Santiago Segura

Santiago Segura Silva (Madrid, July 17, 1965) is a Spanish actor and filmmaker, popular for his Torrente saga. He has also worked, although to a lesser extent, as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer.

Biography

From the age of twelve he began shooting films with a super-8 camera, and, after a recommendation from Fernando Trueba, he began to make them in 35 mm, financing them with the prizes he had won by participating in television contests.

Fame would come to him with the film The Day of the Beast (directed by Álex de la Iglesia) for whose performance he won the Goya Award for Best New Actor in 1995.

With his first feature film as a director, Torrente, the foolish arm of the law, which would be followed by numerous sequels that would make it the highest-grossing saga of Spanish cinema. Despite the benefits that gave Segura this series of films (it is estimated that 41 million between the first three) the filmmaker went through a phase of economic problems in 2010 due to the lack of success of the projects he undertook, which forced him to produce the fourth part of the saga and clean up his business as a producer.

Childhood and professional beginnings

Born in the Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel Bajo. His father worked in a nuts and bolts factory. At the age of 12, being a victim of bullying, he began to have purchasing power and bought a Bolex super-8 camera for 900 pesetas. in El Rastro in Madrid. With it he began to direct three-minute short films, which was the maximum length allowed by the fifty-foot super-8 film cartridges that he used. He also got a lot of material at half price (rolls of expired film, although still usable) at the optician in his neighborhood. One of the last years of high school he did in the United States, where he significantly improved his English language. In 1984 He edited, together with José Antonio Calvo, two issues of his own fanzine, Dogdai.

He studied Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid due to his great love and talent for drawing. After finishing his degree, he wrote pornographic stories for publications such as Lib international or Supertetas. He also worked as a dubbing actor in films with the same theme, and collaborated with independent theater companies., he was a waiter and a book seller at home. His last super-8 short film, Midnight Stories (1989) cost him 6,000 pesetas and he won a second prize of 100,000 pesetas in the Cinema Jove de València. The members of the organization explained to him that one of the jury members had tried to get him the prize; He asked who and they told him it was Fernando Trueba.

Under the pseudonym Bea and associated with José Antonio Calvo, who drew his scripts and signed as Mónica, he published several pornographic series in the magazines "El Viper" from 1990 (Little Vicious, Viciousland, Manual of the little vicious, Smaller and more vicious) and the main one in "El Barragán" (1993). The works would be quite successful among the magazine's regular readers and would make it one of the most popular of the genre.

To get a closer look at what filming was like, he began working as an extra in various films. In one of them, her producer was Cristina Huete, wife of Fernando Trueba, who went to visit her one day. When Ella Segura saw him she went over to talk to him and thanked him for interceding for him at the Valencia pageant. Trueba told her that he laughed a lot at the short film and that he showed it to everyone who came to her house. He also advised him to start making short films in 35mm. Segura listened to him and made three short films. To finance the first one, five friends helped him and he participated in a large number of television contests, such as Don't laugh, it's worse, Locos por la tele, El Columbus Egg or Vivan los Novios. In this last program he won a prize of 70,000 pesetas. The first of them was Evilio, the story of a psychopath similar to Freddy Krueger; Evilio returns), sequel to the first. The three shorts won awards and one of them won the Goya Award, in addition to being broadcast on television on Canal+ and La 2.

While competing in film festivals, he met a large number of filmmakers, such as Óscar Aibar, Javier Fesser, Miguel Bardem, Álvaro Fernández Armero, Icíar Bollaín, Chus Gutiérrez, Pablo Berger, Álex de la Iglesia, Miguel Ángel Lamata, or David Trueba.

The most fruitful collaboration was with Álex de la Iglesia. After meeting at a short film festival in Valencia (in which De la Iglesia presented Mirindas assassinas, which won the competition, and Segura Pequeñas viciosas), Álex signed him for his first feature film: Mutant Action (1993). He would also film images for the video game Marbella vice.

