Under a shower of applause, the actor with cerebral palsy Telmo Irureta (Zumaia, 1989), has won the Goya for Best New Actor for his role as David in The Rite of Spring, by Fernando Franco. In it he plays David, a young man with a disability who lives with his mother and begins to have a friendship with a girl whom he will pay to have sex with. Irureta, 34, has been in a wheelchair since he was two, when encephalitis caused him cerebral palsy. Graduated in Teaching, he studies Psychology and has starred in several shorts and theatrical monologues.
Very excited, Irureta has received the bobblehead from his aunt, the actress Elena Irureta, and the actor Tamar Novas. “I’m kind of blocked.” “I would like to mention Fernando Franco, our beloved director because he is wonderful. Thank you for this opportunity. And also Valeria Sorolla and Emma Suárez. Working with you has been a wonderful experience.” He also wanted to thank his character, David, “a nod to the right to sexuality of people with disabilities. We also exist and we also fuck”, he exclaimed. And he has finished his speech advocating for a cinema “more inclusive and with bodies of all kinds.”
Irureta’s rivals were Jordi Pujol Dolcet and Albert Bosch, both nominated for Alcarrás, Mikel Bustamante for Cinco lobitos and Christian Checa, for the film On the Margins.
