# Mario Casas
**Mario Casas** (full name Mario Casas Sierra, born 1986 in [A Coruña](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-coruna), Galicia) is a Spanish actor and director who rose to fame as a teen idol on television and in commercial Spanish cinema, then rebuilt his career toward critically recognized adult drama, winning the Goya Award for Best Actor for *No matarás* in 2021.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [2](https://www.academiadecine.com/pdfs/especial-academia-de-cine-2021/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name, birth | Mario Casas Sierra, born 1986 in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) |
| Training | Studied acting at the Cristina Rota school in Madrid after moving there as a young adult[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) |
| Breakout roles | Aitor Carrasco in *Los hombres de Paco* (2007–2010); Hache in *Tres metros sobre el cielo* (2010)[3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/es/person/mario-casas/umc.cpc.6nd6z2e4au06eith9bmtagayo?l=en) |
| Major awards | Goya for Best Actor for *No matarás* (2021); Biznaga de Plata for Best Actor at the Málaga festival for *La mula* (2013); three Feroz awards[2](https://www.academiadecine.com/pdfs/especial-academia-de-cine-2021/) • [3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) • [5](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/name.php?name-id=693858150) |
| Directing | Debut as director with *Mi soledad tiene alas* (2024), starring his brother Óscar Casas[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) |
| Recent recognition | Second Goya nomination for *Muy lejos* (Gerard Oms, 2025)[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) |
## Early life and training
Casas was born into a working family in A Coruña; his father was a construction worker and his mother a homemaker. When he was six the family moved to [Catalonia](https://www.edgepedia.org/catalonia), and he studied artistic secondary education (Bachiller Artístico) in Martorell, near Barcelona. As a child he appeared in television commercials for brands including Maggi, Telepizza, and Scalextric, and took part in programs such as *Crónicas Marcianas*.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) After coming of age he moved to Madrid to study acting at the Cristina Rota school, and took small roles in 2005, including the series *Obsesión* and *Motivos personales*.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [7](https://mariocasas.es/filmografia/)
## Television fame and commercial cinema
**Debut and youth stardom.** In 2006 [Antonio Banderas](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-banderas) cast him in *El camino de los ingleses*, Banderas's second film as director, which became Casas's cinema debut.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) The same year he joined the cast of the series *SMS (Sin miedo a soñar)*, and in 2007 he began playing the police officer Aitor Carrasco in *Los hombres de Paco*, a role he held for six seasons until the series ended in 2010 and which made him a youth idol.[3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php)
2009 brought two of the year's most commercially successful Spanish films, *Mentiras y gordas* and *Fuga de cerebros*; the latter earned him a Goya nomination for Best New Actor.[3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) • [8](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/fuga-de-cerebros/) His definitive popular breakthrough came in 2010 as Hache, the lead of Fernando González Molina's romantic drama *Tres metros sobre el cielo* opposite María Valverde, a box-office hit that received a sequel, *Tengo ganas de ti*, in 2012.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) Casas later described the film as generational and said it changed his career by moving him directly into cinema.[9](https://www.premiosgoya.com/35-edicion/articulos/ver/mario-casas-empiezo-a-estar-en-un-buen-momento/) Between 2011 and 2013 he led the Antena 3 series *El barco* alongside [Blanca Suárez](https://www.edgepedia.org/blanca-suarez).[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [7](https://mariocasas.es/filmografia/)
## Transition to adult cinema
The turn came with *La mula* (2013), which won him the Biznaga de Plata for Best Actor at the Festival de Málaga and nominations for the Feroz and CEC awards, and with Álex de la Iglesia's *Las brujas de Zugarramurdi* (2013), for which he received his first Feroz Award for Best Supporting Actor.[3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) • [10](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20220529/mario-casas-peliculas-premio-goya-no-mataras-tres-metros-cielo/2351224.shtml) He worked repeatedly with de la Iglesia (*Mi gran noche*, 2015; *El bar*, 2017) and took the lead in Oriol Paulo's thriller *Contratiempo* (2016), a role the director designed as his first adult, restrained character.[1](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/) • [11](https://eu-static.yelmocines.es/content/pdf/extended-synopsis/CONTRATIEMPO.pdf) In 2018 he played the lead in Mar Targarona's *El fotógrafo de Mauthausen*, about the Catalan prisoner Francesc Boix, the only Spanish witness at the Nuremberg-era testimony the film depicts.[3](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php) • [12](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20230825/mario-casas-peliculas-somos-cine-nominado-premios-goya/2067099.shtml)
