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Daniel Hendler

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Daniel Hendler
Hendler in 2025
Born (1976-01-03) January 3, 1976 (age 50)
Montevideo, Uruguay
OccupationsActor, director, screenwriter
Years active1996–present
SpouseAna Katz (2007-2018 separated)
Children2

Daniel Hendler (born 3 January 1976) is a Uruguayan film, television, and theatre actor and director, who has mostly worked in Argentina.

Hendler made his feature film debut, starring as the protagonist, Ariel Goldstein, in Daniel Burman's Jewish-themed comedy drama, Waiting for the Messiah (2000), for which he was nominated for Breakthrough Actor by the Argentine Film Critics Association. Prominent roles followed in 25 Watts (2001) and he again worked with Burman in Todas las azafatas van al cielo (2002), Lost Embrace (2004) and Family Law (2006). For his role as Ariel Makaroff in Lost Embrace, he was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival. Hendler was nominated for Best Actor by the Argentine Film Critics Association for both Lost Embrace and Family Law. In 2003, he starred as protagonist and neurotic architect in Damián Szifron's film, Bottom of the Sea, receiving a nomination for Best Actor from the Argentine Film Critics Association.

Prominent roles followed in The Paranoids (2008), Phase 7 and the box office smash, Mi primera boda (2011). In 2012, he starred in the telenovela, Graduados, which became a phenomenon in Argentina. He reunited with Burman for Argentina's first original Netflix series, Edha (2014).

He later starred in The Lost Brother (2017) and The Intruder (2020). He starred in two seasons of the acclaimed Netflix comedy series, División Palermo (2023-2025) by Santiago Korovsky.

He made his debut as screenwriter and director with the film Norberto's Deadline in 2010. He has since written and directed A Loose End (2025) and 27 Nights (2025).

Hendler is part of the generation of actors who revitalized the Uruguayan cinema with films like 25 Watts,[1][2] and is one of the regular actors of the so-called New Argentine Cinema.[3][4][5]

Early life

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Hendler was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1976, to a Jewish family.[6] He was raised in the Buceo, Pocitos and Cordón neighborhoods.[7][8] His father was a merchant and his mother a keen theatergoer.[9] He attended the Jewish school Escuela Integral and played basketball at Hebraica Macabi.[10][11]

Atypically, he had two bar mitzvah ceremonies because his parents were separated since he was five years old. While he's Jewish, he's not religious and does not believe in God.[12] At 14, he began doing theater with some friends.[13]

He was assistant professor and head of drama at the Catholic University of Uruguay in Montevideo. In 1994, he started to train in acting.[14] He, with a number of friends, created the theatre group "Acapara el 522" (Here-stops the 522), a sort of inside joke and pun where the bus line stop in his hometown.[15] They appeared at the "Youth Contest of Theater in Montevideo", competing with over a hundred plays, and won, "Since then, we made five works, of which three were written and directed by me, another by a friend, and the other by Leo Maslíah, who is like a friend of the group," said Hendler.[14] During his time in "Acapara el 522," he was linked with musician and writer Leo Maslíah, with whom he made a literary workshop, adapted one of his stories, and was directed in the play Abulimia.[7] He also made some short films with Pablo Stoll and Juan Pablo Rebella.[16]

Hendler spent almost five years in the University of Architecture of Montevideo,[9] plus some other years of theatrical training. First, he wanted to be an actor, then musician (studied guitar for several years),[7] then architect, but finally decided on acting. One of his first experiences as an actor was in the play Rompiendo códigos.[7]

Among his main influences he mentions Roberto Jones, Roberto Fontana, Walter Reyno, Jorge Bolani,[17] Pablo Stoll, and Juan Pablo Rebella.[1]

Career

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In 2001, he won the award for Best Actor for the Uruguayan movie 25 Watts in the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, "It was a very nice prize, maybe the prettiest of all, but I don't know what it meant in my career, maybe nothing. What meant a lot was the movie, having worked in 25 Watts was important for me and my career," said Hendler.[18] In 25 Watts, Hendler plays a youngster from a quiet neighborhood of Montevideo who wanders without a clear direction while at the same time has to study for a test of Italian and has a crush on his tutor. Filmed in 2000 with a very low budget, the film revitalized the Uruguayan film and aided by the awards received in Europe (Best Film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam) marked the beginning of a new stage in the film scene of that country.[1][2] Almost ten years after its release, Hendler said in an interview, "It was a novelty to see a Uruguayan movie that didn't submit the mate, the Palacio Salvo, and the promenade as a justification for being, was a story of some neighborhood guys."[2]

Although he had already starred in several short and feature films, he became known in Argentina for the ads of Telefónica, a telecommunications company, in 2002, playing Walter,[19] a character by which would be recognized for several years later.[20] Subsequently, Hendler won the Silver Bear for Best Actor in the Berlin International Film Festival for his work in Lost Embrace and Best Actor in the Lleida Latin-American Film Festival for Bottom of the Sea. In Bottom of the Sea (2003), Hendler plays a paranoid architecture student who pursues his girlfriend's psychoanalyst suspecting she's being unfaithful.

