Mario Casas

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Casas and the second or maternal family name is Sierra.

Mario Casas Sierra (born 12 June 1986) is a Spanish film and television actor. Known for his roles in Spanish cinema and television, he has received various accolades including a Goya Award, a Gaudí Award, and three Feroz Awards.

Mario Casas
Born	Mario Casas Sierra (1986-06-12) 12 June 1986 (age 38) A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present
Relatives	Óscar Casas (brother)

In 2006, after featuring in minor credits in Motivos personales and Obsesión, Casas landed his first television main role in the teen drama SMS: Sin Miedo a Soñar and also debuted in the big screen in Summer Rain.^[1] Casas acquired a larger clout owing to his appearance in the television series Los hombres de Paco, as part of a popular love triangle together with Hugo Silva and Michelle Jenner.^[1] His early film career, featuring in box-office darlings such as Sex, Party and Lies (2009), Brain Drain (2009), and Three Steps Above Heaven (2010), consolidated after his performance as bad boy Hache in the latter title, which earned him wide popularity in Spain.^[1][2][3] He also starred in television series El barco (2011−13).^[1]

He went on to feature in starring roles in films such as Unit 7 (2012), I Want You (2012; the sequel to Three Steps Above Heaven), The Mule (2013), Witching & Bitching (2013), Ismael (2013), My Big Night (2015), Palm Trees in the Snow (2015), Toro (2016), The Invisible Guest (2016), The Bar (2017), The Skin of the Wolf (2017), The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018), Bye (2019), The Occupant (2020), and The Paramedic (2020).

He also appeared in English-language international projects Eden and The 33.^[4][5]

Casas' leading performance in Cross the Line (2020) earned him his first Goya Award for Best Actor. He made his debut as a director with Caged Wings (2023).

Early life and education

Casas was born in A Coruña to a 19-year-old father (an ébéniste) and a 17-year-old mother.^[6] He moved to Barcelona at the age of 4.^[6][7] After featuring as a child actor in some commercials (Cola Cao, Scalextric, Telepizza), he moved to Madrid at age 17−18 with his family, going on to combine odd jobs with acting training at the Cristina Rota acting school.^[8][6]

Acting career

2005–2010: Early work and breakthrough

Casas began appearing in soap operas from 2005 at age 19, before earning minor roles in several Spanish films.^[9] Mario Casas began his acting career with episode appearances in television series Obsesión (English: Obsession), Motivos personales (Personal Motives) and Mujeres (Women). He came to domestic media attention with his film debut in the 2006 film El camino de los ingleses (Summer Rain), directed by Antonio Banderas.

That same year he joined the cast of LaSexta series SMS. Casas then reached international audience as Aitor Carrasco in the Antena 3 series Los hombres de Paco (Paco's Men), which he starred from 2007 to 2010.

In 2009, Casas appeared in two hit films, Fuga de cerebros (Brain Drain) opposite Amaia Salamanca, and Mentiras y Gordas (Sex, Party and Lies) with his best friend Yon González,^[10] Ana Maria Polvorosa, Ana de Armas and Hugo Silva. Both managed to lead the box office over the weekend of its release. In 2010, Casas starred in Carne de neón (Neon Flesh) directed by Paco Cabezas. Later that year in December 2010, he starred in Tres metros sobre el cielo (Three Steps Above Heaven) opposite María Valverde. It was eventually the highest-grossing Spanish film of the year. A sequel Tengo ganas de ti (I Want You), which stars Casas, Valverde and Clara Lago, premiered in 2012.^[11] He also appeared in Miedo (2010), directed by Jaume Balagueró.^[12]

2011–present: Career expansion and further acclaim

Casas in January 2011, during the presentation of Carne de neón

Since 2011, Casas has starred the Antena 3 series El barco (The Boat), he also starred in Tengo ganas de ti (I Want You), premiered in 2012.