**The Goya.** In David Victori's thriller *No matarás* (2020) Casas played Dani, a young man who has spent years caring for his sick father. The performance won him his first Goya nomination and his first Goya, for Best Actor, at the 2021 ceremony.[2](https://www.academiadecine.com/pdfs/especial-academia-de-cine-2021/) • [12](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20230825/mario-casas-peliculas-somos-cine-nominado-premios-goya/2067099.shtml) He credited the award partly to the range of his recent work in *El fotógrafo de Mauthausen*, *[Adiós](https://www.edgepedia.org/adios)*, and *El practicante*, and said his acting coach, Gerard Oms, had told him at the start of the project that he would make him win a Goya.[9](https://www.premiosgoya.com/35-edicion/articulos/ver/mario-casas-empiezo-a-estar-en-un-buen-momento/)
## Directing and recent work
In 2024 Casas directed his first feature, *Mi soledad tiene alas*, starring his younger brother Óscar Casas; the film drew on his own story of a neighborhood boy who left for Madrid to pursue an artistic career, and he has called directing his first film the thing he is most proud of.[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) • [13](https://www.lavanguardia.com/magazine/moda/20260329/11499682/mario-casas-principio-mi-carrera-me-pedian-me-quitara-camiseta-me-quito.html)
His recent roles show a deliberate spread across genres: a bewildered Francoist military man in *La cena* (Manuel Gómez Pereira, 2025), a misunderstood paranoid in *Escape* (Rodrigo Cortés, 2024), and an emigrant searching for his identity and sexuality in *Muy lejos* (Gerard Oms, 2025).[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) *Muy lejos*, the directing debut of Oms, his acting coach of many years, brought him his second Goya nomination for Best Actor and his second Gaudí award.[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) In 2026 he starred as a CNI intelligence agent in *Zeta*, a spy thriller directed by Dani de la Torre and released on Prime Video on 20 March; for the role he spent nearly a month training in weapons handling and met a real intelligence agent as preparation.[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html)
## Public image and career pattern
Casas has spoken openly about the "shirtless actor" label attached to him after the *Tres metros sobre el cielo* films, saying he is grateful for it because it kept him working, while also describing how criticism on early internet forums after *Los hombres de Paco* shook his confidence and pushed him to seek constantly different characters.[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) Spanish press has described him as the most popular Spanish actor of his generation and as an example of an actor who combines independent cinema with commercial projects.[6](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html) • [14](https://www.elindependiente.com/series-y-television/estrenos/2026/02/12/esta-pelicula-con-mario-casas-esta-nominada-a-ocho-premios-goya-todas-las-criticas-son-buenas-y-se-estrena-hoy-online/amp/) His career totals more than twenty films since 2006, alongside series work including *Instinto* (2019, with Óscar Casas) and a guest appearance in *[Paquita Salas](https://www.edgepedia.org/paquita-salas)* (2018).[12](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20230825/mario-casas-peliculas-somos-cine-nominado-premios-goya/2067099.shtml) • [7](https://mariocasas.es/filmografia/)
## References
1. [Biografía de Mario Casas, Web Oficial de Mario Casas](https://mariocasas.es/biografia-de-mario-casas-2/)
2. [Mario Casas, especial Academia de Cine 2021](https://www.academiadecine.com/pdfs/especial-academia-de-cine-2021/)
3. [Mario Casas biografía, filmografía, LaHiguera.net](https://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/mario_casas/biografia.php)
4. [Mario Casas Films and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/es/person/mario-casas/umc.cpc.6nd6z2e4au06eith9bmtagayo?l=en)
5. [Mario Casas, Filmaffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/name.php?name-id=693858150)
6. [Mario Casas: "Se me puso la etiqueta del actor que se quitaba la camiseta...", EL PAÍS ICON, 14 March 2026](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-03-14/mario-casas-se-me-puso-la-etiqueta-del-actor-que-se-quitaba-la-camiseta-pero-gracias-a-ella-he-seguido-trabajando.html)
7. [Filmografía de Mario Casas, Web Oficial de Mario Casas](https://mariocasas.es/filmografia/)
8. [Fuga de cerebros, Premios Goya (24ª edición)](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/fuga-de-cerebros/)
9. [Mario Casas: "Empiezo a estar en un buen momento", Premios Goya, 28 July 2021](https://www.premiosgoya.com/35-edicion/articulos/ver/mario-casas-empiezo-a-estar-en-un-buen-momento/)
10. [¿Cuándo empezamos a tomarnos en serio a Mario Casas?, RTVE Play](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20220529/mario-casas-peliculas-premio-goya-no-mataras-tres-metros-cielo/2351224.shtml)
11. [Entrevista al director (Contratiempo press kit)](https://eu-static.yelmocines.es/content/pdf/extended-synopsis/CONTRATIEMPO.pdf)
12. [Mario Casas, todas sus películas: 6 títulos gratis en RTVE Play, RTVE](https://www.rtve.es/play/noticias/20230825/mario-casas-peliculas-somos-cine-nominado-premios-goya/2067099.shtml)
13. [Mario Casas: "Al principio de mi carrera, me pedían que me quitara la camiseta...", La Vanguardia](https://www.lavanguardia.com/magazine/moda/20260329/11499682/mario-casas-principio-mi-carrera-me-pedian-me-quitara-camiseta-me-quito.html)
14. [Mario Casas protagoniza esta película nominada a 8 premios Goya, El Independiente](https://www.elindependiente.com/series-y-television/estrenos/2026/02/12/esta-pelicula-con-mario-casas-esta-nominada-a-ocho-premios-goya-todas-las-criticas-son-buenas-y-se-estrena-hoy-online/amp/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Spanish actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; 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