Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain.
He landed his film debut in Atilano for President (1998), followed by other roles in feature films such as Flowers from Another World (1999), Common Wealth (2000) and No News from God (2001). He won early acclaim and recognition for his performances in Mondays in the Sun (2002) and Take My Eyes (2003).
After a career turning point in the wake of his performance as Malamadre in Cell 211 (2009), he has often been typecast in thriller films, going on to star in titles such as El Niño (2014), Retribution (2015), Gun City (2018), Eye for an Eye (2019), Code Name: Emperor (2022), On the Fringe (2022), All the Names of God (2023), Fatum (2023), Undercover (2024), and Golpes (2025).
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Early life
Tosar was born on 13 October 1971 in Lugo, although he usually prefers to identify with the parish of Xustás (in the municipality of Cospeito, also in the province of Lugo), where he spent his childhood and teenage years.
For two years (coincididing with the 1st- and 2nd-year of BUP), he had reportedly become a somewhat introspective and weird teenager, developing an acute interest for survival books and solo trips into the wilderness to set animal traps. At the time, he considered joining the Armed Forces, as "it was the only place" that offered him what he was looking for. He later became a conscientious objector.
Screen career
He began his career playing theater and shorts, but he gained notoriety in Galicia for his performance in 1998 television series Mareas Vivas (Televisión de Galicia).
Tosar made his big screen debut with a minor role in the comedy film Atilano for President (1998).
His supporting performance as Damián in 1999 immigration-themed film Flowers from Another World earned him a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actor.
Critically acclaimed for his supporting role in the unemployment drama Mondays in the Sun, abusive husband in Take My Eyes, an executive producer in Even the Rain, and doorman in Sleep Tight, his most acclaimed performance was from 2009 hit Cell 211 which stars Tosar as Malamadre, a prisoner that instigates a riot and befriends an undercover prison guard in the process. His only major role in an American film was Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006), playing Colombian druglord Montoya. Besides that he has appeared in other English films The Limits of Control and Mr. Nice.
In 2012 he dubbed George Washington for the videogame Assassin's Creed III.
He starred in the action thriller Retribution (2015) as a bank executive threatened by a bomb under his car seat. He billed the role as the most demanding of his career from an emotional standpoint and for reaching such extreme moods. For his work in the film, he clinched a nomination for the Goya Award for Best Actor.
On 17 November 2018 he received a star in the Almeria Walk of Fame for the films El Niño (2014) and Toro (2016).
He played a hardboiled and taciturn cop with a past marked by the Morocco War in the gangster film Gun City (2018) set in 1920s Barcelona.
Tosar landed another nomination for the Goya Award for Best Leading Actor for his work in the thriller film Eye for an Eye (2019) playing Mario, a nurse consumed by resentment. Tosar was drawn to the character for his "moral complexity".
Music
Tosar is a member of a band called Di Elas (originally The Ellas).
Views and stances
Tosar lent vocal support to the Nunca Máis platform formed as a response to the 2002 Prestige oil spill.
Close to the Galician Nationalist Bloc in the 2010s, Tosar ran as candidate in the Galeusca list to the 2004 European Parliament election.
In July 2025, Tosar signed a letter sent to the Government of Spain along with over 1,200 professionals demanding an immediate and comprehensive embargo of arms and defense material on Israel by means of a Royal Decree-Law. Also in 2025, Tosar joined the manifesto promoted by FiSahara decrying the filming of The Odyssey in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.
In September 2026, he co-signed the manifesto "against the genocide in Palestine and in defense of freedom of expression" alongside other professionals in the Spanish film industry demanding "an immediate end to the genocide being perpetrated by the State of Israel in Gaza and compliance with UN resolutions calling for its withdrawal from the occupied territories" as well as dennouncing "the censorship, persecution and threats" against NAZA directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
Family
In 2015, Tosar married actress María Luisa Mayol. They have two children.
Accolades
Tosar won the Málaga Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 Málaga Spanish Film Festival.
Celda 211 (Cell 211) (2009)
2010 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
Best Actor (Mejor Actor)
2010 Fotogramas de Plata
Best Movie Actor (Mejor Actor de Cine)
2010 Premios ACE
Cinema - Best Actor
2010 Seattle International Film Festival
Best Actor
Te doy mis ojos (Take My Eyes) (2003)
2005 Cartagena Film Festival
Best Actor (Mejor Actor)
2004 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
Best Actor (Mejor Actor) for: Take My Eyes (2003) and The Weakness of the Bolshevik (2003)
2004 Copenhagen International Film Festival
Best Actor
2004 Fotogramas de Plata
Best Movie Actor (Mejor Actor de Cine)
2004 Seattle International Film Festival
Best Actor
2004 Turia Awards
Best Actor
Los lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun) (2002)
2003 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
Best Supporting Actor (Mejor Actor Secundario)
2003 Sant Jordi Awards
Best Spanish Actor (Mejor Actor Español)
