Rafael "Fele" Martínez (born 22 February 1975) is a Spanish actor. He gained notoriety for his performance as Chema in Thesis (1996), his feature film debut and for which he won the Goya Award for Best New Actor.
Early years Rafael Martínez was born in Alicante on 22 February 1975. He moved to Madrid to study at the RESAD, where he set up a theater and storytelling group, the 'Sex-Peare', along with other school alumni.
Career His chance at stardom came at the hand of Alejandro Amenábar, who offered him a role in his opera prima Thesis. It was for this work that Fele received the Goya Award for Best New Actor in 1996. It was followed by performances in films such as Open Your Eyes (1997), Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998), The Art of Dying (1999), April Captains (2000), Black Serenade (2001), and Bad Education (2004).
He has also participated in several independent film projects including the short films Pasaia (1996), for which he won Best Actor at the Elche Film Festival, Amigos (1997), La cartera (2000), and El castigo del ángel (2002) which he also directed.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1996 Tesis (Thesis) Chema 1997 El tiempo de la felicidad (Time of Happiness) Ezequiel Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes) Pelayo 1998 Insomnio (Sleepless in Madrid) Rafa Los amantes del círculo polar (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) Otto de joven Lágrimas negras (Black Tears) Andrés 2000 El arte de morir (El arte de morir) Iván Capitães de Abril (April Captains) Lobão Luis Tinta roja (Red Ink) Escalona 2001 Tuno negro (Black Serenade) Víctor Trifino 2002 Hable con ella (Talk to Her) Alfredo Darkness Carlos 2003 Dos tipos duros (Two Tough Guys) Bebe Utopía (Utopia) Jorge 2004 La mala educación (Bad Education) Enrique Goded Fanfan 2006 El síndrome de Svensson Person in the trailer 2007 A un metro de ti Sebastián 2008 14, Fabian Road Enrique Gozalvo Carmo (Carmo, Hit the Road) Marco El kaserón Alfredo 2013 La Estrella Baltasar 2015 Vampyres Peter 2016 La noche que mi madre mató a mi padre (The Night My Mother Killed My Father) Carlos Nuestros amantes (Our Lovers) Cristóbal 2022En Temporada Baja Martín Alpha Males Luis 2023Amigos hasta la muerte (Friends Till Death)Paolo Bajo terapia (Under Therapy) Daniel
Theatre Sueños de un Seductor (2004) Bajo terapia (2017)
Accolades Year Award Category Work Result 1997 11th Goya Awards Best New Actor Thesis 2023 25th Iris Awards Best Actor Alpha Males
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External links
This page draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia which was accessed in the version of 30 November 2005.