Resines, Antonio

(1954- )

   During the 1980s, Antonio Resines was one of Spanish cinema's biggest clichés, an actor trapped in a particular image and disinterested in shaking it off. He played with relish the protagonist's best friend character, usually a cheeky, opinionated, and selfish womanizer. This describes exactly his first substantial part (aptly named Antonio), in Fernando Trueba's Ópera prima (First Work, 1980), and he remained true to the type in a series of comedies including Estoy en crisis (I Am in Crisis, Fernando Colomo, 1982), La línea del cielo (Skyline, Fernando Colomo, 1984), Sal gorda (Get Out, Fat Girl, Fernando Trueba, 1984), Sé infiel and no mires con quién (Be Wanton and Tread No Shame, Fernando Trueba, 1985), and Lulú de noche (Lulu at Night, Emilio Martínez Lázaro, 1986).

   Then, in 1991, he surprised audiences and critics with a restrained performance as a hard-boiled cop in Todo por la pasta (All for the Dough, Enrique Urbizu), and he started to show a range and versatility very few casting directors seemed to suspect. He was funny in a completely different register as the scheming head of a terrorist group fighting for the rights of the disabled in the futuristic spoof Acción mutante (Mutant Action, Álex de la Iglesia, 1993), and several performances through the 1990s established him as one of the best actors of his generation. Maybe the most remarkable was his castrated, good-hearted husband in La buena estrella (The Lucky Star, Ricardo Franco, 1997), in which he achieved rare emotional depth, going on to win the Goya award for his part. Since then, he has been a reliable performer in a wide range of registers and genres, alternating between his old image and more complex work, including comedies, thrillers, and even musicals. La niña de tus ojos (The Girl of Your Dreams, Fernando Trueba, 1998), Ataque verbal (Verbal Attack, Miguel Albaladejo, 2002), El portero (The Goalkeeper, Gonzalo Suárez, 2000), El embrujo de Shanghai (The Shanghai Spell, Fernando Trueba, 2002), La caja 507 (Box 507, Enrique Urbizu, 2002), and Al sur de Granada (South of Granada, Fernando Colomo, 2003) are of particular interest, although he owes his lasting popularity to the long-running television sitcom Los Serrano, in which he plays father to the eponymous family.

   Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema by Alberto Mira