Francesc Orella

Acting

Francesc Orella

Born 1957-06-11 · Barcelona, Spain

Francesc Orella i Pinell is a Spanish actor born on 11 June 1957 in Barcelona, Catalonia. He studied acting at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona and later continued his training at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York. Active in film, television, theatre and voice acting since the early 1980s, he is especially known for playing philosophy teacher Merlí Bergeron in the television series Merlí. His work also includes El ministerio del tiempo, Los ojos de Julia and The Invisible Guest, and he received the Max Award for Best Actor for An Enemy of the People.

Acting credits

The Invisible Guest poster
8.1

Barcelona, Spain. Adrián Doria, a young and successful businessman accused of murder, meets one night with Virginia Goodman, an expert interrogation lawyer, in order to devise a defense strategy.

The Invisible Guest

2017

Mirage poster
7.5

During a mysterious thunderstorm, Vera, a young mother, manages to save a life in danger, but her good deed causes a disturbing chain of unexpected consequences.

Mirage

2018

The Invisible Guardian poster
6.5

When the naked body of a teenage girl is found on the banks of the River Baztán, it is quickly linked to a similar murder one month before. Soon, rumours are flying in the nearby village of Elizondo. Is this the work of a ritualistic killer or is it the basajaun, the ‘invisible guardian’ of Basque mythology? Inspector Amaia Salazar leads the investigation, taking her back to the heart of the Basque country where she was born, and where she hoped never to return. Shrouded in mist and surrounded by impenetrable forests, it is a place of unresolved conflicts and a terrible secret from Amaia’s childhood that will come back to haunt her. Faced with the superstitions of the village, Amaia must fight the demons of her past to confront the reality of a serial killer on the loose. But as she is drawn deeper into the investigation, she feels the presence of something darker lurking in the shadows…

The Invisible Guardian

2017

The Good Boss poster
6.9

Julio Blanco is the proprietor of Básculas Blanco, a Spanish company producing industrial scales in a provincial Spanish town, which awaits the imminent visit from a committee that will decide if they merit a local Business Excellence award: everything has to be perfect when the time comes. Working against the clock, Blanco pulls out all the stops to address and resolve issues with his employees, crossing every imaginable line in the process.

The Good Boss

2021

Julia's Eyes poster
6.7

Julia, a woman suffering from a degenerative sight disease, finds her blind sister Sara hung in a basement. Despite all signs pointing to suicide, Julia decides to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case.

Julia's Eyes

2010

The Barcelona Vampiress poster
5.9

Barcelona, Spain, 1912. The disappearance of a girl from a wealthy family triggers a series of events that will shake the weak foundations of a hypocritical society.

The Barcelona Vampiress

2020

Subjúdice poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Subjúdice

1998

The Legacy of the Bones poster
6.6

Inspector Amaia Salazar must return to the Baztan valley in order to solve a series of suicides that seem to follow a similar pattern.

The Legacy of the Bones

2019

Truman poster
7.0

Tomás, who lives in Canada, travels to Madrid, Spain, to visit his old friend Julián. Both of them, accompanied by Truman, Julián's faithful dog, will share many surprising and emotional little moments, triggered by the hard situation Julián is going through, for just a few days.

Truman

2015

Offering to the Storm poster
6.5

Inspector Amaia Salazar confronts the origins of her nightmares as she unfolds the darkest secrets of the Baztan valley. Part 3 in the Baztan Trilogy.

Offering to the Storm

2020

Land and Freedom poster
7.3

Summer 1936: young unemployed communist David Carr leaves Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded, he goes to Barcelona, where he joins another group of fighters.

Land and Freedom

1995

Shiver poster
6.1

Santi, a young high-school student with a serious physical reaction to sunlight, is forced by his health to move with his single mother to a shadowy, isolated village in the mountains of Spain where the inhabitants begin to reveal themselves as strangely xenophobic. When terrible, violent events begin to occur, Santi becomes first a pariah at school and then strongly suspected by the police of hideous murders. Santi himself, however, wonders if he is not the next victim.

