Ricardo Darín

Early life

Ricardo Darín was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 26, 1957, to actor Ricardo Darín Sr. and actress Renée Roxana. His family, of Italian and Syrian-Lebanese origin, held strong ties to the Argentine showbusiness community.

His parents got divorced when he was only 12 years old, and later on his father would die of cancer on January 5, 1989.

He has worked in showbusiness since he was a little boy, and over the years has made a remarkable evolution from soap operas and TV comedies to becoming a leading figure in the production of the most important Argentine movies of the past decades.

Early years

Darín was only ten years old when he made his theater debut alongside his parents. At the age of sixteen he would achieve a stable position in the Argentinean show business, through TV shows such as Alta Comedia and Estación Retiro. Under the patronage of Alberto Migré, Argentina's major TV producer at the time, he would gain popularity by starring in several productions.

TV success (1980s)

During the '80s, while still collaborating with Migré, Darín would get definitive acclaim as one of the "galancitos" (Spanish for "charmers"), a group of young actors that adapted TV blockbusters into theater productions. The galancitos would get extraordinary fame and thousands of followers would pile up to see them perform all over Argentina, thus making of each tour appearance an absolute success. In 1987, Darín starred in the television show Estrellita Mía, with Andrea Del Boca, and two years later in the show Rebelde, with Grecia Colmenares.

Far from satisfied with just portraying pretty boy roles, he switched to comedy in the early '90s, which led him to his greatest television success by co-starring in the remake of the '70s TV show Mi Cuñado (1993-1996), alongside Luis Brandoni.

Movie success (1990s)

Despite his success on television, Darín never left theater and continued to perform in productions such as La extraña pareja (a Spanish adaptation of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple) (1984), Taxi (1985), Sugar (1986-1987), Rumores (1990), Algo en común (1995) and Art (1997-1999). He debuted as theater director in 1990, with the production Pájaros in the nait, starring Adrián Suar, Diego Torres and Leonardo Sbaraglia.

He started his cinematographic career by appearing in movies mainly aimed for young audiences, such as He nacido en la ribera, Así es la vida, La rabona and Los éxitos del amor, La carpa del amor, La discoteca del amor and La canción de Buenos Aires. He would then try to shift to more mature cinema, which permitted him to appear in movies such as El desquite, Revancha de un amigo o La Rosales. But he would still have to wait a few years before receiving true critical acclaim.

The critic first noted and praised Darín for his role in the movie Perdido por perdido, directed by the newcomer Alberto Lecchi. He would then appear in Eduardo Mignogna's El faro (in English: The Lighthouse), and star in Juan José Campanella's El mismo amor, la misma lluvia (in English: Same love, same rain), which brought him further critical acclaim. But his definitive success would be sealed by his role as Marcos, a con artist in the midst of Argentina's financial crisis, in the movie Nueve Reinas (in English: Nine Queens). Darín brought a magnificent performance alongside Gastón Pauls and finally made a name for himself in Argentina's cinematographic industry.

International acknowledgement (2000s)

After Nueve reinas' major success, Darín played a minor abeit effective role in Mignona's La fuga, in 2001. In that same year, he co-starred in El hijo de la novia (in English: Son of the bride), alongside Norma Aleandro and Héctor Alterio. The movie turned out to be a huge blockbuster and a critical success, resulting in its nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and winning the Silver Condor for Best Film.

Darín then starred in the comedy film Samy y yo, with Angie Cepeda, in 2002. The following year, he would star with Cecilia Roth in Kamchatka, a drama that was pre-selected for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2004 he co-starred with actress Mercedes Morán in the movie Luna de Avellaneda (in English: Moon of Avellaneda), where he played a man trying to save his childhood club from bankruptcy. In 2005 he portrayed a taxidermist with photographic memory who unknowingly gets himself involved in a crime scheme, in the movie El aura. This last performance earned him a Cóndor de Plata and a Clarín Award for Best Actor.

In 2006 he and Juan José Campanella were awarded with the Spanish citizenship by certificate of naturalization, a special concession given by the Kingdom of Spain to people of particular merits. That same year, he starred in the Spanish film La educación de las hadas, alongside Bebe and Irene Jacob.

In 2007 he appeared in the movie XXY, where he plays the troubled father of a hermaphrodite teenage daughter. That same year, he starred and debuted as a film director in the movie La señal (in English: The signal), a project Eduardo Magnogna left unfinished after his death.

In 2009 he starred with Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Francella in El secreto de sus ojos (in English: The secret in their eyes), a movie by Juan José Campanella. The movie was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and rose up to be the second biggest box-office hit in the history of Argentine cinema. His performance as Benjamín Espósito earned Darín a Cóndor de Plata award for best actor, and his first nomination for the Goya Awards in that same category.

That same year, he appeared in the Spanish movie El baile de la Victoria, which earned him a nomination for the Goya Awards, this time as Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Recent work (2010s)

In 2010 he starred in Pablo Trapero's Carancho, with Martina Gusmán, where he played the role of an unscrupulous lawyer.

In 2011, along with Muriel Santa Ana and Ignacio Huang, he starred in Sebastián Borensztein's Un cuento chino (in English: Chinese take-away), which resulted in a big box-office success. That same year he was awarded two Konex Awards: the Platinum Konex for Best Actor, and the Bright Konex for the Most Influential Figure in the Argentine Show Business in the 2001-2010 Decade.

In 2012 he starred in Elefante blanco (in English: White elephant), again along with Martina Gusmán. And the following year he would star in the box-office hits Tesis sobre un homicidio and Séptimo.

In 2013 he returned to theater and starred in the play Escenas de la vida conyugal (a Spanish adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage), alongside Valeria Bertuccelli. In 2015 he reprised the role with Érica Rivas, in Mar del Plata. His performance earned him the Estrella de Mar Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Comedy.

In 2014 he starred in Relatos Salvajes (in English: Wild Tales), the biggest box-office hit in Argentine cinema history, along with Leonardo Sbaraglia, Oscar Martínez, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Darío Grandinetti and Julieta Zylberberg. This was his third movie to get nominated for an Academy Award. His performance earned him his third nomination for the Goya Awards, this time for the Best Actor category.

In 2015 he starred in Cesc Gay's Truman, which earned him a Concha de Plata award for Best Actor at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Personal life

In 1988 Darín married fellow Argentine Florencia Bas, with whom he has two children, Ricardo "Chino" Darín and Clara Darín. His sister, Alejandra Darín, is also an actress.

Darín has rejected the opportunity to play a drug trafficker in the Denzel Washington film Man on Fire, due to being unhappy at Hollywood’s negative stereotyping of Latin Americans.