During the late 2013 and early 2014, he went to Colombia and Chile for his second film project in English called Los 33 (The 33) with Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche, a story based on the Chilean mining accident that occurred in 2010.^[13] In 2015, Mario also starred in two other films: the new Álex de la Iglesia comedy film My Great Night, and also in the romantic drama film Palm Trees in the Snow, where he reunited with the director of the films Three Meters Above The Sky and I Want You, Fernando Gonzalez Molina.^[14] In 2016, he performed in Oriol Paulo's mystery thriller film The Invisible Guest which became a commercial success, although the film had opened to mixed critical responses. The film grossed US$3.9 million in Spain and CN¥172.4 million in China. In 2018, Casas starred in The Photographer of Mauthausen which tells the story of Francisco Boix, a Spanish Republican photographer who was sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex during World War II.^[15] Casas lost around 12 kilograms (26 pounds) to play Boix during his imprisonment.^[16]

In October 2022, Casas began to shoot his debut as a feature film director, My Loneliness Has Wings, written alongside Deborah François and starring his brother Óscar.^[17]

Personal life

Mario Casas is the older sibling of actor Óscar Casas, who has sometimes played younger versions of Mario's characters in some works.^[18] Mario Casas is reported to have been in relationships with several fellow castmates including Erika Sanz [es], Amaia Salamanca, María Valverde, Berta Vázquez, Blanca Suárez, and Déborah François.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	El camino de los ingleses (Summer Rain)	Moratalla		[20]
2009	Mentiras y gordas (Sex, Party and Lies)	Toni		[21]
	Fuga de cerebros (Brain Drain)	Emilio		[3]
2010	Carne de neón (Neon Flesh)	Ricky		[22]
	Tres metros sobre el cielo (Three Steps Above Heaven)	Hache		[3]
2012	Grupo 7 (Unit 7)	Ángel		[23]
	Tengo ganas de ti (I Want You)	Hache	Reprise of role in Three Steps Above Heaven	[24]
2013	La mula (The Mule)	Juan Castro		[25]
	Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (Witching & Bitching)	Antonio		[26]
	Ismael	Félix		[27]
2015	Los 33 (The 33)	Álex Vega
	Eden	Felix
	Mi gran noche (My Great Night)	Adanne		[28]
	Palmeras en la nieve (Palm Trees in the Snow)	Kilian		[29]
2016	Toro	Toro		[30]
	Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest)	Adrián Doria		[31]
2017	El bar (The Bar)	Nacho		[32]
	Bajo la piel de lobo (The Skin of the Wolf)	Martinón		[33]
2018	El fotógrafo de Mauthausen (The Photographer of Mauthausen)	Francesc Boix		[3]
2019	Adiós (Bye)	Juan		[34]
2020	Hogar (The Occupant)	Tomás		[35]
	El practicante (The Paramedic)	Ángel		[36]
	No matarás (Cross the Line)	Dani		[37]
2023	Mi soledad tiene alas (Caged Wings)	—	Director and writer	[38]
	Bird Box Barcelona	Sebastián		[39]
2024	Escape	N.		[40]
2025	El secreto del orfebre (The Goldsmith's Secret)	Juan Pablo		[41]
	Molt lluny (Away)	Sergio		[42]
TBA	Zeta †			[43]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2005	Motivos personales	Cameo	Episode: "¿El fin de Victoria Castellanos?"
	Obsesión	Nicolás "Nico" Castillo	7 episodes
2006	Mujeres (Women)		Episode 1. Casas appears in a television screen which airs an episode of Obsesión	[44]
2006–07	SMS: Sin miedo a soñar	Javi Llorens	184 episodes
2007–10; 2021	Los hombres de Paco (Paco's Men)	Aitor Carrasco	79 episodes
2011–13	El barco (The Boat)	Ulises Garmendia	43 episodes
2018	Paquita Salas	Himself	Episode: "El secreto"
2019	Instinto	Marco Mur	Miniseries; 8 episodes
2021	El inocente	Mateo Vidal[45]	Miniseries; 8 episodes

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2009	14th LesGaiCineMad Festival	LesGai Performance Award	Sex, Party and Lies	Won	[46][47]
2011	61st Fotogramas de Plata	Best Film Actor	Three Steps Above Heaven	Nominated	[48]
	Latin ACE Awards	Best New Actor		Won	[49]
2012	62nd Fotogramas de Plata	Best Television Actor	El Barco	Nominated	[50]
	1st Neox Fan Awards	Best Actor in Spanish Cinema	I Want You	Won	[51]
2014	1st Feroz Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Witching & Bitching	Won	[52]
		Best Actor	The Mule	Nominated
2016	3rd Feroz Awards	Best Supporting Actor	My Big Night	Won	[53]
2021	26th Forqué Awards	Best Actor	Cross the Line	Nominated	[54]
	8th Feroz Awards	Best Actor in a Film		Won	[55]
	35th Goya Awards	Best Actor		Won	[56]
	13th Gaudí Awards	Best Actor		Won	[57]
2024	30th Forqué Awards	Best Actor in a Film	Escape	Nominated	[58]
2025	28th Málaga Film Festival	Silver Biznaga for Best Actor	Away	Won	[59]