Ivo Canelas (born 23 December 1973) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

actor, born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. With a career of more than 30 years, he is recognized for his participation in numerous film, theater and television productions. He has a degree in Theater Studies from

Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema The Lisbon Theatre and Film School (''Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema'') of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon inherited the function of the National Conservatoire, founded by Almeida Garrett, in 1836, and of teaching Film, introduced in the ...

and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, with a scholarship from the

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

Career

Cinema

He made his film debut in 1997 in the short film ''Menos Nove'', directed by Rita Nunes. Soon after, in 1998, he participated in the short film ''It's Just a Minute'' directed by Pedro Caldas and written by Jacinto Lucas Pires. In 2002 he joined the cast of
The Uncertainty Principal
' by

Manoel de Oliveira Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...

. In 2007 he won the Portuguese Golden Globe for Best Actor for the film
''O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra''
by Jorge Paixão da Costa an
''Call Girl''
by

António-Pedro Vasconcelos António-Pedro Saraiva de Barros e Vasconcelos Order of Infante D. Henrique, GCIH (10 March 1939 – 5 March 2024) was a Portuguese film director. Personal life Vasconcelos was the middle of three sons of Guilherme de Barros e Vasconcelos (Celo ...

. In 2012 he played Apeles Espanca in the film '' Florbela'' directed b
Vicente Alves do Ó
and produced b
Ukbar Filmes
a role that earned him the nomination for best actor in the first edition of the Sophia awards from th
Portuguese Cinema Academy
and the Best Actor CinEuphoria award. In the same year he joined the cast of ''A Estrada 47'', a Brazilian, German, Italian and Portuguese co-production directed b
Vicente Ferraz
In 2015 he participates in the international productio
''Powder and Gold''
directed b
Felix Limardo
and produced b
William Fay
The following year he plays Lucas Mateus i
''Refrigerantes e Canções de Amor''
a film written by

Nuno Markl Nuno Frederico Correia da Silva Lobato Markl (born 21 July 1971), known as Nuno Markl, is a Portuguese comedian, writer, radio host, television host, voice actor and screenwriter. He was born in Lisbon. Career Radio Markl is well known in Por ...

and directed by Luis Galvão Teles. More recently, in 2022, he co-starred in the short fil
''An Avocado Pit,''
w ritten and directed b
Ary Zara
which was on the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

’s shortlist of 15 pre-nominated short films. A project with great international visibility, which received the support of actor

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...

's production company and was widely acclaimed by the trans community, all over the world.

Theater

In 1991 he made his debut at

Teatro da Cornucópia Teatro da Cornucópia is a theatre company in Portugal founded in 1973 by Jorge Silva Melo and Luís Miguel Cintra with the staging of the play ''The Misanthrope'' by Molière. The theatre is located at the Teatro do Bairro Alto, Rua Tenente Rau ...

in ''Amo-te'' b
Almeno Gonçalves
Between 1993 and 1994 he was part of the group of actors of the ''Passage del Terror'' a very successful attraction at the Lisbon Amusement Park. In 1996 he joined the cast of ''Aqui Está Ela'', by

Nathalie Sarraute Nathalie Sarraute (; born Natalia Ilinichna Tcherniak (); – 19 October 1999) was a French writer and lawyer. She was nominated in 1969 for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Lars Gyllensten. Personal life Sarraute wa ...

, directed by

Diogo Dória Diogo Dória (born 16 April 1953) is a Portuguese film actor who has worked in France and Portugal and is most associated with his films for director Manoel de Oliveira. Selected filmography * 1981 ''Francisca'' * 1985 '' The Satin Slipper'' * 1 ...

. In 1997 he began his work wit
Artistas Unidos
with ''Prometeu I, II, III'' by

Jorge Silva Melo Jorge Freitas e Silva Melo (7 August 1948 – 14 March 2022) was a Portuguese actor, playwright, theatre director, and translator. In 1973, Melo founded the Teatro da Cornucópia with Luís Miguel Cintra. He received critical acclaim for his wor ...

, with whom he returned to work the following year in ''O Fim ou Tende Misericórdia de Nós,'' then in ''Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatze''r by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, in 2000, ''O Navio dos Negros'' as the protagonist, in 2001, and ''Quartet'' by

Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postd ...

