Why Eduardo From The Snow Girl Looks So Familiar

Those clamoring for some of the best thrillers on Netflix probably found themselves hooked on the Spanish series "The Snow Girl." Based on the novel by Javier Castillo, the story centers on a girl who disappeared in 2010 during a crowded festival. Investigative journalist Miren Rojo (Milena Smit) takes it upon herself to find the missing child while police also run their own investigation. With different timelines explored, as well as a look at Miren's past trauma, "The Snow Girl" is full of enough twisting suspense to keep everyone guessing until its conclusion.

So far, "The Snow Girl" has performed strongly. According to Netflix, upon its debut week, it was one of the top three most viewed non-English TV series, with a whopping 31.83 million hours viewed. With such a solid premiere and cliffhanger ending, perhaps a 2nd season isn't out of the picture. Hopefully, this also means we can witness Miren team up again with veteran journalist Eduardo. Equipped with seasoned reporting skills, Eduardo proved to be a big help to Miren. However, while the character guided the younger journalist in the series, fans may have scratched their heads, wondering where they've seen his face before. Eduardo is portrayed by actor Jose Coronado, who has a prolific career within Spanish cinema and a few projects that have achieved crossover success in the States.

Jose Coronado's career is filled with a staggering number of roles in TV and film. Yet it took a little while for him to actually start acting. Per Lecturas, Coronado studied law and medicine in college and even took up modeling before finally beginning his acting career at the age of 30. In 1987, he featured in his first film role as the character Tony in the Spanish action-comedy "Waka Waka." Afterward, Coronado began a consistent streak in acting in films early in his career. However, during the '90s, the actor mixed in more TV roles, such as in "Brigada central" and "Hermanos de leche."

One of his most notable parts in TV took place in the 1998 Spanish TV series "Periodistas." The drama looks at the personal and professional lives of reporters and editors at a Madrid newspaper. Coronado played Luis Sanz, the newly appointed head of the local events section of the paper. With him starring in 98 episodes (per IMDb), "Periodistas" served as one of the first of many long-running TV series to feature Coronado. The Luis character is also fitting as Coronado again plays another significant journalist role as the veteran reporter Eduardo in "The Snow Girl."

Jose Coronado has shown off an impressive range with his performances, playing various characters throughout theater, TV, and film. However, if there's ever been a particular type of character Coronado is best known for by his fans, it's probably that of officers draped in darker shades of gray (via Apple TV). Honestly, that all could be because, in 2011, Coronado did such a remarkable job with that specific character. 

That year, he starred in the Spanish thriller, "No Rest For The Wicked." In the film, directed by filmmaker Enrique Urbizu, Coronado portrays a corrupt officer named Santos Trinidad. His alcohol-fueled night goes from bad to worse after it ends with him violently murdering people in a bar. Trinidad initially goes hunting for the lone eyewitness of the trigger-happy incident, but his journey becomes more complicated when a terrorist cell is later discovered.

"No Rest For The Wicked" is a tense experience of a film, elevated by Coronado's stand-out performance. The role also earned him a lot of deserved acclaim and recognition. In 2012, he won the Goya Award for Best Male Actor, thanks to his performance in "No Rest For The Wicked" (via Spanish Culture). That's no small feat, considering that the Goya is one of Spain's top honors for actors, probably comparable to the Oscars.

With Jose Coronado's recent output on Netflix, some fans have become more familiar with the actor. Yet, shows like "The Snow Girl" may not have been their first streaming introduction to the star. The actor appeared in a 2021 Freddie Highmore crime thriller that was a hit on Netflix. In "The Vault," an engineer joins a crack heist team whose goal is to infiltrate a bank vault that holds treasure from a salvaged Spanish shipwreck. With plans to pull the heist off during the World Cup, the team works desperately to open the vault without tripping its deadly traps, which includes the ability to flood the area with drowning water.

However, the vault itself isn't the only obstacle in the team's way. There's also the character Gustavo Medina, played by Coronado. Gustavo acts as the Bank of Spain's head of security and watches the building's many cameras like a hawk. Once again, we see Coronado in an officer-type role, but this time, he's the full-on antagonist. "The Vault" may not have wowed critics when it first premiered in theaters, but its debut on Netflix faired much better. And as a result, many viewers got an excellent glimpse of Coronado's onscreen skills.

Jose Coronado will likely increase his recognition with audiences because of future projects like the romance film "What About Love." But there's no denying that with some of his recent Spanish work hitting Netflix, his face and acting talents are already etched into the minds of new fans. It doesn't hurt that projects he starred in that Netflix streams tend to become popular. Just like "The Snow Girl" and "The Vault," fans were captivated by his Spanish TV series, "Wrong Side of the Tracks." Netflix picked up the show in May 2022, and it consistently remained one of the streaming service's Top 10 shows for three weeks.

"Wrong Side of the Tracks" may remind some of Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino," as the show also features an ill-tempered elder aiming to fix his crumbling neighborhood. In the thrilling drama, Coronado plays retired military hero Tirso Abantos, who deals with neighborhood criminals after the assault of his granddaughter. His murky team-up with a corrupt police officer and his thirst for vengeance by any means provides an entertaining story that also brings to mind other movies like "Taken." While Netflix only has the first season of "Wrong Side of the Tracks," there could be more of the show soon for North American viewers. Per What's On Netflix, Season 2 has already aired in Spain, and it's been renewed for two more seasons.