In 1994, he compiled many of his shorts on a VHS of which he distributed 666 signed copies. He titled it JIStory, in homage to Michael Jackson's compilation 'HIStory', which included his works as a director, such as Midnight Stories, < i>Evilio, Pertubado and The purifier (Evilio returns), where it also included several extras such as the Making off or the Storyboard.

Recognition and success

While he was writing the scripts for two television programs, he learned that De la Iglesia was preparing the script for his second feature film, The Day of the Beast. Segura wanted to participate in the project and asked for a role, which Álex did not give him. But shortly before filming began, Alex called him and offered him the role of José Mari—an employee of a death metal music store, obsessed with Satanism and a member of a working-class family—a role for which he won the Goya. for Best New Actor in 1996. To play the character he exaggerated his own way of speaking and acting, since he compared him to being a neighborhood boy. That same year he would work under Fernando Trueba in < i>Two Much in which he spoke in English, and later, he dubbed himself in Spanish.

From this moment on, he gradually gained more prominence in both film and television. He worked as a collaborator on nighttime programs, receiving offers to perform the same function in Tonight we cross the Mississippi, where he had already written some scripts, until he was offered to present a television contest called < i>Double couples, which was canceled because a network manager did not like it. That same year he would dub Irvine Welsh in the film Trainspotting.

Absolute fame came to him with his first feature film as a director, Torrente, the foolish arm of the law, a film with which he achieved many objectives: working with Tony Leblanc, making the highest-grossing Spanish film until then (thanks in part to the intense personal marketing campaign carried out by the director) or getting the Goya for best new director of 1999. At this point, his fame was already undeniable: Segura had created a symbol, Torrente, which It even has its own figure in a wax museum. Despite not having a major premiere on March 13, 1998, the support it had from the public meant that it remained in a good number of places in July of the same year. cinemas.

In order to play the character, the actor gained twenty kilos, an effort that he compares to that made by Robert De Niro to play Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. This character is full of influences and references, from Inspector Clouseau and his films as the protagonist, to real characters such as Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero. In this film he establishes the characteristics of the character, with less than exemplary behavior. On one of his nightly patrols, Torrente discovers some drug traffickers who use a Chinese restaurant as a drug sales point, and together with Rafi and other acquaintances from the neighborhood, he tries to put an end to the gang. Segura also wrote the script for the comic based on the own film for the magazine El Víbora, with drawings by José Antonio Calvo. After receiving the Goya, Segura went to Fesser, also nominated, to give him 100,000 pesetas, the result of a bet.

After giving him a role in Perdita Durango, Álex de la Iglesia once again offered him a role as co-star with Gran Wyoming in Muertos de laughter. In this film he played a comedian who ends up shooting his comedy partner. The filming of this film distanced De la Iglesia and Segura, who had become very good friends. The actor would not work with De la Iglesia again until Balada triste de trumpeta, released in 2010., once they resolved the problems they had had. She also participated that year in the television series Petra Delicado based on the adventures of the eponymous character created by Alicia Giménez Bartlett, where she plays Fermín Garzón, assistant to the protagonist played by Ana Belén, Segura explained that despite not being the best suited for the role, he accepted it because he was the complete opposite of Torrente, good and simple, just as he would dub Alan Ford in the film. Lock and Stock.

In view of the success obtained with Torrente, the foolish arm of the law, Segura decided to film a sequel, Torrente 2, mission in Marbella (2001). He wrote the script in a hotel room, where he was with Guillermo del Toro while he was doing the same with El espinazo del diablo. In this second feature film he also works as a producer, with double the budget which he had in the first. On this occasion it also had a luxury cast. For this film it did not receive any awards, but it managed to bring more than 5,000,000 spectators to the cinema and grossed 3,700 million pesetas at the box office. That same year it launched a video game based on the first two films of the saga, with the name Torrente: The game, where he gave voice to his character. The game became a success, with 240,000 units sold in Europe, and was also sold in the United States. For this second part, as with the first film, he gained 20 kg. In the program Martian Chronicles he bet that he would be able to return to his normal weight in the same time it had taken him to gain weight, something he achieved.

