Poncela made his theatre debut in a play of
Mariana Pineda in 1967. He earned clout on the Spanish stage scene, with ensuing roles in plays of
Marat/Sade,
Romeo and Juliet, and
A Taste of Honey, after which he developed a screen career in film and television. The latter play premiered in March 1971 at the Teatro Infanta Beatriz, and, starring Poncela as a young gay man alongside
Ana Belén and
Laly Soldevila, obtained great success. His film career took off in the 1970s. In the anthology horror film
Pastel de sangre (1971), he played a part as
the Monster in the segment directed by
Jaime Chávarri dedicated to Victor Frankenstein. He also featured in
Eloy de la Iglesia's
The Cannibal Man (1972), portraying a homosexual character. The Spanish film cut was nonetheless mutilated by the
Francoist censorship. He also appeared in
Pedro Olea's
A House Without Boundaries (1972), in
Larga noche de julio (1974), in
La muerte del escorpión (1976), and in
In memoriam (1977), starring alongside
Geraldine Chaplin and
José Luis Gómez. In 1978, he appeared in the television series
Curro Jiménez. In Guillo Pontecorvo's
Ogro, he portrayed one of the
ETA members who carried out the
magnicide of Carrero Blanco. He attained mainstream recognition in 1982 with his work in the
Televisión Española series
Los gozos y las sombras. He starred as the lead, a police inspector, in the crime film '''' (1983), in what
Diego Galán described as an "honest, effective" performance despite the character's lack of nuance. He played a police inspector again in
Pedro Almodóvar's
Matador (1986). Also In 1986, he starred in
Pilar Miró's
Werther, a film adaptation of
Goethe's novel selected for the
43rd Venice International Film Festival, and starred as detective
Pepe Carvalho in the crime television series
Las aventuras de Pepe Carvalho. His character in the film has been read as placed within the framework of an intertextual relation with prior roles played by Poncela in
La muerte del escorpión and
Rapture. In the 1990s, he lived in Argentina, featuring in films such as
A Shadow You Soon Will Be (1994),
Martín (Hache) (1997), In the 2000s, Poncela returned to Spain. His performance in the film earned him his only
Goya Award nomination. He played the cardinal Casimiro Morcillo, president of the
Spanish Episcopal Conference, in the TVE miniseries
Tarancón, el quinto mandamiento about the life of
Cardinal Tarancón. He portrayed another cleric,
Cardinal Cisneros, in the third season of the historical series
Isabel, reprising the role in the sequel series
Carlos, Rey Emperador, in a crossover episode of
El ministerio del tiempo, and in the feature film
The Broken Crown. His television work also included villain roles in
Red Eagle and
El accidente. In 2022, Poncela starred in a play of
Manuel Puig's
Kiss of the Spider Woman directed by Carlota Ferrer. He also received the
LesGaiCineMad festival's honorary award at
Cine Doré.
The Last Rapture, a documentary film about
Rapture featuring Poncela, is set to be released in September 2025 at the
73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival. ==Personal life and death ==