[6] His supporting performance as Damián in 1999 immigration-themed film Flowers from Another World earned him a nomination the Goya Award for Best New Actor.

[7] Critically acclaimed for his supporting role in the unemployment drama Mondays in the Sun, abusive husband in Take My Eyes, an executive producer in Even the Rain, and doorman in Sleep Tight, his most acclaimed performance has to be from his 2009 hit Cell 211 which stars Tosar as Malamadre, a prisoner that instigates a riot and befriends an undercover prison guard in the process.

[8] His only major role in an American film was Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006), playing Colombian druglord Montoya.

Close to the Galician Nationalist Bloc, Tosar ran as candidate in the Galeusca list to the 2004 European Parliament election.

[2] On 17 November 2018 he received a star in the Almeria Walk of Fame for the films El Niño (2014) and Toro (2016).