Paco León is a Spanish actor, producer, and director best known for his roles as Luisma in Aída and María José in The House of Flowers.
León has had success in theater throughout his career, first appearing onstage in 2001 and then gaining international recognition in 2005 after his role in Aída. He began his film career with Castillos en el Aire and reached stardom with his comical impression of Homo Zapping, where he stood out as Raquel Revuelta, a model and former Miss Spain.
In 2016, he came out as bi in an interview for Bertín Osborne’s program En la tuya o en la mía, stating: “When I met Anna [his girlfriend], I had a boyfriend, not her.” Although he had second thoughts about coming out in such a public manner, he later commented:
I think that nowadays the most subversive thing is to be natural, like when I talked about my bisexuality on Bertín Osborne’s show. […] I fall in love with people. I don’t know if I choose it or if it’s the other way around, but when there’s a connection, there’s a connection.
Paco León is married to the screenwriter, playwright, and director Anna Rodríguez Costa. Together they had a daughter, Manuela, in 2010.
In recent years, Paco became more popular in the US when he played María José, a lawyer and trans woman, in the Netflix show The House of Flowers, directed by Manolo Caro. His participation in the show caused great controversy among the LGBTQ community, which kept asking the producers, “Why not choose a trans actress for this role?”
When discussing the show and his role, Paco de León addressed the controversy and said, “I won’t accept any more trans roles, but this one must come through.” Paco remarked on his experience portraying María José:
Netflix’s intention and mine as well as Manolo Caro’s, was to dignify a character who is constantly marginalized and outside of stereotypes, that’s how it is in Mexico and in Latin America. Even in Spain, although they have more visibility, it’s still a very marginalized community, and I think it’s important to normalize a character like this in mainstream media.