Manolo Cardona

Manolo Cardona was studying Finance and International Relations in Bogotá when he realized accounting balance sheets were draining the life out of him. He left university with just a few courses left to finish his degree. His first destination wasn't a central bank but the sets of the daily soap opera Padres e hijos in 1996.

That debut earned him a predictable label as a daytime soap heartthrob. He went on to commercial telenovelas like ¿Por qué diablos? in 1999 and Gitanas in 2004, where he logged endless hours in front of the camera and learned the craft through grueling marathon workdays. But Cardona was looking for something else.

In 2005, he made his film debut in the adaptation of Rosario Tijeras (Mexico), directed by Emilio Maillé. He played Emilio, a young man from a wealthy family caught up in the violence of Medellín alongside a hitwoman. It was a baptism by fire on the big screen.

Nobody expected a telenovela face to hold up under such pressure.

That same year, he released La mujer de mi hermano in theaters, sharing the screen with Bárbara Mori. Three years later came his breakout on television with The Cartel (2008). His role as Martín González, aka Fresita, put to rest any doubts about his range as an actor by taking on the dramatic weight of one of the most-watched productions in Colombia.

The production office across from the dressing room

Many actors wait by the phone for it to ring. Cardona decided to take matters into his own hands. In 2005, he co-founded the production company 11:11 Films & TV with his brother Juancho, opening offices in Colombia and Mexico.

He preferred to risk his own capital rather than depend on the whims of casting directors.

From that vantage point, he developed his own projects and learned to balance budgets without losing editorial control. He also combined that executive side with work outside his country. In 2008, he made a foray into Hollywood with Beverly Hills Chihuahua for Disney, but he chose to pursue more complex stories in other markets.

He broke into Spanish television in 2009 when he joined the third season of Sin tetas no hay paraíso on Telecinco. There he played Inspector Martín La Roca. Filming in Madrid opened the doors of the European market to him and fine-tuned his adaptation to work rhythms unlike those in Latin America.

In 2015, he joined the cast of Narcos, produced by Gaumont for Netflix, playing Eduardo Sandoval during its first two seasons. That series confirmed that on-demand viewing was changing the distribution scale for Spanish-speaking actors forever.

Fifty-five million screens

In March 2021, he hit it big worldwide. Netflix released the Mexican mystery series Who Killed Sara?, with Cardona in the lead role as Álex Guzmán, a wrongfully imprisoned man who seeks revenge after serving his sentence.

The viewing numbers were staggering. In its first four weeks, the first season surpassed 55 million households worldwide and topped the audience charts in dozens of countries.

And the move paid off perfectly.

That commercial backing allowed him to take full control of his next steps. In 2022, he starred in the bilingual thriller Now and Then for Apple TV+, shot in Miami alongside Maribel Verdú and Rosie Perez. But his definitive step happened behind the cameras.

In May 2023, he presented his feature directorial debut, the suspense film Uno para morir, released on Paramount+. Besides taking a supporting role, Cardona managed an ensemble cast with Maribel Verdú and Fernando Becerril in the lead. The film presented a macabre game of confinement with direct technical references to South Korean crime thrillers.

In July 2023, he produced and released the couples comedy Dime lo que quieres (de verdad) for the streaming platform ViX. To get it off the ground, he put together a dollar-denominated financing structure and a tight four-week shooting schedule between Bogotá and Mexico City.