Guillermo Toledo Monsalve (born 22 May 1970), also known as Willy Toledo, is a Spanish actor and theatre producer. He gained popularity in Spain for his television role as Richard in sitcom 7 vidas from 1999 to 2002,[1][2] advancing further public recognition for performances in films such as The Other Side of the Bed (2002), Football Days (2003), and Ferpect Crime (2004).[3]
Guillermo Toledo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Toledo at the 2021 Gaudí Awards | |
| Born | Guillermo Toledo Monsalve 22 May 1970 Madrid, Spain |
| Education | Colegio Estilo |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Besides his acting career, he is also noted as a polemicist and for his political activism.[4][2] He has claimed to suffer a veto by the Spanish film and television industry limiting his job opportunities due to his off-screen activities.[5]
Biography
Guillermo Toledo Monsalve was born in Madrid on 22 May 1970,[4] to a well-off family, son of a prestigious surgeon pioneer in thoracic surgery.[6][2] He studied at the Colegio Estilo in El Viso.[6] He trained as an actor in Spain and the United States.[2]
He made his feature film debut in You Shall Die in Chafarinas.[7] Together with Alberto San Juan, Nathalie Poza and Ernesto Alterio, Toledo founded in 1996 the theatrical group Ración de oreja, which presented the theatrical staging Animalario.[8] Ración de oreja later merged with Andrés Lima's Riesgo to create the theatre company Animalario, named after Ración de oreja's debut work.[9]
His breakout role came in 1999 with his performance as 'Richard' in the television series 7 Vidas from 1999 to 2002.[2]
His performance in the 2002 musical film El otro lado de la cama earned him a nomination to the Goya Award for Best New Actor,[10] whereas his performance in Álex de la Iglesia's Crimen ferpecto (2004) earned him a nomination to the Goya Award for Best Actor.[11]
After years of an alleged "veto" of the Spanish film and TV industry on granting roles to Toledo, Toledo returned to fiction in the Netflix's series The Minions of Midas,[12] premiered in November 2019.
Activism
He was noted for his activism in Spain against the Iraq War and for his support to the Sahrawi liberation movement.[4] Distinguished as deliverer of controversial statements and for the "disrespectful" way of defending them,[2] he has also voiced himself in favour of the Cuban regime, against the Spanish monarchy, against Podemos and against La Sexta.[2]
Toledo was arrested for allegedly causing "damage" during the 29 March 2012 Spanish general strike.[2] He was released and the case against him was closed.[2]
In November 2020, he was acquitted after being tried for blasphemy by the Catholic far-right lobby Abogados Cristianos, after writing a Facebook post "shitting on god and the virgin" as way of criticising the opening of oral proceedings against three women who in 2014 paraded a large vagina in Seville under the banner "The Unsubmissive Pussy".[13][14][15][2]
He appeared in the last position of the list of the CUP-led electoral list Guanyem for the 2023 local elections in Badalona. It is a show of symbolic support, it would be improbable that he became a councilor.[16]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Morirás en Chafarinas | Film debut | [17] | |
| 1995 | La Ley de la frontera | [18] | ||
| 1998 | Mensaka | Ricardo | [19] | |
| 1999 | Se buscan fulmontis | El Réfor | [20] | |
| 1999 | La mujer más fea del mundo (The Ugliest Woman in the World) | Lafuente | [21] | |
| 1999 | La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly's Tongue) | O'Lis | [22] | |
| 2000 | El otro barrio (The Other Side) | Vicente | [23] | |
| 2000 | La espalda de Dios | El sapo | [24] | |
| 2001 | Amor, curiosidad, prozak y dudas | [25] | ||
| 2001 | Juana la Loca (Mad Love) | Capitán Corrales | [26] | |
| 2001 | The Old Man Who Read Love Stories | Onecen | [27] | |
| 2001 | Intacto | Horacio | [28] | |
| 2002 | El otro lado de la cama (The Other Side of the Bed) | Pedro | [29] | |
| 2003 | Al sur de Granada (South from Granada) | Paco | [30] | |
| 2003 | El misterio Galíndez | Ricardo | [31] | |
| 2004 | Las voces de la noche (Voices in the Night) | [32] | ||
| 2004 | El asombroso mundo de Borjamari y Pocholo | Pelayo | [33] | |
| 2004 | Seres queridos | Rafi | [34] | |
| 2004 | Crimen ferpecto (The Ferpect Crime) | Rafael González | [35] | |
| 2006 | Los 2 lados de la cama | Pedro | [36] | |
| 2007 | Salir pitando | José Luis Ratón Pérez | [37] | |
| 2008 | Santos | El antropomosco | [38] | |
| 2008 | La buena nueva (The Good News) | Antonino | [39] | |
| 2009 | After | Julio | [40] | |
| 2010 | Desechos | [41] | ||
| 2012 | Los amantes pasajeros (I'm So Excited!) | Ricardo Galán | [42] | |
| 2013 | Diamantes negros | [43] | ||
| 2014 | Historias de Lavapiés | Ernesto | [44] | |
| 2018 | Black Is Beltza | Teniente Muñoz | Voice work | [45] |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Los favoritos de Midas (The Minions of Midas) | Inspector Conte | [46] | |
| 2023 | Todas las veces que nos enamoramos (In Love All Over Again) | Pablo | [47] | |
| El grito de las mariposas (The Cry of the Butterflies) | Asier Oyamburu | [48] | ||
| Romancero | Teodoro | [49] |