The first minutes of the Uruguayan film 9, which in November 2021 the directors Martín Barrenechea and Nicolás Branca presented at the Mar del Plata Festival, Enzo, then unknown, plays a footballer inspired by Luis Suárez who tries to get out of the ‘airport while a crowd of journalists and fans pounce on him, throwing unanswered questions and taking selfies he never prepares for. The film, which earned Vogrincic the best actor award at the Gramado and Bari festivals, wasn’t enough to turn him into a professional, but it works as a good portrait of the moment he’s living in today.
At the age of 31, he has become an idol for a female audience that follows him with enthusiasm and includes all nationalities. A post on X reads in English, accompanying photos of her on the red carpet at the Dolby, next to a giant golden statue: “Can someone please tell Enzo Vogrincic that the social media manager of Will MTV be waiting for him at the altar once he’s done with the Oscars?” On Reddit, a debate between users, also in the language of Shakespeare, praises his masculine beauty and suggests that the descendant of Slovenian immigrants looks like a combination of Adam Driver and James Franco.
Although his curriculum vitae includes a small participation in La noche de 12 años he plays a policeman; an episode of the series Porno y helado, available on Netflix; another from El presidente, which can be seen on Amazon, and eight from Iosi, el espía arrepentido, a production of this same platform, Vogrincic was basically an independent theater actor who earned a living with regular jobs and put the his passion for small stages in the Uruguayan capital when María Laura Berch, a casting director, went to see him in a play and suggested that he record an audition for J.A. Bayona: “I was dragging furniture to do work. He did theater with friends, the casting of whatever was there, as an actor from Uruguay. And suddenly I happened to be filming on the mountain looking at me with my colleagues, saying: what is this? Where are we”, he confided to Belén Fourment, from the newspaper El País in Montevideo, last December.
In October, when he arrived at a beautiful reception organized by Netflix after the first screening in Los Angeles of La sociedad de la nieve, he confided to whomever he writes his disbelief for everything he was experiencing. Chosen by the platform to be the face of the cast and accompany the Catalan director on his journey to help the film in the race for awards, Enzo had already been through the Venice, Rio de Janeiro and Sitges festivals. That night you could see the happiness of the child who fulfills a dream. A long time ago, when it was explained to him that he would have to participate in the promotional campaign, Vogrincic had asked Netflix not to include him in the interview program. Faced with the refusal of the broadcasting strategists, he delivered himself with the same spirit of sacrifice with which, despite the fact that he is a vegan, he had to find a way to gain weight in order to lose it during the grueling filming.
Earlier this month he continued to give interviews honoring Numa Turcatti, his character based on one of the players who died in the Andes, and the director who got the best out of him by repeating takes over and over until they were perfect. As a memory of his fantastic tour remains the photo with Tom Holland, another great discovery of Jota, who, despite being at the top of Hollywood, never hid his affection for Bayona and gladly accepted the opportunity to share a question and answer session with both after a screening. When it was over, the three of them went to dinner like old friends.
Already back in Montevideo, Enzo has decided to follow the example of the footballer at 9 and, despite the insistence of the media to interview him, take a break to take care of his house and recharge his batteries. He will have to fight again with the luminaries at the Platino awards gala on April 20 in Rivera Maya (Mexico), which he will attend as a nominee.
For now, he has not decided how he will continue his career, beyond a contract with Zara to work as a model. He was faithful to the promise to devote himself body and soul to promoting La sociedad de la nieve to enjoy an experience that may not be repeated again, but now he is surely reading proposals and what he chooses will be crucial. “I would like to play a character as complex as Numa, but to be a little darker,” he told GQ. He will surely find it.