Shiver

2008

Elisa & Marcela poster
7.3

The film tells the true story of Elisa Sánchez Loriga and Marcela Gracia Ibeas, two women in 1901 Spain who fell deeply in love. To overcome societal and legal barriers to their relationship, Elisa assumes a male identity, enabling the pair to marry in secret. Their daring act makes them the first recorded same-sex couple to marry in Spain, but their love is tested as they face relentless persecution and sacrifice.

Elisa & Marcela

2019

Emergency Exit poster
4.0

It tells how 14 characters travel in a mysterious vehicle that they cannot easily get out of. Along the way, they fabricate about their identity and travel through unreal landscapes on a journey between life and death, sleep and wakefulness. According to the synopsis, "a tragicomedy with no certainties".

Emergency Exit

2025

7 Reasons to Run Away (from Society) poster
5.9

The family, the tenant, the wedding, the businessman, the neighbors, the poor child and the run over. 7 black comedy stories of a dysfunctional society.

7 Reasons to Run Away (from Society)

2019

Boom boom poster
5.6

Sofía, a dentist, and Tristán, owner of a shoe store, live in the same building but have never met or even seen each other. Disenchanted with love, both have sworn never to fall in love again, until they finally meet.

Boom boom

1990

Mentiras poster
3.3

The life of Fabian, an attractive and famous magistrate, is cut short by some strange circumstances. Since then a series of incidents follow. His apparently happy and successful life turns out to be a spiral of deceptions and appearances. All the people who are around him during his last years, take part, in one way or another, to destroy him. They are the important pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that will show the feelings, weaknesses, frustrations and the real personality, not only of the magistrate, but also of all the characters around him who, while trying to search their hapiness, they only found lies and decptions. Lies that will be revealed as the story goes on.

Mentiras

2005

Nudos poster
8.0

Barcelona, 2002. A coffin is carried to the cemetery of Montjuïc in a chariot drawn by horses. The lifeless is Pep Grau, an old fisherman found drowned and subject to his boat by a complicated knot sailor. The Pep voiceover Grau, portrayed with affection and humor the curious characters he met in life, recounts the difficult moments of his childhood during the Civil War, and finally, we are introduced to Lola, the woman of his life , which has a fish stall in the Boqueria Market beautiful and, after the death of Pep, begins receiving anonymous gifts. Silvia, a teenage ambitious and attractive, is the attorney for the insurance company. Mario, her boss and lover, asked to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding the death of the fisherman. Silvia's inquiries aa allow us to know other characters, like the maverick Dr. Cipriano Mera, Pep old comrade, and his son Gabino Mera.

Nudos

2003

Falling Star poster
5.9

During a brief rule towards the end of the 19th century, the Italian duke Amadeo of Savoy occupied the Spanish throne. However, confined to the safety of life within the palace walls, the lonely, frustrated king and his servants succumb to playful adventures focused more on pleasure than his duties.

Falling Star

2014

Frozen Silence poster
5.1

Russian front, winter 1943. Soldier Arturo Andrade and Sergeant Fernando Espinosa are commissioned to investigate a mysterious murder while the Spanish Blue Division of the German Army endures the fierce counterattack of the Red Army.

Frozen Silence

2012

Toscana poster
5.7

No synopsis available yet.

Toscana

2022

Checkmates poster
7.0

Candela, the headmistress of an elite school, after a traumatic divorce, returns to her old high school to lead a group of rebellious students through chess. There she will learn that in chess, and in life, it doesn't matter if you are a king or a pawn, because everyone ends up in the same box.

Checkmates

2024

Caravaggio poster
5.6

The tumultuous and adventurous life of Michelangelo Merisi, controversial artist, called by Fate to become the immortal Caravaggio. A violent genius that will dare to defy the ideal vision of the world imposed by the Renaissance painters. A provoker that scandalized patrons and institutions, raising the altars the outcast figures he knew so well: drunkards, vagrants and prostitutes.

Caravaggio

2007

Smoking Room poster
5.8

The Spanish branch of an American company is obliged to enforce the ban on smoking in their offices. From now on, those who want to smoke during working hours must do so in the street. Ramirez, one of the employees of this small office composed mainly of men, decides to begin collecting signatures against what he considers unfair. What Ramirez intends is to be use an unoccupied office as smoking room

Smoking Room

2002