Eduardo Noriega Gómez (; born 1 August 1973) is a Spanish actor. He gained notoriety in Spain for his performance in Thesis (1996), which was followed by roles in Open Your Eyes (1997) and The Wolf (2004).
In the United States, Noriega is known for his role as Enrique in the political thriller Vantage Point (2008).
Early life and education Eduardo Noriega Gómez was born on 1 August 1973 in Santander, Spain, to a Mexican-born father and a Spanish mother. He is the youngest of seven siblings and the only one who became an actor. As a child, he devoted himself to music. When he grew up he left his law degree and his love for music and moved to Madrid to become an actor.
Career He acted in several short films by directors Amenábar, Mateo Gil and Carlos Montero and he appeared in a short role in the well-known Spanish film Stories from the Kronen, an adaptation by Montxo Armendáriz of the novel of the same name. But it was not until Tesis that he had his first starring role in a film that became one of the most important successes in the history of Spanish films. Amenábar confessed in a T.T interview that at first he did not want Noriega in Tesis, thinking he was just a "pretty face", although his collaborators thought otherwise. In the end he called him again because he preferred him over the other actors in the casting. They became close friends and later worked on different projects together, including Open Your Eyes.
With Leonardo Sbaraglia, he appeared in Plata Quemada (English: Burnt Money) (2000), an Argentine film directed by Marcelo Piñeyro. Noriega went on to star in another Piñeyro film, The Method (Spanish: El Método (2005), reuniting with Plata Quemada co-star Pablo Echarri. He appeared as Jacinto in The Devil's Backbone (2001), a film directed by Guillermo del Toro and produced by Agustín Almodóvar and Pedro Almodóvar, about life in an orphanage in the last months of the Spanish Civil War. The film also stars Marisa Paredes and Federico Luppi.
He starred as the main actor in Novo (2002), a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Limosin, where he appeared completely nude.
In 2005, he played the lead role in the independent film Che Guevara produced and directed by Josh Evans.
Noriega appeared as Conde de Guadalmedina in Alatriste (2006). Agustín Díaz Yanes directed the film, starring Viggo Mortensen, Elena Anaya, Javier Cámara, Ariadna Gil, Blanca Portillo, and Juan Echanove. Alatriste is based on five novels written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
Noriega came under spotlight with Vicente Aranda's drama Lolita's Club (2007) where he portrayed Raúl Fuentes and Valentín Fuentes, twin brothers of opposite characters.
He starred in Vantage Point (2008), playing Enrique, a Spanish police officer assigned to protect the local mayor, and who plays an unintended central role in the investigation of the assassination of the American president. He portrayed an escaped drug lord in The Last Stand, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Personal life Noriega married his girlfriend of ten years, Trinidad Oteros, on February 8, 2011. He speaks Spanish, English, French and Catalan fluently.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1995 Historias del Kronen (Stories from the Kronen) Feature film debut 1996 Tesis (Thesis) Bosco Más allá del jardín (Beyond the Garden) Ignacio 1997 Cuestión de suerte Julio Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes) César 1998 Cha-cha-chá Antonio 1999 (The Yellow Fountain) Sergio Nadie conoce a nadie (Nobody Knows Anybody) Simón 2000 Luis El invierno de las anjanas (The Winter of the Fairies) Eusebio Plata quemada (Burnt Money) Angel 2001 El espinazo del diablo (The Devil's Backbone) Jacinto Visionarios (Visionaries) Joshe 2002 Guerreros (Warriors) Teniente Alonso 2003 Novo Graham Les mains vides (also known as Where Is Madame Catherine?) Gerard 2004 El Lobo (The Wolf) Txema 2005 Mon ange Romain El método (The Method) Carlos 2006 Souli Carlos Alatriste Conde de Guadalmedina 2007 Canciones de Amor en Lolita's Club (also known as Lolita's Club) Raúl Fuentes / Valentín Fuentes 2008 Che Guevara Ernesto 'Che' Guevara Vantage Point Enrique TransSiberian Carlos 2009 Petit Indi (also known as Little Indi) Sergi 2010 El mal ajeno Diego Agnosia Carles 2011 Gigola Tony Blackthorn Eduardo Apodaca 2013 The Last Stand Gabriel Cortez Sweet Vengeance Miguel Presentimientos (Inside Love) Félix Also writer 2014 La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) Perducas 2015 Los miércoles no existen (Wednesdays Don't Exist) Pablo Nuestros amantes (Our Lovers) Carlos 2017 Perfect Strangers Eduardo 2019 Les traducteurs Javier 2023In the Fire Nicolás Márquez 2024Dear ParisRafael Turmina 2025La increíble historia de Julia PastranaTBA Parecido a un asesinato (Hidden Murder) Nazario Television
Year Work Role Notes 2016 La sonata del silencio Rafael Figueroa 2019–2021 Hache Alejandro Vinuesa 2020 Inés del alma mía (Inés of My Soul) Pedro de Valdivia 2022 Glow and Darkness Father Piero 2025 The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Antonio Main role
Accolades Year Award Category Work Result 1999 13th Goya Awards Best Actor Open Your Eyes 2005 19th Goya Awards Best Actor The Wolf 2009 18th Actors and Actresses Union Awards Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role Transsiberian
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