Luis Tosar

Tosar was born on 13 October 1971 in Lugo, although he usually prefers to identify with the parish of Xustás (in the municipality of Cospeito, also in the province of Lugo), where he spent his childhood and teenage years.

For two years (coincididing with the 1st- and 2nd-year of BUP), he had reportedly become a somewhat introspective and weird teenager, developing an acute interest for survival books and solo trips into the wilderness to set animal traps. At the time, he considered joining the Armed Forces, as "it was the only place" that offered him what he was looking for. He later became a conscientious objector.

He began his career playing theater and shorts, but he gained notoriety in Galicia for his performance in 1998 television series Mareas Vivas (Televisión de Galicia).

Tosar made his big screen debut with a minor role in the comedy film Atilano for President (1998).

His supporting performance as Damián in 1999 immigration-themed film Flowers from Another World earned him a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actor.

Critically acclaimed for his supporting role in the unemployment drama Mondays in the Sun, abusive husband in Take My Eyes, an executive producer in Even the Rain, and doorman in Sleep Tight, his most acclaimed performance was from 2009 hit Cell 211 which stars Tosar as Malamadre, a prisoner that instigates a riot and befriends an undercover prison guard in the process. His only major role in an American film was Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006), playing Colombian druglord Montoya. Besides that he has appeared in other English films The Limits of Control and Mr. Nice.

In 2012 he dubbed George Washington for the videogame Assassin's Creed III.

He starred in the action thriller Retribution (2015) as a bank executive threatened by a bomb under his car seat. He billed the role as the most demanding of his career from an emotional standpoint and for reaching such extreme moods. For his work in the film, he clinched a nomination for the Goya Award for Best Actor.

On 17 November 2018 he received a star in the Almeria Walk of Fame for the films El Niño (2014) and Toro (2016).

He played a hardboiled and taciturn cop with a past marked by the Morocco War in the gangster film Gun City (2018) set in 1920s Barcelona.

Tosar landed another nomination for the Goya Award for Best Leading Actor for his work in the thriller film Eye for an Eye (2019) playing Mario, a nurse consumed by resentment. Tosar was drawn to the character for his "moral complexity".

He starred as one of the killers of Juan Mari Jaúregui in the drama film Maixabel (2021) opposite Blanca Portillo exploring the relationship between ETA victims and victimizers. He met the ETA member he portrayed in order to prepare for the role. For his performance in the film, he obtained a nomination for Best Leading Actor at the 36th Goya Awards. He landed another nomination in the following year for his performance as a lawyer in the eviction-themed thriller On the Fringe.

He went on to star in the spy thriller film Code Name: Emperor (2022) as a CNI agent involved in murky tasks pertaining the Spanish deep state. He prepared his role in the film by "reading newspapers". He played a taxi driver turned into a walking human bomb in the action thriller All the Names of God (2023). While the film shares a similar premise to Retribution (2015), Tosar stated that his respective characters in both films were different, as unlike the morally dubious character of the 2015 film, his character in the 2023 film is a completely normal dude wrapped up in something extraordinary.

In 2024, he played the police chief in charge of a counterterrorism team in Undercover, receiving another nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Goya. He played a cop clashing with his criminal brother in the neo-quinqui thriller film Golpes (2025).

In December 2025, he was announced as recipient of the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.

He starred as a recovering alcoholic and EMT finding out about the extreme right affiliations of his daughter in the action thriller miniseries Salvador, released on Netflix in 2026.

In 2015, Tosar married actress María Luisa Mayol. They have two children.