Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Juan Diego Botto

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Juan Diego Botto Rota was born in, Buenos Aires, Argentina on August 29, 1975. His father (a member of the Peronist Youth and Montoneros) was kidnapped and murdered in 1977 during the Argentine Dirty War. After his father’s death, he moved to Spain together with his mother (the actress and acting coach Cristina Rota [1945- ]) and older sister María Florencia Botto Rota [1974- ] in 1978. There, his little sister, Nur Al Levi [1979- ] was born. His sisters are both actresses. His mother taught acting classes out of their apartment, before creating her own academy.

He attended high school in New York and lived there for two years. Following early film

During the 1980s he played small roles in movies and appeared in the 1990 American television series ‘Zorro’. In 1992 he landed the role as the son of Christopher Columbus in the film “1492: Conquest of Paradise”, by Ridley Scott. Three years later he starred in the film “Stories from the Kronen”, by Montxo Armendáriz, in which he achieved great success and popularity. He landed a breakthrough role in the 1995 film “Stories from the Kronen”. He has since starred in films such as “Martín” (Hache) (1997), “Plenilune” (2000), “Broken Silence” (2001), “Obaba” (2005), “Go Away from Me” (2006) and “Ismael” (2013). He has also worked as a stage director and playwright and debuted as a film director with 2022 social drama-thriller “On the Fringe”.

He played General Presidente Silvio Luna in the 2021 DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn.

Botto currently lives in Madrid with his wife, Spanish journalist and writer Olga Rodríguez [1975-]. They have a daughter, Salma [2009- ].

BOTTO, Juan Diego (Juan Diego Botto Rota) [8/29/1975, Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina -     ] – director, writer, film, TV actor, son of producer, writer, actress Cristina Rota (María Cristina Rota Fernández) [1945-    ], actor Diego Botto (Diego Fernando Botto Alduncín) [1949–1977], brother of writer, actress María Botto (María Botto Rota) [1974-    ], actress, singer Nur Levi (Nur Al Levi Rota) [1979-    ], cousin of the actor Alejandro Botto (Alejandro Jorge Botto) [1977-    ], married to journalist Olga Rodríguez (Olga Rodríguez Francisco) [1975-    ] (2017-    ) father of Salma Botto [2009- ].

Zorro the Legend Begins – 1989 (Felipe)

The New Zorro (TV) – 1990-1993 (Felipe)

Zorro: A Conspiracy of Blood – 1992 (Felipe)