Actor Manolo Solo dies, winner of the Goya for 'Tarde para la ira'

BarcelonaThe actor Manolo Solo, one of the most versatile and solid performers in Spanish cinema, died this Thursday at the age of 62, according to the Spanish Film Academy. Solo won the Goya for best supporting actor in 2017 for the thriller Tarde para la ira, by Raúl Arévalo, and was also nominated as a supporting actor for El buen patrón, Cerrar los ojos and B, la película,, and as a lead for Una quinta portuguesa, for which he was also nominated for a Gaudí. A chameleon-like performer, he could disappear into characters and move from comedy to drama with the confidence and solidity of gifted actors.

Solo, born in 1964 as Manuel Jesús Fernández Serrano in Algeciras in 1964, did not receive recognition until late, after two decades of supporting roles in films, TV movies, series, and short films. He participated in promising debuts such as Astronautas (2013) by Santiago Amodeo, La flaqueza del bolchevique (2003) by Manuel Martín Cuenca, or El traje (2002) by Alberto Rodríguez, but also in more important productions such as El laberinto del fauno (2006) by Guillermo del Toro or El gran Vázquez (2010), a biopic about the cartoonist Manuel Vázquez, in which the actor very subtly portrayed a young Francisco Ibáñez.

The actor lived this career without successes or recognition with some frustration. "For a long time, I embittered my life because a part of me thought I deserved more and lived with the anxiety of being discovered, of someone noticing me," he confessed a few years ago to El Mundo. His situation began to improve when Alberto Rodríguez, with whom he had already worked on El traje and Siete vírgenes, entrusted him with a supporting but rewarding role as a journalist in La isla mínima, the winner of the 2015 Goya awards. That same year, Solo starred in the magnificent B. La pel·lícula, by David Ilundain, where Solo played Pablo Ruz, the investigating judge in the Bárcenas case. And shortly after came the role that changed everything, that of Triana in Tarde para la ira, which the director of that film, Raúl Arévalo, had offered him eight years earlier. It was a short role that only appeared for seven minutes and ended in assassination, but the actor managed to give it a life and credibility that the Spanish academicians recognized with the Goya.