Santiago Segura

Having written, directed, and produced for the screen--not to mention acted in films and on television--Santiago Segura is one of Spain's best-kept secrets. He broke out first as an actor in 1995 with a leading turn in the horror comedy "The Day of the Beast," which took film festivals by storm, garnering over a dozen awards in all. Having made several short films prior to "The Day of the Beast," Segura embarked on his first feature-length film, released in 1998: "Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley."

The film brought Segura a Best New Director nod at the Goya Awards, Spain's national film honors, and was so successful that it spawned three sequels and a video game. All of them were wildly popular and all starred Segura in the lead role as misanthropic ex-cop José Luis Torrente. A friend of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, Segura had cameos in del Toro's comic-book adaptations "Hellboy" and "Hellboy II." He has also appeared in the futuristic vampire flick "Blade II" (again, directed by del Toro) and the spy comedy "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London." In 1994, Segura founded his own production company, Amiguetes Entertainment, which has overseen several of his films.