With a professional career that now exceeds three decades and a filmography full of memorable characters, Ernesto Alterio has established himself as one of the most charismatic and leading performers of the Spanish audiovisual panorama. Able to move naturally between comedy, drama and thriller, the actor approaches each project with a mix of craft, intuition and a curiosity that remains intact.
The Spanish-Argentine He confesses that he enjoys listening to jazz and news while he is behind the wheel, that he rehearses texts while driving and that he dreams of traveling through Italy in the footsteps of Pasolini. Alterio, recently appointed Peugeot ambassador (he was also in 2018), talks about cars, superstitions, unforgettable characters and the little quirks that accompany a long acting career. Between anecdotes from filming, family memories and reflections on the job, a close, ironic and, above all, surprisingly calm Ernesto emerges behind the wheel, far from the character characters he usually plays.
The Spanish-Argentine actor is in a sweet moment in his career, both in film, theater and television, backed by his three nominations for the Goya Awards and by the upcoming release of his films Karateka and Perfectos Acquaintances, as well as the series Su Majestad as protagonist, which promise to make 2026 a key year in his successful career.
Are you one of those who enjoys driving or do you prefer to be driven in a production car?
I love driving and the truth is that now, since I collaborate with Peugeot, I enter the garage with excitement because they have given me a 308 and a 408. In Spain, actors and actresses are quite used to being taken and brought back when we work. However, during the filming of Griselda, in Los Angeles, I was assigned a car and had to travel to the set myself. For me it was very strange, but I loved it because it gave me a feeling of freedom fantastic. Plus, driving through Los Angeles is quite an experience. I would finish filming and just go to the car and leave. I enjoyed it very much.
Do you remember what car it was?
A Nissan Pathfinder. A huge vehicle, a tank… although it is quite normal there.
Do you have a dream car?
Any classic Mercedes convertible will do for me.
Are you one of those who uses the vehicle every day?
Yes, except to get around the center of Madrid because I live there and it’s crazy. Beyond that, I use the Peugeot every week; to go see my mother, the family, to go to filming or work issues and for all road trips, even around Spain if the calendar allows it.
Let’s talk about that, about travel. What has been your most memorable road trip?
I especially remember one we did as a family when I was little. We went from Madrid to Tuscany by car. We passed through Barcelona, Marseille and then continued to Italy. It is a wonderful memory and it is a trip that I would like to repeat a little as a tribute to them.
And what other trip would you like to take?
I would love to give the Italian boot a complete spin. There is a wonderful book by Pier Paolo Pasolini that he wrote as a journalist, entitled The Long Sand Road, which fascinated me when I read it and in which he recounts a journey bordering the entire Italian coast, beach by beach, and explaining all the places he visited. It is an amazing book. I would love to take him as a guide and do the same route.
I have always thought that the great Spanish Road Movie is yet to be filmed. Do you agree?
It can be, yes. Some time ago I participated in The Barbarian Years, which has a bit of a Road Movie. It is a story that, based on a true event, tells the story of two prisoners – Manuel Lamana and Sánchez Albornoz – who escape from the Valley of the Fallen in a red convertible. But it is true that perhaps there is still a lack of that great Spanish film that fully embraces this classic genre.
Actors usually have rituals. Do you have any pet peeves before acting and driving?
Making films doesn’t happen to me, but I have some in theater, yes. For example, I always enter the building with the right foot. I also don’t like wearing anything yellow. Mine is quite classic. I once worked with Neapolitan actors, and they are superstitious! For example, if you drop a script, you have to kick the ground three times, they also put a lot of salt in one corner of the stage.
I don’t have any behind the wheel. My ritual is to maintain tranquility. I try not to get itchy or angry while driving. I don’t whistle or argue or get into absurd wars. As long as I can control the situation, I prefer to stay calm.
What music do you listen to while driving and what do you carry in the glove compartment?
I listen to everything. Also a lot of radio, especially news and jazz, Spanish music and classical music stations. The other day, for example, I was listening to an Argentine group called Thunder. And I don’t have anything special in the glove compartment. The car papers and little else.
Many artists do something when they drive: they sing, compose… Do you review texts while driving?
Lot. The thing is that the car is also a perfect place to write text because you are isolated. The truth is that I review text continuously and almost anywhere. I’m a little obsessive about that. So if someone sees me talking to myself on the street or while I’m stopped at a traffic light, don’t think I’m “over there,” I’m probably reviewing a script.
Of all the characters you’ve played, which one wouldn’t you take on a 500-kilometer trip in the passenger seat?
I have it very clear: to Rodrigo from The Fourth Passenger. An insufferable, absolutely despicable guy who drove poor Alberto San Juan, Rubén Cortada and Blanca Suárez crazy. Although as a character he was great… In fact, I think he deserves a sequel.
And have any of those brilliant, neurotic, villainous characters… that you are particularly good at left a mark on you in real life?
Maybe not a specific footprint but different ways of observing the world. That is one of the wonders of this profession: it forces you to contemplate reality from perspectives that are not yours. In the end, the important thing is to reach people’s hearts. It doesn’t matter how many resources you have or how much technique you use. If you manage to move the audience, you have achieved the essential thing.
What is more difficult: learning a complicated dialogue or remembering where you parked in a shopping center?
Both things have their difficulties. There are dialogues that have their own thing, and I admit that more than once I have suffered searching for the car.
What completely useless skill do you possess and what activity have you definitely ruled out trying?
I have an extraordinary aim shooting paper balls in the trash can and I am terrible at soccer. I really like watching it, but playing it is another story.
What has been the strangest criticism that has been made to you?
An acting teacher once told me: “Don’t imitate your father.” And of course, I answered that it was difficult because being my father, living with him and being a great actor, something would have rubbed off on me.
If tomorrow you were offered to star in the remake of a classic, which would you choose?
It would command a lot of respect, but if we’re talking about fantasizing, I’d say The Godfather.
And is there a movie you’re embarrassed to admit you’ve seen too many times?
Grease. I have seen her many times. And also Torrente.
If you could talk to your self from twenty years ago, what would you say?
Let him calm down. That many of the worries I had were not as important as I thought.
Gonzalo de Martorell