After Torrente 2, Segura works on the film in The Girl from Rio, whose director, Christopher Monguer, she met at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, where the first part of Torrente was screened, and for which he wrote the role thought of by Segura himself, Hugh Laurie participates in the film and to whom he would later propose to participate in the fourth part of Torrente, without being able to do so, and Serious Killer at Del Toro's request, where he also acts as producer along with the Mexican. In 2003 he stars in Moscow Gold by his friend Jesús Bonilla, with whom he had worked in The Girl of Your Eyes, returning to be a producer. He returns to perform this function in the film Una de Zombies by Miguel Ángel Lamata to whom he had promised at the 1994 Sitges Film Festival that he would produce a film, in addition to playing three supporting roles in it. He also participated as a supporting actor in the English film Beyond Re-Animator by Brian Yuzna, second sequel to Re-Animator based on the work Herbert West: Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft. In 2004 he stars in Isi Disi by Chema de la Peña where he plays, for the first time in his career, a role as a leading man, and as a supporting actor in Di que si i>. He participates in The Amazing World of Borjamari and Pocholo and produces the film Promedio Rojo where he also acts. In 2006 he stars in The Dancing Machine by Óscar Aibar, about a Dance Dance Revolution competition, for which he had to do two months of choreography, together with the actress Josele Román. He also got small roles in films such as Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Pacific Rim (2013), the 3 films directed by his also friend Guillermo del Toro and Asterix at the Olympic Games. Just as he would dub John Goodman in the films Monsters Inc. and Mike's New Car and Nathan Lane in The producers, as well as himself in the films where he had spoken in English.

On September 30, 2005, the third part of the famous Torrente saga was released throughout Spain: Torrente 3, the protector. He rewrote the script in a hotel room with Del Toro, who meanwhile was writing the script for Pan's Labyrinth in addition to producing the entire film. The most complicated scenes of the filming were decided to be carried out in Argentina for economic reasons. In its first week of exhibition, it was seen by 1,380,000 spectators and raised €7,200,000, although, unlike the other two installments, the public was critic with the film, which could be one of the reasons for a greater decrease in the second week compared to the previous one and a lower collection at the end of the year. The film was full of controversy, since in one of the scenes The police officer ripped the Caravaca Cross from his grandmother's neck and then trampled it, which caused him to be sued by the Royal and Illustrious Brotherhood of the Holy and True Cross of Caravaca. Soon, Segura apologized in public, claiming that it was a way of showing his lack of morality. As with the first installment, he made a comic that same year, in this case two issues with the same artist, in addition to another video game where he once again voiced the character.

On March 31, 2006, filming began for Manolete, about the last years of the life of the bullfighter of the same name, where he plays Guillermo, the bullfighter's chauffeur and swordsman, although the The film would not be released until April 2010 in France and with little success, and in the United States on video on demand in March of the following year. During that summer he stars alongside José Mota in the theatrical adaptation of The Producers. And from April 10, 2006 until part of 2007 he combined his work in the cinema with that of television presenter on the program You knew what you were coming to, on La Sexta. Despite making 26 programs and airing two seasons (2006 and 2007), the program, for which there were high expectations and which took place at the Häagen-Dazs Calderón Theater, was not renewed for a third season. In October of the same year and until the end of 2009, the play A couple of fear adaptation of The Mystery of Irma Vep was performed, starring Josema Yuste and Florentino Fernández (replaced later by Félix Álvarez), where Segura was in charge of adapting the script. The work would become a bestseller over the course of more than two years, and would be praised by critics, enjoying a film adaptation of lower level in which Segura did not work. He would also voice Seth MacFarlane in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, where he also participates as an audience in an auction, Will Ferrell in Brothers for Balls , John Cusack in Igor and Jack Black in Brutal legend.

