# Édgar Ramírez
**Édgar Ramírez** (Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano; born 1977) is a Venezuelan actor and producer known for playing the terrorist [Carlos the Jackal](https://www.edgepedia.org/carlos-the-jackal) in [Olivier Assayas](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivier-assayas)'s miniseries *Carlos* (2010), for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor, and for roles in Hollywood films such as *The Bourne Ultimatum*, *Zero Dark Thirty*, and *Emilia Pérez*. He has been nominated for two [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards) and two Golden Globe Awards.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano, born 1977 in San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela (some biographical sites list Caracas) [3](https://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/11352/000000000) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) • [5](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-99627/biografia/) |
| Education | Degree in communications, Andrés Bello Catholic University, Caracas; graduated 1999 [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) |
| Breakthrough | *Carlos* (2010, Olivier Assayas), a French-German miniseries in the title role; César for Most Promising Actor (2011), Golden Nymph for Best Actor at Monte-Carlo [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/) |
| Emmy nominations | Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for *Carlos* (2011); Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for *The Assassination of Gianni Versace* (2018) [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) |
| Notable films | *The Bourne Ultimatum* (2007), *Che: Part One* (2008), *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012), *Hands of Stone* (2016), *Jungle Cruise* (2021), *Borderlands* (2024), *Emilia Pérez* (2024) [6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) |
| Television | *The Undoing* (HBO, 2020), the network's most-watched show of that year; *Florida Man* (Netflix, 2023), in the titular role [6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) |
| Production work | Founder of the production company Absolute Artists [7](https://www.produ.com/television/noticias/edgar-ramirez-actor-y-productor-mientras-mas-personal-es-una-historia-mayor-es-su-universalidad/) |
## Early life and education
Ramírez was born in Venezuela in 1977. Most biographical sources give his birthplace as San Cristóbal, a city in Táchira near the Colombian border,[3](https://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/11352/000000000) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) • [8](https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-01-25/selena-gomez-y-edgar-ramirez-emilia-perez-no-es-una-pelicula-politica.html) while IMDb, SensaCine, and the Television Academy list Caracas.[5](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-99627/biografia/) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) He is the son of Soday Arellano, a writer, and Filiberto Ramírez, a retired military officer.[3](https://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/11352/000000000)
Because of his father's work as a military attaché, the family moved often. Ramírez has said he spent his childhood in Latin America and his teenage years in Europe.[9](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/i-was-kidnapped-edgar-ramirez-tells-nicole-kidman-about-his-life-less-ordinary) He grew up all over Venezuela as well as abroad.[10](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a13761367/strong-spirit-january-2018/)
He studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, specializing in politics, and graduated in 1999.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) • [11](https://anthemmagazine.com/ny-film-festival-exclusive-edgar-ramirez-is-carlos/) He prepared for a career in journalism and also considered diplomacy; an early job was with the grassroots organization Dale al Voto, which encouraged young people in Venezuela to vote.[9](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/i-was-kidnapped-edgar-ramirez-tells-nicole-kidman-about-his-life-less-ordinary) • [12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2010/10/11/for-edgar-ramirez-the-challenge-of-terrorist-role-was-making-him-human/b732850f-32fa-45e1-8d53-89149991666c/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez)
## From journalism to acting
Acting entered his life by accident. While studying journalism, a friend asked him to appear in a short film.[13](https://magazinec.com/culture/edgar-ramirez-everything-ive-learned-has-been-from-the-people-ive-worked-with-from-nicole-kidman-to-cate-blanchett/) On a trip to Mexico he met the screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who had seen him in a friend's film and encouraged him to become an actor; Arriaga later offered him the role of Ramiro in *[Amores perros](https://www.edgepedia.org/amores-perros)* (2000), which Ramírez declined, learning only two years later that the film he had turned down had won the Grand Prix at Cannes.[14](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/118/183/46966/presse/carlos-presskit-english.pdf) • [15](https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/edgar-ramirez-meet-the-venezuelan-actor-taking-hollywood-by-storm) • [16](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/name/nm1183149/bio/)
His first recurring television role came with the Venevisión telenovela *Cosita rica* (2003-04), in which he played Cacique Chacón.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez) He worked in Venezuelan action dramas and thrillers, and starred in *Punto y Raya*, which represented Venezuela at that year's Academy Awards.[17](https://media.diarioversionfinal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/d2607-1.pdf)
## The Carlos breakthrough
The role that defined his international career was Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, in Olivier Assayas's approximately six-hour French-German miniseries *Carlos* (2010), which screened out of competition at the Festival de Cannes that year.[10](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a13761367/strong-spirit-january-2018/) • [6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) The role required a marked physical transformation: to portray the terrorist in his later, washed-up years, Ramírez gained 35 pounds, which he described as "lots of pasta and ice cream."[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2010/10/11/for-edgar-ramirez-the-challenge-of-terrorist-role-was-making-him-human/b732850f-32fa-45e1-8d53-89149991666c/) He tried to interview the real Carlos, by then imprisoned for life in France, but could not arrange it before production began.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2010/10/11/for-edgar-ramirez-the-challenge-of-terrorist-role-was-making-him-human/b732850f-32fa-45e1-8d53-89149991666c/)
