Born in Madrid, Santiago Segura started his career by making his first short movie at the age of fourteen. After studying Arts in Madrid, he finally decided to become a filmmaker. His first short film Relatos de la medianoche (1989) was made with a budget of only 7.000 pts. (about 60 dollars).

After that, he appeared as a contestant in several Spanish TV quiz shows, such as Locos por la tele (1990) and No te rías, que es peor (1990). With the money he made of those appareances, he directed Evilio. (1992) and shortly after, Perturbado (1993), winning a Goya for the best short film in 1994. His last short film is the sequel Evilio vuelve (El purificador) (1995).

He's a very good friend of the Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia and he has appeared in all of his films. In 1998, he directed his firt feature film, the smashing hit Torrente: El brazo tonto de la ley (1998).