Roberto Octavio Álvarez Pérez

Cuban actor, best known for the series Aquí no hay quien viva, on Antena 3, (where he participated in the 4th and 5th seasons of the series), playing Yago; La que se avecina on Telecinco (participated in the 1st and 2nd seasons), playing Silvio; and Amar en tiempos revueltos on La 1 of TVE, (6th season), playing Ubaldo.

He was born into a family of artists: his mother is Cuban actress Susana Pérez and his father is writer and director of film and television Roberto A. San Martín. In this way, Roberto became accustomed to the atmosphere of film sets, TV studios, and theatrical stages from a young age. Despite this, he tried to find his future, starting several careers as an administrator, French, business management, and film direction.

He also studied for various trades such as graphic designer and hotel management. Meanwhile, he made a living working as a computer programmer, salesman, and chef.

One day theater director Boris Villar showed up at his house to speak with his mother and ended up offering Roberto a non-speaking role, thus marking his first steps in his artistic career.

San Martín lived two years in Bolivia, between 1994 and 1996, and several months in Ecuador in 2004.

Little by little, he was signed for various telenovelas filmed in Ecuador and Cuba: Las mujeres de Pocholo, Historias personales, Las huérfanas de una obra pía (1999), Violetas de agua (1999), and Enigma de un verano, broadcast in 2001, the same year the actor flirted for the first time with cinema in the short film Encantado. By then, San Martín had joined the theater group "El Público," with which he performed La Celestina (2001-2002), Ícaros (2003), and Vida y muerte de Pasolini (2003).

The actor balanced these jobs with filming the feature film Entre ciclones (2002) and presenting cultural youth programs such as A moverse and Cuerda viva.

Thanks to the popularity he had achieved in Cuba, Benito Zambrano entrusted him with selecting actors who could play musicians for his film Habana Blues. In that process, they suggested he submit his information so he could play a supporting character. Finally, he was fortunate to get one of the two lead roles, Tito, a musician who decided to leave the island to settle in Spain. Without realizing it, the actor himself would experience the same life experiences as the character he was playing: San Martín left Havana—temporarily separating from his wife—settled in the Lavapiés neighborhood in Madrid, and entered the Spanish market.

At that time, Habana Blues was selected for the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, which he attended accompanied by his director and the team. By then, San Martín had already filmed La semana que viene (sin falta) alongside Imanol Arias, where he played a man who made a living customizing cars.

In the summer, he auditioned to play Yago in Aquí no hay quien viva, an environmentalist from Aldeas Verdes, with a progressive and anti-consumerist temperament whose ideals begin to waver when he starts a relationship with Lucía (María Adánez), a thirty-something "posh" woman... Elena Arnao selected him for his hippie appearance and because she considered that the actor projected the image of an adventurous man who loves life above all else and is willing to take risks.

In the two final seasons he was there, Yago continued undertaking protest actions against businessmen and promoting strikes, while at the same time becoming accustomed to capitalist comfort...

At the same time, San Martín took part in the filming of La dama boba where he was initially supposed to play the page of an aristocrat (Liseo: Luis Merlo). Finally, Merlo's resignation due to his busy schedule allowed him to replace him. For this, San Martín had to take diction lessons with Alicia Hermida. His interpretation of an effeminate noble, humiliated and rejected by the woman he loves (Nice: Macarena Gómez), earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2006 Málaga Film Festival.

That same year, San Martín and Vladimir Cruz participated in the tribute to Cuban cinema at the Sahara Film Festival. He completed the year filming the short film El regalo, joining the cast of the film Soy un pelele where he played a homosexual man who, upon recovering consciousness after a coma, is unaware of his sexual identity, and signed on with most of the cast of Aquí no hay quien viva, a series in which he was for 8 months, in the series La que se avecina, where he stayed for another 9 months.

In the summer of 2007, the film Atasco en la nacional premiered where he makes an appearance.

From September 6, 2010 to August 2011, he played Ubaldo, a former Guatemalan diplomat and homosexual, in the sixth season of Amar en tiempos revueltos.

He also participated in the series Arrayán, already canceled, in the 2012-2013 season.

In 2014, after 10 years in Spain and with no work, he returned to America.

After living several years in the United States where he obtained US citizenship by naturalization, he returned with his family to Spain, building an important space on social media as a communicator and political activist, with his own program and voice, to fight for freedom and the democratization of the land that saw him born (Cuba).

Filmography
Television
Pequeñas coincidencias (2018) — Giovanni's Friend
Leyendas del Exilio (2017)
2091 (2016-2017) — Kore
Cuatro estaciones en La Habana (2016) — Fermín
Dueños del paraíso (2014-2015) — Ronaldo 'Ronnie' Zamora
Demente criminal (2014) — Detective Gerardo Pinzón
Arranque de Pasión (2013) — Ruli Astro Jensen
Arrayán (2012-2013) — Alberto de Villena
Lex (2008)
La que se avecina (2007-2008) — Silvio Ramírez
Amar en tiempos revueltos (2010-2011) — Ubaldo Ramos
Aquí no hay quien viva (2005-2006) — Yago
Las huérfanas de la Obra Pía (2020)

Film
La casa vacía (short) (2015)
La última mano (short) (2012)
Guerrila (2008)
Atasco en la nacional (2007)
Soy un pelele (2007)
La dama boba (2006)
La semana que viene (sin falta) (2006)
El regalo (short) (2006)
Habana Blues (2005)
El caracol (short) (2004)
Entre ciclones (2002)
Encantado (2001)
Pilotos no llevan casco (short) (2001)

Theater
Madre Coraje (2010) Dir: Gerardo Vera
Platonov (2009) Dir: Gerardo Vera
En la cama (2008-2009) Dir: Tamzin Townsend
Ícaros (2003)

Programs
A moverse (2002)
Cuerda viva (2000-2004)

Awards
Málaga Film Festival
Best Supporting Actor (2006)

Roberto San Martín is married, resides in Spain, and has two daughters, Daniela and Martina.