It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the Mexican film industry.
In 1947, the 1st and 2nd Ariel Awards were held, with José Baviera and Fernando Soto winning for the films La Barraca and Campeón Sin Corona, respectively.
[4] Rojo Grau was nominated twice in 1986, for his performances in the films El Escuadrón de la Muerte and Gavilán o Paloma, losing to José Carlos Ruiz for Toña Machetes.
In 1996, Damián Alcázar and Jesús Ochoa tied for their work in the films El Anzuelo and Entre Pancho Villa y Una Mujer Desnuda, respectively.
Fifteen films have featured two or more nominated performances for Best Supporting Actor, Doña Perfecta (Carlos Navarro and Julio Villarreal), El Rebozo de Soledad (Carlos López Moctezuma and Domingo Soler), Las Tres Perfectas Casadas (José Elías Moreno and José María Linares), Cadena Perpetua (Ernesto Gómez Cruz and Narciso Busquets), El Callejón de los Milagros (Daniel Giménez Cacho and Esteban Soberanes), Por Si No Te Vuelvo a Ver (Max Kerlow and Justo Martínez), El Evangelio de las Maravillas (Bruno Bichir and Rafael Inclán), La Ley de Herodes (Pedro Armendáriz and Salvador Sánchez), Matando Cabos (Joaquín Cosío and Raúl Méndez), La Zona (Mario Zaragoza and Alan Chávez), El Infierno (Cosío and Gómez Cruz), Días de Gracia (Kristyan Ferrer and Zaragoza), Colosio: El Asesinato (Giménez Cacho and Dagoberto Gama), La Delgada Línea Amarilla (Cosío, Silverio Palacios and Gustavo Sánchez Parra), and La 4a Compañía (Manuel Ojeda, Dario T. Pie and Carlos Valencia); Navarro, López Moctezuma, Moreno, Gómez Cruz, Kerlow, Armendáriz, Zaragoza, Cosío (for El Infierno), Giménez Cacho (for Colosio: El Asesinato) won the award.