At the beginning of 2009 he announced that he was writing the script for Torrente's fourth film, without the support of Del Toro, and at the end of that year, he reached an agreement with Ludicus to launch a video game based on the first three films. with the name Torrente: The Machine. In November 2009 he announced his participation in the film El gran Vázquez, being overwhelmed when they chose him for the leading role as he was a fan of the cartoonist since he was little, to interpret him he had the help of Manolito Vázquez, son of the cartoonist, who was the assistant director of the film.

However, throughout 2010 he had financial problems, which led him to begin filming the fourth installment of Torrente on July 20, 2010, instead of in September as had been announced. made in 3D and where he shows us his character as "a destroyed man, who feels out of place in contemporary Spain." Its premiere took place on March 11, 2011 and raised 8,300,000 euros in its first weekend. week with 1,100,000 viewers, however, in its second week, despite also being in first position, it had the largest drop, 54%, of the films in the series in difference with what was obtained in the previous week, Despite this, it was well received by the public, unlike the third part. Although it was full of controversy over the debt to the owner of a brothel, D' Angelo Palace, since he said that he was going to advertise him within the film, and when he did not do so he demanded 6,000 euros. At the end of 2011 he released the film Jack and Jill where he plays one of the Jill's suitors, played by Adam Sandler. His latest film was The Spark of Life by Álex de la Iglesia, where he plays an execrable creative, starring Salma Hayek and José Mota. In July 2011 he was hired by Antena 3 to work as a collaborator in the program El hormiguero by Pablo Motos broadcast on Antena 3, where he made the section Film lessons with Santiago Segura i>, and which began in September 2011. Between September and November of the same year he participated in the contest Your face sounds familiar to me on the same channel. After presenting, in 2012, the Awards Gala Goya hosted on Spanish Television on May 18 of that year the special Up with that spirit!, in tribute to the comedian Miguel Gila.

In 2011 he participated in the first edition of Your face sounds to me, the Antena 3 imitation contest. In the first edition of this show he performed 19 days and 500 nights i> by Joaquín Sabina, I just called to say I love you by Stevie Wonder, Escándalo by Raphael, I've got you under my skin by Frank Sinatra, Mom I want to be an artist and La chica yeyé by Concha Velasco, Me va and Bamboleo by Julio Iglesias, The Cat That's Sad and Blue and A Million Friends by Roberto Carlos, Karma Chameleon by Boy George, If a couple of songs were enough and Fantastic love by Eros Ramazzotti and El Porompompero, My car and Que viva Españaby Manolo Escobar, finishing in second position.

The network granted Santiago Segura the possibility of returning in the second edition of Your face sounds to me. In the second edition as a repeater he performed a medley by Javier Gurruchaga, Nat King Cole, Víctor Manuel, Elvis Presley, El Fary, Juan Luis Guerra, Azúcar Moreno (along with Julio José Iglesias, his partner in the first edition), the Korean rapper PSY, Rodolfo Chiquilicuatre, Carlinhos Brown, Raffaella Carrà, Fofito, Prince, Bobby Farrell of Bonney M, Jerry Lee Lewis and John Travolta (Grease). In this edition, Santiago Segura came in fifth position.

In the summer of 2014 he presented the TVE program Viaje al centro de la tele and since February 2015 the Late Night Alaska y Segura next to Olvido Gara on La 1.

Private life

Segura states: "I have no interest in being truly known", although it is known that he has a romantic relationship with María Amaro, a television makeup artist, with whom he has two daughters: one called Calma, born on February 8, 2008, and another named Sirena, born on December 26, 2013, the four of them residing in a central apartment in Madrid. Their daughter Sirena Segura has been part of the cast in some of their films. He knows that he likes to go to the movies with his friends and collect original comics. Originals by Gahan Wilson, Al Hirschfeld, Frank Frazetta, Robert Crumb and Manuel Vázquez, among others, are part of his comic book library, being one of the best Spanish comic collections.