"There's a part that I like, no doubt, because if not, I wouldn't be involved in acting. What happens is that the popularity that comes to you is not always what you expect: you wanna be greeted when you feel like it. But I never suffered that, because I've never exceed the line of massive popularity. It is difficult to learn that the more love, the more shade. That is, there is no ideal popularity, we must assume it, in the same way that many people will love you, many people will reject you."

— Hendler on popularity[21]

Hendler is regular in the Daniel Burman's works.[22] In addition to his brief role in Every Stewardess Goes to Heaven (playing a taxi driver), he has worked in Waiting for the Messiah (2000), Lost Embrace (2004), and Family Law (2005). In those three films his characters are named "Ariel", considered Burman's alter ego;[23] this is most noticeable in Lost Embrace, where Hendler plays a young Jew who research his Polish ancestry to get a passport and emigrate to Europe, as did the director in real life.[24][25] On the question, Hendler said, "I don't feel I'm Burman's alter ego."[17]

Burman and Hendler met each other in 1998 when the first was visiting Uruguayan theatres with director Marco Bechis looking for an actor for Garage Olimpo.[25] They went to see actor Walter Reyno,[26] and in the same play, entitled The amateur, was Hendler. After Hendler performance, they did a casting in a bar with a digital camera, with Burman playing a Jew and Hendler a Nazi. Finally he didn't get the role for Garage Olimpo, but months later Burman called him to make Waiting for the Messiah.[25]

In 2007, The Paranoids was released with Hendler playing Luciano, a hermit and repressed children's parties entertainer who is based on film's director Gabriel Medina, who met Hendler during the filming of Bottom of the Sea.[27] The New York Times' critic Stephen Holden wrote, "Yet for all his infuriatingly neurotic self-sabotage, Mr. Hendler makes Luciano such a lovable loser that you root for him to get over himself."[28] while Boxoffice wrote, "Hendler captures the heart of Luciano's anxieties: his fear of success."[29]

Following The Paranoids, Hendler made his first incursion on television appearing on an episode of the series Mujeres Asesinas ("Killer Women"), and in 2008 was seen on the comedy series Aquí no hay quien viva, playing a lazy janitor named Roman. "I wanted to bring myself to do television and, as time passed, not having traveled that path was increasingly weighing on me,"[21] said Hendler in an interview for Clarín.

Hendler filming Graduados in 2012.

His first work as writer and director was Norberto's Deadline (2010), about a shy and unemployed salesman named Norberto who start to study acting to gain confidence on himself. As screenwriter, he had previously collaborated on the script for Daniel Burman's El nido vacío (2008). The film was filmed in Uruguay and produced by both countries from the Río de la Plata, "The crew that I chose is my 'dream team'; it's the people I dreamed to work with, beyond nationality, and ended up being a very mixed team, a mixture from Uruguay and Argentina," said Hendler.[30] He had never studied filmmaking before, he says, "Many times we begin with the assumption that the problem of film is on the technical knowledge, but the technical rules are the quickest to learn and the least you use. Experience in the use of certain resources is what gives you the possible solutions or shortcuts at the time of transporting to the screen what you imagined. The more knowledge you have, the easier you reach it, but 'the truths' about cinematic technique are the easiest to solve as a director. There were things I already knew how to do, and some others I didn't, and depend on what you're looking in each movie."[31] By 2003, Hendler had started writing an ensemble story called "The Day Ends at 10," he dismissed the story but the characters were kept for another ensemble film, "The Move", which included a character named Norberto, a role that started to have more and more prominence, until the story finally became Norberto's Deadline.[32]

Daniel Hendler played the character Andrés Goddzer in the 2012 telenovela Graduados, which proved a big success. He received a Tato Award and a Martín Fierro award for his work.

In addition to his work in film and TV, Hendler is also a stage actor, "That's where I think I feel more comfortable, where I feel that you're a real actor. On television and in film, you play to be an actor, but in theatre you're there, with all your implements," he said.[18]

Personal life

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Hendler in 2014.

