Paco León facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paco León
León in 2025
Born	Francisco León Barrios (1974-10-04) 4 October 1974 (age 50) Seville, Spain
Occupation	Actor film director television director screenwriter
Children	1
Family	María León (sister)

Francisco León Barrios (born 4 October 1974), known as Paco León, is a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter. He was born in Seville, Spain.

Paco León started his career in comedy shows on television. He became very popular for his role as Luisma in the TV show Aída, which he played from 2005 to 2014. Besides acting, he also became a filmmaker. His first movie as a director was Carmina or Blow Up in 2012. He has also appeared in TV series like The House of Flowers and Arde Madrid, which he also helped create. He also directed and starred in the film Kiki, Love to Love.

A Look at Paco León's Career

Paco León's first acting jobs were in comedy TV shows in 1999. These shows, like Mariquilla Ríe Perlas, were shown on Canal Sur in Andalusia. He also performed in theater plays starting in 2001.

In 2003, he moved to Madrid to continue his acting career. His first big role there was on Homo Zapping, a show where he imitated famous people. He was especially known for his funny imitations of women. He is most famous for playing Luisma, a kind character, on the TV show Aída. He played this role for nine years and won many awards for it.

Film Roles and Directing

Paco León has also had important roles in movies. He played a character with OCD in Toc Toc and a fun-loving character in The Tribe. He has also lent his voice to animated movies like Valiant and Madagascar.

His first movie as a director was Carmina or Blow Up in 2012. For this film, he was nominated for a Goya Award for Best New Director. His mother and sister acted in this movie, and they were also nominated for Goya awards. His third movie as a director was Kiki, Love to Love, where he also acted. This movie also received many nominations.

For his 2014 film, Carmina and Amen, some writers compared him to the famous director Pedro Almodóvar. They noted how both directors are inspired by the women in their lives and often work with family members.

In 2018, Paco León created the TV miniseries Arde Madrid with Anna R. Costa. This show was filmed in black and white and was about the life of Ava Gardner. Paco León also played Gardner's chauffeur in the series. From 2018 to 2020, he played the character María José Riquelme in the TV series The House of Flowers. He said it was an honor to work with Verónica Castro on this show.

In 2019, a writer named Dann Dulin said that Paco León's popularity was similar to that of actors like James Franco or Jake Gyllenhaal.

Paco León finished filming his fourth movie, Rainbow, by October 2021. He wrote this film with Javier Gullón, and it is a loose adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The movie was released in 2022.

In 2024, it was announced that Paco León would direct and co-write a new film called Aída y vuelta. This movie will bring back the characters from the popular Aída TV show. Filming for this movie is expected to start in early 2025.

Paco León's Personal Life

Paco León's mother is Carmina Barrios, and his sister is María León, who is also an actress. Both his mother and sister appeared in his films Carmina or Blow Up (2012) and Carmina and Amen (2014). María and Paco also played siblings in The House of Flowers.

Paco León met playwright Anna Rodríguez Costa in 2006. They worked together on a short film she directed. They have a daughter, born in 2010. Anna also has a son named Eloi, who is Paco's stepson. Paco and Anna wrote the screenplay for Arde Madrid together. They were together for 14 years before they separated in 2020.

Paco León is also known for supporting important health causes. He has worked with organizations that help people and raise money for research.

He gained media attention when he promised to share a photo of himself after reaching one million followers on Twitter in October 2013. He later posted a video to celebrate one million followers on Instagram in 2019. He generally keeps his personal life private and does not often give many interviews.

Filmography

Acting Roles

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2001	Amar y Morir en Sevilla, Don Juan Tenorio
2002	Asalto informatico
2003	La vida mancha
2004	Recambios
2005	Reinas (Queens)	Narciso
2006	La dama boba (Lady Nitwit)	Maestro de danza
2006	Los managers [es]	Pipo
2009	Dieta mediterránea (Mediterranean Food)	Toni
2013	3 bodas de más (Three Many Weddings)	Mikel
2016	Embarazados (We Are Pregnant)	Fran
	Kiki, el amor se hace (Kiki, Love to Love)	Paco
	7 Años	Luis
2017	Toc Toc	Emilio
2018	La tribu (The Tribe)	Fidel
2021	Mama o papá (You Keep the Kids!)	Víctor
2022	The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent	Lucas
	No mires a los ojos (Staring at Strangers)	Damián
2023	Mari(dos) (Co-husbands)	Toni
2024	Sin instrucciones (Babies Don't Come with Instructions)	Leo
2025	Uno equis dos	Chino
	Miss Carbón (Queen of Coal)	Antonio Muñoz
TBA	Mi querida señorita

Short films

• La grieta by Enrique López de Haro
• Días rojos (2004)
• Con lengua (2006) by Anna R. Costa
• Espagueti western (2007) (Voice)

Television

• Castillos en el aire (1999) on Canal Sur
• Jet Lag (2000)
• Moncloa, digame on Telecinco, FDF
• Homo Zapping on Antena 3 TV (2003–2005)
• 7 vidas on Telecinco (2004, 2005)
• Aída on Telecinco (2005-2014)
• Planeta Finito on La Sexta (2007)
• Ácaros on Cuatro (2007)
• La peste on Movistar+ (2017)
• The House of Flowers on Netflix (2018)
• Arde Madrid (Madrid on Fire), Movistar (2018)
• Blowing Kisses, on Star (2021)
• Drag Race España, on ATRESplayer Premium (2023)

As Director

Film

Short film

Television

Music video

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Paco León para niños