco Regueiro , Echanove plays Franco and his work was awarded the Goya for best actor. The film is a surreal and at times grotesque comedy about a series of relevant characters from the dictatorship who meet in a tavern to play mus, at the time of Gilda ‘s premiere in Spain. Perhaps boosted by such success, Juan Echanove then decided to try his luck as a director and for this he chose to recover the series that made him famous ten years later, Turno de oficio: ten años después. Subsequently, two films stand out in his career, Memories of the Fallen Angel (1997), a horror film with Tristán Ulloa , and the drama Los años bárbaros (1998), where he works again with Colomo.

From the beginning of the millennium, the works of Echanove are milder in terms of repercussions. Perhaps his best work is El juego de Arcibel (2003), although he has also stood out with secondary roles in Cuéntame cómo pasó (2001), Sin noticias de Dios (2001), Trileros (2003), Alatriste (2005), Morir en San Hilario (2005) and Love Me (2007). The latest highlight is his co-starring role in the discreet series Hermanos de leche , along with José Coronado .