On an ideological level, he was one of the numerous personalities who demonstrated against the Iraq War during the course of the 17th edition of the Goya Awards. Regarding this, she said that it was "a question of life or death, just as I would say to the ETA members, I don't think they will solve much by killing a philosopher, someone who was passing by, or a girl. In war anything goes and that seems like regrettable shit to me." He was also critical of the entry into the Libyan War, being the first of those belonging to Spanish cinema to speak out on the subject saying: "no to the war! (or is it not time now?)", alluding to the fact that Spain's participation in a war took place under the order of a socialist government, a socialist ideology that so much criticized the war action of the PP government years ago. He also participated in the Protests in Spain in May 2011 stating: "I only want skilled and honest managers for my country."

Style

As a film director, who has been in the films of the Torrente saga, he explains that it is his way of being cynical towards Spanish society. Óscar Aibar explained that in his work as an actor he describes him as "terribly disciplined and technically perfect", while he describes the style of his humor as a director as "cruel and dry", while David Trueba describes him as "hurtful, which can be like razor blades. Xavier Deltell affirms that he is quite meticulous when filming. Segura himself affirms that the directors who have helped him develop as a filmmaker have been Luis García Berlanga, whom he calls his father and with whom he worked in < i>All to jail, Paris-Timbuktu and The teacher's dream; Fernando Trueba, whom he calls his uncle with whom he worked on Two Much and The Girl of Your Eyes ; and Álex de la Iglesia, whom he calls his older brother with whom he worked on Mutant Action, The Day of the Beast, Perdita Durango, < i>Dead with laughter, Sad trumpet ballad, The spark of life and in the director's latest film The witches of Zugarramurdi i>.

Assessment and influence

His character Torrente has had several attempts to be adapted to other countries, such as the United States or France, in addition to the fact that there are two streets in Spain that bear his name. Despite this, critics rate him negatively and say of that his roles are of a commercial nature, Segura responded to this: "when they tell me this guy is very commercial, I don't get offended, on the contrary, I tell him: man, thank you very much." Although he clarified that all professionals in the sector want to be.

Filmography

As director

• 1998 - Torrente 1: the dumb arm of the law
• 2001 - Torrente 2: Mission in Marbella
• 2005 - Torrente 3: The Protector
• 2011 - Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (lethal crisis)
• 2014 - Torrente 5: Operation Eurovegas
• 2018 - No rodeos
• 2019 - Father there is only one
• 2020 - Father there is only one 2: The arrival of the mother-in-law
• 2021 - All trains. Destination
• 2022 - Father there is only one 3
• 2022 - All train 2. Yeah, it happened to them again. (direction: Inés de León - production: María Luisa Gutiérrez, Santiago Segura, Ricardo Marco Budé, Ignacio Salazar-Simpson - script: Marta González de Vega, Santiago Segura)
• 2023 - Summer holidays
• 2024 - Father there is only one 4

As a voice actor

• 1996 - Trainspotting - Mikey Forrester (Irvine Welsh)
• 1998 - Lock and stock - Alan (Alan Ford)
• 2002 - S.A. Monsters. - James P. Sullivan "Sulley" (John Goodman)
• 2005 - The producers - Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane)
• 2008 - Brothers by balls - Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell)
• 2008 - Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane)
• 2009 - Igor - Igor (John Cusack)
• 2012 - Hotel Transylvania - Dracula (Adam Sandler)
• 2013 - Monsters University - James P. Sullivan "Sulley" (John Goodman)
• 2013 - Rain of meatballs 2 - Chester V (Will Forte)
• 2015 - Hotel Transylvania 2 - Dracula (Adam Sandler)
• 2015 - Poseso - Cura
• 2016 - Angry Birds: The Film - Red (Jason Sudeikis)
• 2018 - Hotel Transylvania 3 - Dracula (Adam Sandler)
• 2018 - Nights 2: Halloween Night - Slappy (Mick Wingert)
• 2019 - Angry Birds 2: The movie - Red (Jason Sudeikis)
• 2019 - Holmes " Watson - Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell)
• 2021-? Monsters to the work (Disney+ Series) - James P. Sullivan "Sulley" (John Goodman)
• 2021 - Hotel Transylvania: Transformanía - Dracula (Brian Hull)

