Eduardo Noriega

Noriega grew up an adventurous child in Santander, Spain in the '80s, studying piano and general music before delving into drama in the 1990s. Prior to garnering recognition in the States, Noriega had to first capture the attention of the Spanish film community. He did that with his dual roles in two of Spain's most celebrated films of the '90s, "Tesis" (1996) and "Open Your Eyes" (1997), the latter of which was the basis for director Cameron Crowe's 2001 fantasy drama, "Vanilla Sky." Noriega had met the director of both films, Alejandro Amenábar, while pursuing an acting career in Madrid. He appeared in some of Amenábar's early short films, but despite having a solid relationship with the director, Noriega was not Amenábar's first choice for the lead in "Tesis." Amenábar thought Noriega was too handsome to play the role of Bosco, a demented film student that's believed to be involved in the making of a gruesome snuff film. Despite his better judgment, however, Amenábar reluctantly cast Noriega in the lead. "Tesis," which was shot on a low budget over the course of six weeks, went on to win seven Goya Awards (Spain's equivalent of the Academy Awards), including Best Picture, making Noriega an overnight star in his native country. Following his award-winning performance in "Tesis," Noriega began appearing in some of the most prominent Spanish films of the early 2000s, including Guillermo del Toro's eerie period horror film "The Devil's Backbone" (2001) and "Wolf" (2004). In 2008, he made his American film debut as the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara in the biopic of the same name, directed by Josh Evans. It was that same year that Noriega started becoming a recognizable face to American audiences with noteworthy performances in the thrillers "Vantage Point," starring Dennis Quaid, and the Brad Anderson-directed "Transsiberian," starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley. In 2013, Noriega had the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream by working with Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Last Stand." Noriega, who grew up loving Schwarzenegger's movies, played a drug tycoon in the film, which despite being hailed as Schwarzenegger's "comeback movie," failed to win over critics and audiences. Still, Noriega enjoyed working with Schwarzenegger, referring to the aging superstar as "humble" and "a regular guy" during filming.