Luis Zahera

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Castro and the second or maternal family name is Zahera.

José Luis Castro Zahera (born 23 May 1966) is a Spanish actor from Galicia. He is known for his performances in supporting roles in Galician and Spanish films and television series.

Luis Zahera
Zahera in 2023
Born	José Luis Castro Zahera (1966-05-23) 23 May 1966 (age 59) Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Occupation	Actor

Biography

José Luis Castro Zahera was born on 23 May 1966 in Santiago de Compostela.^[1] Zahera earned early public recognition in his native Galicia for his performance as Petróleo in the series Mareas vivas.^[2][3] He made his feature film debut in José Luis García Sánchez's Divinas palabras (1987).^[4][5]

He won the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2019 for his performance as Cabrera in The Realm.^[6] He won another Goya for his supporting performance in The Beasts (2022), portraying spiteful villager Xan.^[7][8]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1998–2002	Mareas vivas [es]	Petróleo		[2]
2008	Sin tetas no hay paraíso	El Pertur		[9]
2010	La isla de los nominados [es]	César Sarmiento		[10]
2011	Piratas	Puñales		[11]
2012	Matalobos [es]	Aníbal		[12]
2016	Buscando el norte [es]	Roberto Llamazares		[13]
2016	El padre de Caín	Bermejo		[14]
2017	La zona	Lucio		[15]
2018	Vivir sin permiso (Unauthorized Living)	Ferro		[16]
2020	La unidad	Sergio		[17]
2020	Enemigo íntimo	El Gallego	Season 2	[18]
2022	Entrevías (Wrong Side of the Tracks)	Ezequiel		[19]
2022	La última (Our Only Chance)			[20]

Film

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2001	Lena	Antonio		[21]
2006	Alatriste	Pereira		[22]
2007	Concursante (The Contestant)	Pizarro		[23]
2008	Los años desnudos. Clasificada S (Rated R)	Angel		[24]
2009	Celda 211 (Cell 211)	Releches		[25]
2011	La herencia Valdemar II: La sombra prohibida [es]	HP Lovecraft		[26]
2012	Invasor (Invader)	Arturo		[27]
	Todo es silencio (All Is Silence)	Malpica		[28]
2018	El reino (The Realm)	Cabrera		[6]
2019	Mientras dure la guerra (While at War)	Atilano Coco [es]		[29]
2021	Xtremo (Xtreme)	Urquiza		[30]
	Loco por ella (Crazy About Her)	Saúl		[31]
2022	As bestas (The Beasts)	Xan		[32]
2024	El correo (The Courier)	Comisario Roig		[33]
	Pájaros (Birds Flying East)	Mario		[34]
	Amanece en Samaná (Samana Sunrise)	Mario		[35]
2025	Tierra de nadie (Barren Land)	Mateo el Gallego		[36]
TBA	Zeta †			[37]

Accolades

Zahera holding his Goya Award for Best Supporting actor for his performance in The Realm in 2019.

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2008	6th Mestre Mateo Awards	Best Supporting Actor	The Contestant	Won	[38]
2010	19th Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Minor Role	Cell 211	Nominated	[39][40]
	8th Mestre Mateo Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[41]
2013	11th Mestre Mateo Awards	Best Supporting Actor	All Is Silence	Won	[28]
2019	6th Feroz Awards	Best Supporting Actor (film)	The Realm	Won	[42]
	74th CEC Medals	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[43]
	33rd Goya Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[6]
	28th Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role		Nominated	[44][45]
2022	28th Forqué Awards	Best TV Actor	Wrong Side of the Tracks	Nominated	[46]
2023	10th Feroz Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series	The Unit	Nominated	[47]
		Best Supporting Actor in a Film	The Beasts	Won
	37th Goya Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[48]
	31st Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role		Won	[49]
	10th Platino Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[50]
2024	27th Málaga Film Festival	Silver Biznaga for Best Actor	Birds Flying East	Won	[51]