As an actor

• 1989 - Midnight reports Short film
• 1991 - Far Tacons Extra
• 1992 - Mutual action
• 1992 - Evilio Short film
• 1993 - Perturbed Short film
• 1993 - Everyone to jail
• 1994 - It's all a lie.
• 1994 - Evilio comes back. The Purifier Short film
• 1995 - Cuernos de mujer
• 1995 - The Day of the Beast
• 1995 - Two Much
• 1996 - Killer Barbys
• 1996 - Matías, judge of the line
• 1996 - I have a house.
• 1996 - Doctor Curry Short film
• 1997 - Santiago Segura Jistori's'
• 1997 - He just dies twice.
• 1997 - Air
• 1997 - Perdita Durango
• 1998 - Torrente, the dumb arm of the law
• 1998 - The girl in your eyes
• 1999 - Laughing dead
• 1999 - Paris Timbuktu
• 1999 - The ugliest woman in the world
• 1999 - Ask the King
• 2000 - The Heart of the Warrior
• 2000 - Sabotage!
• 2000 - Masterpiece
• 2001 - Torrente 2: Mission in Marbella
• 2001 - Rio Girl
• 2002 - Blade II
• 2002 - Murderer.
• 2003 - The Gold of Moscow
• 2003 - Beyond Re-Animator
• 2003 - Tip
• 2003 - One zombie
• 2004 - Superager Cody Banks 2: Destination London
• 2004 - Hellboy
• 2004 - Isi/Disi. Love of the beast
• 2004 - Average Red
• 2004 - Say yes
• 2004 - The amazing world of Borjamari and Pocholo
• 2005 - Torrente 3: the protector
• 2006 - Welcome home
• 2006 - The dance machine
• 2006 - Manolete
• 2006 - Isi/Disi. High voltage
• 2007 - Ekipo Ja
• 2008 - Asterix at the Olympic Games
• 2008 - Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
• 2008 - Manolete
• 2010 - Unresolved sexual tension
• 2010 - Sad tile of trumpet
• 2010 - The great Vázquez
• 2011 - Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (lethal crisis)
• 2011 - Koma
• 2011 - Jack and his twin
• 2011 - The spark of life
• 2012 - The chef, the recipe of happiness
• 2013 - Pacific Rim
• 2013 - The witches of Zugarramurdi
• 2014 - Torrente 5: Operation Eurovegas
• 2014 - People in places
• 2015 - My big night
• 2015 - Gypsy king
• 2016 - The Queen of Spain
• 2016 - Like queens
• 2017 - Almost legends
• 2017 - Just live once.
• 2018 - No rodeos
• 2018 - Jara cracks
• 2019 - Father there is only one
• 2019 - What are you playing?
• 2019 - The Rodriguez and the beyond
• 2020 - Father there is only one 2: The arrival of the mother-in-law
• 2021 - All trains. Destination
• 2022 - Father there is only one 3
• 2022 - All train 2. Yeah, it happened to them again.
• 2023 - From Caperucita to Loba
• 2023 - Summer holidays
• 2023 - Christmas in your hands
• 2024 - Father there is only one 4

Television career

Programs

As a guest

As a contestant

Series

Work

Awards and nominations

Goya Awards

Medals of the Film Writers Circle

Sant Jordi Awards

Sitges Film Festival

Other awards and nominations

Segura has also received the so-called ironic and humorous awards of Spanish cinema, such as 1 award and another 11 nominations for the Godoy awards and a YoGa.

Honorary distinctions

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Two of May (02/05/2012).