Hector Medina

Cuban actor Hector Medina excelled at portraying young men at emotional crossroads in their lives in such acclaimed features as "Paradise Under the Stars" (2010) and "Viva" (2015). Born Hector Medina Valdés in Pinar de Rio, Cuba Medina began acting primarily as an escape route: he disliked mathematics, and found out that a friend was skipping that particular class to attend an acting course at a local workshop. Medina followed suit and discovered that he enjoyed performing, which he hoped to continue studying at the National School of the Arts. Unfortunately, he failed his entrance exam, and instead enrolled at the Art Instruction School; there, a teacher advised him to re-take the entrance tests, which he finally passed. Once at the National School, he met his mentor and frequent co-star, the actor Luis Alberto Garcia, who helped Medina land his first role on Cuban television; work on stage with El Publico Theater Company led to feature films with director Gerardo Chijona, including "Boleto in paraiso" ("Paradise Under the Stars"), which cast Medina as a young musician struggling with homelessness. Medina reteamed with Chijona for "La Cosa Humana" ("The Human Thing," 2015), a comedy with veteran Cuban character actor Enrique Molina as a crime boss and Medina as his younger brother, who aspires to become a writer. That same year, Medina was cast in "Viva" as a young hairdresser and drag performer whose life is complicated by the arrival of his estranged father. The film, directed by Irish filmmaker Paddy Breathnach, debuted at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival to excellent reviews.