The performance brought him the 2011 César Award for Most Promising Actor, the Golden Nymph for Best Actor in a Mini-Series at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, and nominations for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a [Miniseries](https://www.edgepedia.org/miniseries) or a Movie, the Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as second-place Best Actor citations from the Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics awards (tied with [Colin Firth](https://www.edgepedia.org/colin-firth) at the latter).[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/)
## Hollywood career
Ramírez's international career began with roles in *Domino* ([Tony Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-scott)) and as the CIA assassin Paz in *The Bourne Ultimatum* ([Paul Greengrass](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-greengrass), 2007), followed by *Che* ([Steven Soderbergh](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-soderbergh)), in which he played Ciro Redondo García in Part One.[14](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/118/183/46966/presse/carlos-presskit-english.pdf) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) Subsequent film work included Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-nominated *Zero Dark Thirty* (2012), *Wrath of the Titans* (2012), *The Girl on the Train* and *Gold* (2016), Ridley Scott's *Cartel*, and *Hands of Stone* (2016), in which he played the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán; that film screened out of competition at Cannes 2016 during a tribute to Robert De Niro.[6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez)
He returned to event television as [Gianni Versace](https://www.edgepedia.org/gianni-versace) in the second season of FX's *American Crime Story*, *The Assassination of Gianni Versace* (2018), earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for supporting actor and, with the ensemble, a Satellite Award.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/) In 2020 he starred in HBO's *The Undoing* alongside [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman), the network's most-watched show of the year.[9](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/i-was-kidnapped-edgar-ramirez-tells-nicole-kidman-about-his-life-less-ordinary) • [6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) Later leading roles included Mike Valentine in Netflix's *Florida Man* (2023) and the surgeon [Paolo Macchiarini](https://www.edgepedia.org/paolo-macchiarini) in the second season of *Dr. Death* (2021 series, 2023 season).[6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/)
## Recent work and producing
In 2024 Ramírez appeared in [Jacques Audiard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacques-audiard)'s musical *Emilia Pérez*, in competition at Cannes and as the male lead alongside [Selena Gomez](https://www.edgepedia.org/selena-gomez), Zoe Saldaña, and Karla Sofía Gascón; the film received 13 Academy Award nominations, a record for a non-English-language film. Ramírez said it was the first time he had played a narcotrafficker, which he had previously avoided for personal reasons.[8](https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-01-25/selena-gomez-y-edgar-ramirez-emilia-perez-no-es-una-pelicula-politica.html) He also played Atlas in the 2024 film adaptation of *Borderlands*.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez)
He has expanded into producing. His company, Absolute Artists, aims to build a catalog of projects rooted in specific local contexts with global reach; Ramírez describes his criterion as "the more specific and personal a story is, the greater its universality."[7](https://www.produ.com/television/noticias/edgar-ramirez-actor-y-productor-mientras-mas-personal-es-una-historia-mayor-es-su-universalidad/) He produced and appeared in *It Would Be Night in Caracas* (2025), a thriller set in the Venezuelan capital, and remains based in Los Angeles; he left Venezuela in 2017 and has said he can no longer return to the country.[18](https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/edgar-ramirez-venezolano-moda-ama-hollywood_0_tduvWmFfnr.amp.html) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez)
Ramírez speaks five languages.[10](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a13761367/strong-spirit-january-2018/) He was a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the 2022 Festival de Cannes.[6](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/)
## References
1. [Edgar Ramirez, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/edgar-ramirez)
2. [Edgar Ramírez - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1183149/awards/)
3. [Biografía de Édgar Ramírez, Buscabiografias](https://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/11352/000000000)
4. [Edgar Ramírez, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/edgar_ramirez)
5. [Édgar Ramírez : Su biografía, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-99627/biografia/)
6. [Edgar RAMIREZ, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/edgar-ramirez/)
7. [Édgar Ramírez, actor y productor, PRODU](https://www.produ.com/television/noticias/edgar-ramirez-actor-y-productor-mientras-mas-personal-es-una-historia-mayor-es-su-universalidad/)
8. [Selena Gomez y Édgar Ramírez: "'Emilia Pérez' no es una película política", El País](https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-01-25/selena-gomez-y-edgar-ramirez-emilia-perez-no-es-una-pelicula-politica.html)
9. [Edgar Ramírez Tells Nicole Kidman About His Life Less Ordinary, Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/i-was-kidnapped-edgar-ramirez-tells-nicole-kidman-about-his-life-less-ordinary)
10. [Edgar Ramirez on Playing Gianni Versace, Elle](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a13761367/strong-spirit-january-2018/)
11. [From the Archives: Edgar Ramírez, Anthem Magazine](https://anthemmagazine.com/ny-film-festival-exclusive-edgar-ramirez-is-carlos/)
12. [For Edgar Ramirez, the challenge of terrorist role was making him human, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/style/2010/10/11/for-edgar-ramirez-the-challenge-of-terrorist-role-was-making-him-human/b732850f-32fa-45e1-8d53-89149991666c/)
13. [Édgar Ramírez, C Magazine](https://magazinec.com/culture/edgar-ramirez-everything-ive-learned-has-been-from-the-people-ive-worked-with-from-nicole-kidman-to-cate-blanchett/)
14. [Interview with Edgar Ramirez, Carlos press kit, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/118/183/46966/presse/carlos-presskit-english.pdf)
15. [What's Next For Édgar Ramírez?, L'Officiel Hommes Singapore](https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/edgar-ramirez-meet-the-venezuelan-actor-taking-hollywood-by-storm)
16. [Edgar Ramírez - Biografía, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/name/nm1183149/bio/)
17. [Versión Final newspaper PDF (2016)](https://media.diarioversionfinal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/d2607-1.pdf)
18. [Edgar Ramírez, el venezolano de moda que más ama Hollywood, Clarín](https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/edgar-ramirez-venezolano-moda-ama-hollywood_0_tduvWmFfnr.amp.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of Latin America and Iberia › Colombian, Andean, and Central American actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license