Édgar Ramírez

Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano is a Venezuelan actor born on March 25, 1977. He established an international career across television and film, playing both fictional characters and real-life historical figures. He is best known for portraying Carlos the Jackal in the biographical miniseries Carlos, boxer Roberto Durán in Hands of Stone, and Gianni Versace in the miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

Ramírez was born in San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela, to attorney Soday Arellano and military officer Filiberto Ramírez. He spent parts of his childhood living in different countries and speaks Spanish, English, French, Italian, and German. In 1999, he graduated with a mass communication degree from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. Though he originally planned to enter international relations, he worked as a political journalist, served as executive director for the foundation Dale al Voto, and managed international promotions for the Viart Film Festival.

Although Ramírez enjoyed the arts during college, he initially regarded acting as a hobby. His decision to pursue a professional performance career was inspired by filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga, who commended a short film Ramírez had created. His early acting prominence came through the Venezuelan soap opera Cosita rica, which aired from 2003 to 2004. He subsequently appeared in several local and co-produced feature films, including Punto y raya, which was submitted as Venezuela's Oscar entry for foreign film.

Ramírez made his major feature film debut in 2005 in Domino. He followed this with roles in Cyrano Fernandez, the political thriller Vantage Point, and Steven Soderbergh's Che, where he played revolutionary Ciro Redondo. He gained wider global recognition playing an assassin in The Bourne Ultimatum. In 2010, his leading portrayal in Carlos earned him the César Award for Most Promising Actor, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.

Following his breakthrough, Ramírez took on diverse international film roles. He played Larry in Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, the god Ares in Wrath of the Titans, and Bodhi in the 2015 remake of Point Break. He later appeared in The Girl on the Train, Hands of Stone, and the spy thriller film The 355.

Ramírez received further recognition for portraying Gianni Versace in the 2018 television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. In 2020, he took a recurring role in the HBO miniseries The Undoing, and in 2022, he served as a jury member for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. Outside of his acting work, Ramírez has engaged in humanitarian efforts, supporting Amnesty International's campaign against gun violence and assisting organizations benefiting children with special needs.