Francisco León Barrios (Andalusian Spanish pronunciation:
[fɾaŋˈθih.ko leˈon barˈi.oh]; born 4 October 1974), known as
Paco León (/ ˈpa.ko/), is a Spanish actor, producer, director,
screenwriter and activist from Seville, Andalusia. Beginning as a
comedy performer, he rose to prominence on channel Antena 3 with
sketch show Homo Zapping [es], and in AÃda, playing the main
character Luisma. He gained more prominence for portraying MarÃa
José Riquelme in the Netflix series The House of Flowers, and
writing, directing, and starring as Manolo in Movistar's Arde Madrid.
He is also a prominent campaigner for HIV/AIDS causes.León's first
roles were in comedy television, on Mariquilla RÃe Perlas and
Castillos en el aire in 1999. These played on Canal Sur, the channel
of Andalusia. León has had success in theatre throughout his career,
first appearing on stage in 2001. He moved to Madrid in 2003 to
continue his career, where his first big job was impersonating
personalities on Homo Zapping, where he was noticed for popular
imitations of women like Anne Igartiburu and Raquel Revuelta. He is
best known for playing Luisma, a recovering drug addict, on AÃda, a
role he played for nine years and which garnered him many Best Actor
awards.He has also had notable film roles, as an OCD patient in Toc
Toc and a playboy in The Tribe. As a voice and dubbing actor, he has
had roles in Valiant and Madagascar, and as a film director, his debut
was the 2012 Carmina or Blow Up, for which he was nominated for a Goya
as Best Directorial Debut. His mother and sister star in the film, and
were both nominated for acting Goyas. His third directorial feature
was Kiki, Love to Love, in which he stars and was similarly
multi-nominated. For his 2014 film, Carmina y amén, the El
Confidencial writer Juan Manuel Fernández suggested that he was
becoming "the new Pedro Almodóvar", particularly highlighting the
funeral scene that opens Carmina y amén and saying it has "a poetry
only comparable to" the opening scene of Volver. Fernández also notes
how both León and Almodóvar are influenced by the women in their
lives, that they both often work with a sibling, and celebrate their
mothers in their films.In 2018, he created Arde Madrid with wife Anna
R. Costa, a black and white miniseries about Ava Gardner, in which he
also played Gardner's chauffeur. From 2018 to 2020, he portrayed trans
woman MarÃa José Riquelme on The House of Flowers. Regarding working
on The House of Flowers, León says working with Verónica Castro was
an honour.
[fɾaŋˈθih.ko leˈon barˈi.oh]; born 4 October 1974), known as
Paco León (/ ˈpa.ko/), is a Spanish actor, producer, director,
screenwriter and activist from Seville, Andalusia. Beginning as a
comedy performer, he rose to prominence on channel Antena 3 with
sketch show Homo Zapping [es], and in AÃda, playing the main
character Luisma. He gained more prominence for portraying MarÃa
José Riquelme in the Netflix series The House of Flowers, and
writing, directing, and starring as Manolo in Movistar's Arde Madrid.
He is also a prominent campaigner for HIV/AIDS causes.León's first
roles were in comedy television, on Mariquilla RÃe Perlas and
Castillos en el aire in 1999. These played on Canal Sur, the channel
of Andalusia. León has had success in theatre throughout his career,
first appearing on stage in 2001. He moved to Madrid in 2003 to
continue his career, where his first big job was impersonating
personalities on Homo Zapping, where he was noticed for popular
imitations of women like Anne Igartiburu and Raquel Revuelta. He is
best known for playing Luisma, a recovering drug addict, on AÃda, a
role he played for nine years and which garnered him many Best Actor
awards.He has also had notable film roles, as an OCD patient in Toc
Toc and a playboy in The Tribe. As a voice and dubbing actor, he has
had roles in Valiant and Madagascar, and as a film director, his debut
was the 2012 Carmina or Blow Up, for which he was nominated for a Goya
as Best Directorial Debut. His mother and sister star in the film, and
were both nominated for acting Goyas. His third directorial feature
was Kiki, Love to Love, in which he stars and was similarly
multi-nominated. For his 2014 film, Carmina y amén, the El
Confidencial writer Juan Manuel Fernández suggested that he was
becoming "the new Pedro Almodóvar", particularly highlighting the
funeral scene that opens Carmina y amén and saying it has "a poetry
only comparable to" the opening scene of Volver. Fernández also notes
how both León and Almodóvar are influenced by the women in their
lives, that they both often work with a sibling, and celebrate their
mothers in their films.In 2018, he created Arde Madrid with wife Anna
R. Costa, a black and white miniseries about Ava Gardner, in which he
also played Gardner's chauffeur. From 2018 to 2020, he portrayed trans
woman MarÃa José Riquelme on The House of Flowers. Regarding working
on The House of Flowers, León says working with Verónica Castro was
an honour.
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