Hendler married Argentine film director Ana Katz in 2007,[21] they have since separated.[33] The couple have two children together.[7] He moved from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, and divides his time between Parque Centenario and Montevideo.[9][21] He has not taken Argentine citizenship.[7]

Filmography

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Films

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YearTitleRoleNotes
2000Waiting for the MessiahAriel Goldstein
200125 WattsLeche
2001Todas las azafatas van al cieloTaxista
2001SábadoMartín
2001El ojo en la nucaDiegoShort film.
2002No sabe no contestaDavid
2003Bottom of the SeaEzequiel Toledo
2004Lost EmbraceAriel Makaroff
2004WhiskyMartín, the younger husband
2005Los suicidasDaniel
2005QueensÓscar
2006La PerreraEstudiante en hogar
2006Una novia erranteMiguel
2006Cara de queso —mi primer ghetto—Vercovich
2006Family LawAriel Perelman
2008La rondaPedro
2008The ParanoidsLuciano Gauna
2009Cabeça a prêmioDênis
2011Phase 7Coco
2011Los MarzianoFrancisco Peirú
2011Mi primera bodaAdrián
2012Between ValleysCarlos
2013Vino para robarSebastián
2014Edifício Tatuapé MahalJavier Juarez Garcia (voice)Short film
2015My Friend from the ParkGustavo
2015Hijos nuestros
2017El otro hermanoJavier Cetari
2017SeverinaAmigo 1
2019The MoneychangerHumberto Brause
2019The SleepwalkersSergio
2020The IntruderLeopoldo
2022Virus-32Luis
2022El sistema K.E.OP/SFernando
2022Pequeña florJosé
2022LunáticosVíctor
2024The Silence of Marcos TremmerDr. Alejandro Tremmer
2025AstronautNicolás
202527 NightsLeandro Casares
2025Crazy Old LadyPedro
2025Quase DesertoBenjamín

Television

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Director

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Awards and nominations

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YearAward / FestivalCategoryWorkResult
1996Cutcsa Prize – 13th Young Theatre ShowcaseSpecial distinction for text and visual proposalCrímenes y ResfríosWon
2000Premios MorosoliSilver Morosoli (theatre work)—Won
2000Clarín AwardsBreakthrough ActorWaiting for the MessiahWon
2001Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI)Best Actor25 WattsWon
2001Asociación de Críticos de Cine del Uruguay (ACCU)Best Actor25 WattsWon
2001Argentine Film Critics AssociationBreakthrough ActorWaiting for the MessiahNominated
2002Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film FestivalInnovation AwardPerro perdidoWon
2002Huesca International Film FestivalBest New DirectorPerro perdidoWon
2004Lleida Latin-American Film FestivalBest ActorBottom of the SeaWon
2004Berlin International Film FestivalSilver Bear for Best ActorLost EmbraceWon
2004Toulouse Latin American Film FestivalTribute Award—Won
2004Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best ActorBottom of the SeaNominated
2004Clarín AwardsBest ActorLost EmbraceNominated
2005Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best ActorLost EmbraceNominated
2006Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences AwardsBest ActorFamily LawNominated
2007Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best ActorFamily LawNominated
2008Biarritz International Festival of Latin American CinemaBest ActorThe ParanoidsWon
2009Lima Film FestivalBest ActorThe ParanoidsWon
2009San Sebastián International Film FestivalTVE AwardNorberto’s DeadlineWon
2010Premios MorosoliSilver Morosoli – Moving Image—Won
2010Locarno International Film FestivalGolden Leopard – Filmmakers of the PresentNorberto’s DeadlineNominated
2011Mexico City International Film FestivalBest ScreenplayNorberto’s DeadlineWon
2011BAFICISIGNIS AwardNorberto’s DeadlineWon
2011BAFICIBest FilmNorberto’s DeadlineNominated
2011Lume International Film FestivalBest FilmNorberto’s DeadlineNominated
2012Tato AwardsBest Actor in FictionGraduadosWon
2012Argentine Film Critics AssociationBest Ibero-American FilmNorberto’s DeadlineNominated
2013Martín Fierro AwardsBest Actor in a TelenovelaGraduadosWon
2016ACCU AwardsBest DirectorEl candidatoNominated
2016ACCU AwardsBest ScreenplayEl candidatoNominated
2016ACCU AwardsCareer Achievement Award—Won
2017BAFICIBest FilmEl candidatoNominated
2017Miami International Film FestivalBest DirectorEl candidatoWon
2017Havana Film Festival New YorkBest ScreenplayEl candidatoWon
2018Argentine Film Critics AssociationBest Ibero-American FilmEl candidatoNominated
2021Argentine Film Critics AssociationBest Supporting ActorThe IntruderNominated
2025Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best FilmA Loose EndNominated
2025Martín Fierro AwardsBest Actor in a television seriesLos mufas, suerte para la desgraciaNominated
2026Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best Actor27 NightsNominated
2026Argentine Film Critics AssociationSilver Condor Award for Best Adapted Screenplay27 NightsNominated