, in 2016. Silva Melo becomes a decisive mentor in his career as an actor and will shape the way he practices his craft throughout his career. In 1999 he joined the cast of ''Peaches'' a very successful comedy directed by

José Wallenstein José Wallenstein (born 18 October 1959) is a Portuguese actor. He appeared in more than ninety films since 1981. Selected filmography References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallenstein, Jose 1959 births Living people Male ac ...

at Teatro Aberto. In 2000, he worked with director

Solveig Nordlund Solveig Nordlund (born June 9, 1943) is a Swedish- Portuguese filmmaker. Biography Nordlund grew up in Stockholm and has a BA degree in Art History from the Stockholm University. In 1962, she met Alberto Seixas Santos, whom she married, and he ...

in the show ''Night is Mother to the Day'' by

Lars Noren Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

and, in the same year, he participated in ''Boca Cheia de Pássaros'', a dance theater show at

Teatro Nacional D. Maria II The Queen Maria II National Theatre () is a theatre in Lisbon, Portugal. The historic theatre is one of the most prestigious Portuguese venues and is located in the Rossio square, in the centre of the city. History The theatre was built on t ...

, staged b
Fernanda Lapa
and Francisco Camacho. In 2004 he participated in ''Capricho'' directed b
Lúcia Sigalho
The following year he worked for the first time with director Tim Carroll in ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' a
Teatro Nacional São Luiz
He returned to work with this director as the protagonist of

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is best known for the plays '' Equus'' and '' Amadeus'', the latter of which was adapted for the screen by Miloš Forman, with an ...

's ''Amadeus'', with

Diogo Infante Diogo Nuno Infante de Lacerda (born 28 May 1967 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese theatre, cinema and television actor and television presenter. He is the natural son of Maria Infante de Lacerda by an Englishman named Jonathan and maternal grandson of ...

, at

, a role for which he received the Portuguese Golden Globe for Best Theater Actor in 2011. In 2014, he once again starred in the show ''

Pedro Páramo ''Pedro Páramo'' is a novel by Mexican writer Juan Rulfo, first published in 1955. This novel showcases the roots of Mexican culture and its beliefs on afterlife through deeply complex characters, spirituality, and a constant transition betwee ...

'' by

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...

, directed by Miguel Seabra, a
Teatro Meridional
which earned him a nomination for Best Theater Actor at the Portuguese Golden Globes. Between 2018 and 2023 he stages and performs the monologue
Every Brillian Thing
' by Duncan MacMillan, produced by Hugo Nóbrega from H2N, with scene and actors’ direction by Dora Bernardo. The show was a huge success, having toured the country for 4 years with more than 280 sold-out shows and around 30,000 spectators. This project earned him several awards, including the Solo Show Award by the 2020 Theater Guide, integrating the list of 30 best shows of 2019 b
Comunidade Cultura e Arte
and having won the 2021 Marketeer Award in the Art and Culture category.

Television

He became famous for his portrayal of Joca in the series ''O Fura Vidas'' (1999-2001). Between 2008 and 2011 he participated in the series ''Liberdade 21'', produced b
SP television
and directed by Patrícia Sequeira an
Sérgio Graciano
I n 2009 he joined the cast of the mini-series '' Conexão'', directed by

Leonel Vieira Leonel Vieira (born 1969) is a Portuguese film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the f ...

on RTP. Between 2010 and 2012 he participated in the Canadian series ''

Living in Your Car ''Living in Your Car'' is a Canadian television comedy-drama series that debuted on May 7, 2010, on HBO Canada. The series stars John Ralston as Steve Unger, a former high-flying corporate executive struggling to rebuild his life after being i ...

'', directed by

David Steinberg David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid-1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on ...

, among others. Soon after, he played the role of Xavier in the RTP series '' Os Filhos do Rock'' (2013-2014). In 2019 he joined the cast of ''

Sul Sul or SUL may refer to: Places * South Region, Brazil * Sul, Fars, a village in Iran * Sul, Hormozgan, a village in Iran Other uses * Sul (deity), or Sulis, a Celtic goddess * Sul (Korean surname) * Surigaonon language (ISO 639 code sul) * Stanf ...

'', an RTP series produced by Arquipélago Filmes and directed b
Ivo Ferreira
In 2021 he plays the Minister of Defense in the Netlfix series ''Glória'', directed by

Tiago Guedes Tiago Guedes (born 20 June 1971) is a Portuguese film director and editor. Guedes' film credits include '' Entre os Dedos'', ''Blood Curse'' and '' Acordar''. His television credits include '' The Domain'', '' Odisseia'' and '' Os Boys''. Guede ...

. Recently, in 2023 he joined the cast of the RTP series
Emília
', directed by Filipa Amaro. In 2024 he plays the role of Doctor in the RTP series
O Americano
' directed b
Ivo Ferreira
In 2025, he will participate in ''Projecto Global'', a series b
Ivo Ferreira
about the FP25, and in
Cold Haven
', a Portuguese and Icelandic co-production, filmed in both countries.

Selected filmography

Film

TV

Theatre

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canelas, Ivo 1973 births Living people Male actors from Lisbon Portuguese male film actors Portuguese male television actors