XCARET, Mexico – “Grace is innate. It cannot be acquired”he assured Guillermo Francella during the press conference of Platinum of Honor 2026an award that he will receive this Saturday during the gala of the XIII Platinum Awards which will take place in the Xcaret park in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
The 71-year-old Argentine actor recalled that before becoming an actor he was a journalist, because he believes that in “oral journalism there is some acting.” He worked at a magazine, from which he was fired “soon.”
“They saved my life,” he joked. From then on he focused on acting.
Francella, a versatile actor who achieved fame in Argentina for mostly comic roles, but who has also stood out in dramatic roles in recent years, commented that the beginnings of his career were not easy.
“Many people have helped me, starting with my parents. But everything has happened to me, it was not all that simple. Things did not work out, it was very difficult to make a living from the profession. Today maybe they call you if you have many followers on the Internet. Before it was much more difficult.”he assured.
“But along that path I had many people who had a nice view of me and gave me opportunities,” he thanked.
“The journey of a thousand faces”
“We are celebrating the career of an actor who is in himself a bridge, a link between comedy and drama”said the president of EGEDA and the Platino Awards, Enrique Cerezo.
“There are actors who play characters and there are actors who build myths,” he added.
“Francella’s career is the journey of a thousand faces”added Cerezo, who highlighted Francella’s ability to jump from cinema to television, passing through theater. The executive mentioned the main titles of the actor’s career, such as “The Secret in His Eyes”, “The Clan”, “Rudo y Cursi” or “My Masterpiece”.
“When Guillermo Francella enters the scene, the screen becomes much bigger”Cerezo said.
Francella also aspires in this edition for Best Male Performance for the film “Homo Argentum”. The Argentine actor has already accumulated two Platinum awards, one for best actor for his role as Arquímedes Puccio in “El Clan” (2016), and another for Best Male Performance in a Miniseries or Teleserie for “El Encargado” (2003).
Audience Awards
The Platinum Honor press conference also served to present the awards voted for by the public. The Spanish film “Los Domingos” received the award for Best Ibero-American Fiction Film.
“Chespirito: without wanting to want” won the Platinum Audience Award for Best Miniseries. Its producers thanked and remembered the figure of Roberto Gómez Bolaños.
Patricia López Arnaiz and Wagner Moura took home the audience awards for Best Actress and Best Feature Film Actor for “Los Domingos” and “O Agente Secreto.”
Álvaro Morte for “Anatomía de un momento” and Candela Peña, for “Furia”, won the audience awards for best series actors.
Contenders for the main prizes
The Platino Awards gala will take place on the night of Saturday, May 9, presented by actors Carlos Torres and Cayetana Guillén-Cuervo, and can be seen in the United States on Telemundo. The musical performances will feature the Colombian Camilo, the Spanish Manuel Carrasco and the Argentine María Becerra.
The most important Platinum award of the night, for Best Ibero-American Fiction Film, aspires to “It’s Still Night in Caracas” (directed by Marité Ugás and Mariana Rondón, Mexico, Venezuela), “Belén” (Dolores Fonzi, Argentina), “Los Domingos” (Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Spain), “O Agente Secreto” (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil) and “Sirât” (Oliver Laxe, Spain).
For the Best Cinematographic Miniseries or Teleseries, “Anatomy of an Instant” (José Manuel Lorenzo, Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos and Fran Araújo, Spain), “Chespirito: sin querando queriendo” (Mexico), “El Eternauta” (Bruno Stagnaro, Argentina) and “Las Muerdas” (Luis Estrada, Mexico) are nominated.
As a new category, the productions “Beleza Lethal” (Raphael Montes, Brazil), “La Promesa” (Josep Cister Rubio, Spain), “Sueños de Libertad” (Beatriz Duque and Verónica Viñé, Spain) and “Velvet: the new empire” (United States) will compete for Platinum for Best Long-Term Series.
In the feature film acting categories, the following may win the award for Best Male Performance: Alberto San Juan (“La Cena”, Spain), Guillermo Francella (“Homo Argentum”, Argentina), Ubeimar Ríos Gómez (“Un Poeta”, Colombia) and Wagner Moura (“O Agente Secreto”, Brazil). The finalists for the Best Female Performance award are Blanca Soroa and Patricia López Arnaiz (“Los Domingos”, Spain), Dolores Fonzi (“Belén”, Argentina) and Natalia Reyes (“It’s Still Night in Caracas”, Mexico, Venezuela).
At the same time, Álvaro Morte (“Anatomy of an instant”, Spain), Javier Cámara (“Jakarta”, Spain), Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Menem”, Argentina) and Ricardo Darín (“El Eternauta”, Argentina) will aspire to win the award for Best Male Performance in a Miniseries or Teleserie; while Candela Peña (“Furia”, Spain), Carla Quílez (“Jakarta”, Spain), Griselda Siciliani (“Envidiosa” Season 2), Argentina) and Paulina Gaitán (“Las Muerdas”, Mexico) are the nominees for Best Female Performance in a Miniseries or Teleserie.
In the Best Director category, the nominees are: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (“The Sundays”, Spain), Dolores Fonzi (“Belén”, Argentina), Kleber Mendonça Filho (“O Secret Agent”, Brazil) and Oliver Laxe (“Sirât”, Spain). Among the creators of Miniseries or Teleserie, Bruno Stagnaro (“El Eternauta”, Argentina), José Manuel Lorenzo, Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos and Fran Araújo (“Anatomía de un Instant”, Spain), Mariano Varela and Ariel Winograd (“Menem”, Argentina) and Rodrigo Guerrero (“Estado de fugue: 1986”, Colombia) aspire to Platinum.
Keep reading:
· From Diego Boneta to Ana de la Reguera: the stars who will be at the 2026 Platino Awards
· All about the Platinum Awards
