Fele Martinez

Born: February 22 1975
Where: Alicante, Spain

Heralded as one of the faces of "young Spanish cinema", Martinez has worked with acclaimed directors such as Pedro Almodovar and Alejando Amenabar.

Notable appearances have included Amenabar's Open Your Eyes (later to be remade as Vanilla Sky) and Almodovar's Talk To Her and Bad Education.

After moving from the coast to Madrid, Martinez trained at Spain's Royal School of Dramatic Art and Antonio Madonna's acting college.

He landed a Goya (Spanish Oscar) for Amenabar's horror movie Thesis and then starred opposite Penelope Cruz in Open Your Eyes in 1997.

Subsequent appearances included the Spanish films Sleepless in Madrid, The Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Black Tears and April Captains.

In 2001, he starred alongside Albert Finney in the drama based on the hunting exploits of Ernest Hemingway - Death of a Hunter.

The following year Almodovar cast him in Talk To Her and opposite Y Tu Mama Tambien star Gael Garcia Bernal in Bad Education.