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Joel Rosenberg (December 7, 2011). "Sería un sueño dirigir a Maslíah de protagonista". 180.com.uy (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "El lado oculto" (in Spanish). November 2011. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Daniel Hendler: Norberto apenas tarde". www.cine.ar (in Spanish). July 14, 2009. Archived from the original on August 23, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  4. ↑ ""Norberto apenas tarde", el debut de Daniel Hendler como director, en BAFICI". exitoina.com (in Spanish). July 14, 2009. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ Diego Batlle (October 20, 2011). "Norberto apenas tarde, de Daniel Hendler". www.otroscines.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  6. ↑ Lauber, Nicolas (2022-12-31). "Daniel Hendler: sus dos Bar Mitzvá, el elogio de una ganadora del Oscar y la extraña fobia que tiene". EL PAIS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fabian Romero (November 15, 2010). "Norberto, apenas tarde". besijue.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Idealizan a Mujica pero no lo votarían". El País (in Spanish). May 15, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Fabiana Scherer (March 19, 2006). "Daniel Hendler: en la era de la adultez". La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Página/12 :: radar". www.pagina12.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  11. ↑ Johana Klinkovich. "Entrevista a Daniel Hendler: "Me gusta trabajar, pero también tomar mate entre toma y toma"". www.delacole.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  12. ↑ "UN PREMIADO ACTOR URUGUAYO - Daniel Hendler". www.montevideo.com.uy (in Spanish). July 7, 2004. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  13. ↑ Daniel Hendler in Toulouse (video)
  14. 1 2 "Daniel Hendler, datos biográficos". Clarín (in Spanish). October 18, 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  15. ↑ "Daniel Hendler: "Me gusta ser el centro"" (PDF). América Late (in Spanish). August 27, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  16. ↑ Mariano Lopez (2011). "Interview for Segunda Pelota" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  17. 1 2 Eliana Sosa (April 2, 2004). "Daniel Hendler: "Este momento social es como una guerra mundial"". LaRed21 (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  18. 1 2 Patricia Pujol (October 11, 2011). "Jugar a ser actor". Sala de espera (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Biografía de Daniel Hendler" (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  20. ↑ "El cine nacional está en estado delicado". El País (in Spanish). May 15, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Steve Ramos (January 28, 2008). "Daniel Hendler: "No pretendo convertirme en comediante"". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  22. ↑ Jaime Galeano. "Burman-Hendler: Lazos Familiares". Revista Sudestada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  23. ↑ Josefina Sartora (2003). "EL ABRAZO PARTIDO". Cineismo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  24. ↑ "El Abrazo partido de Daniel Burman". Commeaucinema.com S.A. (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  25. 1 2 3 Cecilia Sosa (March 21, 2004). "Los tres mosqueteros". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  26. ↑ "El trabajo y el placer". LaRed21 (in Spanish). 30 September 2001. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  27. ↑ Miguel Frias (October 21, 2008). "Daniel Hendler-Jazmín Stuart: El amor y la fobia". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  28. ↑ Stephen Holden (January 21, 2010). "Rooting for Lovable Loser in a Furry Purple Suit". The New York Times. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  29. ↑ Steve Ramos (January 19, 2010). "Argentine Gabriel Medina makes a striking debut with this hip comedy - The Paranoids". Boxoffice. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  30. ↑ Yessika Miglierina. "Cine uruguayo: Hendler en buena hora" (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  31. ↑ Ernesto Muniz (October 1, 2010). "Hendler, justo a tiempo". Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  32. ↑ Daniela Espejo (May 16, 2011). ""Norberto apenas tarde", de Daniel Hendler. Actor al mando". Cinestel (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  33. ↑ Daniel Hendler: “Hay mucha gente intervenida por la realidad que muestran las redes sociales” La Nacion. 26 March 2022
  34. ↑ "A Loose End". San Sebastian International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  35. ↑ "A Loose End". Venice International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
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