William Toledo

Born in the capital of Spain on May 22, 1970, Guillermo Toledo Monsalve, better known as Willy Toledo, is the son of José Toledo, a prestigious doctor and pioneer of thoracic surgery. Since adolescence, he was quite clear that he wanted to dedicate himself to acting, so he traveled to the United States to study at a drama institute.

Back in Madrid, he enrolled in the Cristina Rota acting school , where he met the now well-known Ernesto Alterio and Alberto San Juan . Together with both of them and with the actress Nathalie Poza , he founded the company Ración de Oreja, later renamed Animalario, in honor of the title of his first show, written by San Juan.

He made his film debut as a friend of the protagonist’s military service, Jorge Sanz , in Morirás en Chafarinas . He becomes a regular secondary player in Spanish cinema in titles like Mensaka or Manolito Gafotas and in series like Querido maestro and El comisario . He plays his first leading role with Ramiro Alonso and Pilar Castro in the short Making of ‘Atraco’ , by Carlos Molinero .

He established himself with the series 7 vidas , where he became popular with his role as cheeky Richard, a childhood acquaintance of the initial protagonists ( Toni Cantó and Javier Cámara ). He also stars with the aforementioned Alterio and San Juan in the musical comedy El otro lado de la cama . He plays Pedro, the guy who ignores that the real reason his girlfriend has left him is that he has an affair with his best friend (Alterio). A few years later he reprized his role in The 2 Sides of the Bed , a deteriorated sequel.

When Toledo became most noticeable it was in 2003, when Animalario presented the Goya awards. He went out with San Juan to lead the gala wearing a shirt of the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh. The event became a repeated show of rejection of the government of José María Aznar and his support for the US deployment in Iraq with the motto “no to war”, leaving the cinematographic in the background. The effect was very negative for Spanish cinema, as it revealed the politicization of the sector more than ever, and distanced a large part of society and the media from films produced in the country.

In cinema, Toledo has not stopped working on titles such as La lengua de las mariposas , Intacto , The old man who read love novels , Juana la loca , Al sur de Granada , Salir pitando , Aupa Etxebeste or The amazing world of Borjamari and Pocholo . He highlights his work as a department store salesman in Crimen ferpecto , by Álex de la Iglesia, with which he has repeated in La chispa de la vida . On television he led the cast of Cuestión de sexo .

Romantically related, among others, to the actresses Melanie Olivares and Sandra Collantes , Toledo has never given up his political activism. He was a candidate in the municipal elections of El Coronil, a town in Seville, in the Andalusian Left Bloc, part of Izquierda Unida. He became one of the most active defenders of the Sahrawi activist on hunger strike Aminatu Haidar, and described the Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata, who died in prison while on hunger strike, as a common criminal. He caused the indignation, among others, of the actor Andy García, a Cuban exile, who suggested that he visit Fidel Castro’s political prisoners. “I don’t know Guillermo Toledo or the controversy that these statements have provoked in Spain, but I regret that there are still in the world, and especially among artists, who profess love for Castroism and Fidel Castro,” García commented.

Toledo has also been widely criticized for its recognized support for Arnaldo Otegui, who was the leader of the Abertzale left, in his campaign to bring ETA prisoners closer to the Basque Country. During the general strike of May 29, 2002, he was denounced by the owner of a bar who received insults and threats from a violent picket that destroyed his premises, and which, according to the complaint, was led by the actor.