Jorge Sanz was born on August 26, 1969 in Madrid.

The son of a military man, he is the youngest of five siblings and probably would have followed a military career following in his father's footsteps, but his mother took him to an audition when he was nine years old and he was cast as Jane Birkin's son in the film La Miel (1979) directed by Pedro Masó, beginning a prolific career as a child actor mostly in commercial films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. His collaborations with Fernando Trueba and Vicente Aranda made him the most sought-after young actor of those years. He worked in films such as Mambrú se fue a la guerra, directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez and El año de las luces, by Trueba, where he worked for the first time with Maribel Verdú. He has been nominated six times for the Goya Award, winning it in 1989 for his performance in Si te dicen que caí. He has also won a revelation award at the San Sebastian Film Festival and two more as best actor at the Nimes Film Festival.