Rafael Amaya

Rafael Amaya
Amaya at the 2013 Alma Awards
Born
José Rafael Amaya Núñez

(1977-02-28) 28 February 1977 (age 46)
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Partners

José Rafael Amaya Núñez (born 28 February 1977) is a Mexican actor, born in Hermosillo, Mexico. He is best known for his character Aurelio Casillas in the Telemundo series El Señor de los Cielos.

Biography

Amaya was born in Hermosillo, Mexico, but when he was five years old, his family moved to Tecate, Baja California where he grew up. In his adolescence, he took theater and music classes. Upon entering college, he moved to San Diego, California to study but left school before graduating. After leaving college, he returned to Mexico to try his luck with a music group, the Palapa Band, which did not prosper. Amaya decided to enroll in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa, attempting to enter the world of music with another group, Garibaldi, with which he recorded two albums.

Career

Beginnings and notable roles (2000–2010)

After leaving his short musical career, in 2000, his first acting role was on the telenovela La casa en la playa, where he played Romualdo; after gaining attention in the role, he received offers for roles in other productions. In 2001, he was cast in the role of Cástulo in Sin pecado concebido. In 2002, he was given his first lead role in the telenovela Salomé, where he plays José Julián, one of Salomé's three sons, a role that solidifies him as a bonafide actor and earns him two nominations, one for the El Heraldo de México and another for the TVyNovelas Awards. In that same year, he is called to be part of the cast of Las vías del amor. In 2003, he again secures a leading role in the telenovela Amar otra vez with Irán Castillo and Valentino Lanús. His film debut comes in 2004 with the film Desnudos, in which he shares credits with Karyme Lozano and Isabel Madow. In 2006, he goes to Miami, United States to film Las dos caras de Ana with his ex-partner Ana Layevska. In that same year, he returns to the cinema co-starring with Ana de la Reguera and Gabriela Platas in the controversial film Así del precipicio. In February 2008, he began filming 24 cuadros de terror, where for the first time in his career, he played a serial killer. In that same year he filmed the romantic comedy film Amor letra por letra with Plutarco Haza and Silvia Navarro, which premiered in August of that year. He also participated in the film Me gustas tú, a film that pays homage to the late comedian Germán Valdés, which also stars Carmen Salinas and Luis Felipe Tovar. That year proved to be a busy one with much activity having also appeared in the series Mujeres asesinas and Sexo y otros secretos. At the end of that same year, he began filming the feature film North, a thriller about immigrants who were robbed of their organs and then trafficked. He also appeared in the video clip of Enrique Iglesias song, "Lloro Por Ti".

In 2009 he ventured further into the film industry. The frantic activity continued in 2010 playing Julián García Correa, a doctor with a mental disorder, in the telenovela of Telemundo Alguien te mira. This production was the first time in which Amaya played a villain in a telenovela. In 2011 he had a brief role in the very successful telenovela La Reina del Sur, playing the role of “El Guero,” who was the love interest of Kate del Castillo’s character and was the foundation on which the role of Aurelio Casillas in “Senor de Los Cielos” was based (both characters were pilots who had their own fleets of planes which were used to transport drugs for Mexico's most notorious cartels). In that same year, he traveled to Spain to participate in two series Hospital Central and Doctor Mateo and in the film La piel azul.

Mainstream and critical success (2013–present)

After his trip to Spain, he was absent from the acting world for a year and a half. In 2013 he joined the cast of the television film of Hallmark Channel, entitled Meddling Mom, which had begun filming 2012, and where he played Pablo. In that same year, he was selected by Telemundo to play Aurelio Casillas a famous drug trafficker in the super series El Señor de los Cielos, which is based on the life of Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Thanks to his performance he won as Favorite Lead Actor at the 2014 Premios Tu Mundo. Since first taking on this career-making role, he has won the prize three times consecutively in all the awards galas of Premios Tu Mundo. In 2014, he appeared in the short film Kiss of Vengeance, and in the film based on the life of the actor Cantinflas. He also participated in two episodes in the series Señora Acero as Aurelio Casillas. In 2015 he got his first lead role in a film, entitled Oro y polvo.

In 2016 he also had a guest role (and cameo appearance) in the American series Queen of the South, which was an adaptation of the telenovela La Reina del Sur, where he also played Aurelio Casillas. In December of that same year, he again played Aurelio in the spin-off of the series El Señor de los Cielos, entitled El Chema.

Personal life

Amaya and Angélica Celaya at the 2013 Alma Awards

Amaya was in a relationship with actress Ana Layevska, whom he met in 2006 while working on the telenovela Las dos caras de Ana. In 2007, they made their relationship official and both actors committed to getting married, but in 2010 Amaya ended his relationship with Layevska. In 2010, after ending his relationship with Layevska, he confirmed his relationship with the actress Angélica Celaya, whom he met in the telenovela Alguien te mira. In 2014, they got engaged, but ended their relationship in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Roles Notes
2004 Desnudos Pablo
2006 Así del precipicio Gerardo
2008 Amor letra por letra Julián
2008 Fotonovela Ángel
2008 24 cuadros de terror Lady Killer
2009 El descubrimiento Barman Short film
2009 Se jodió la Navidad Man at the party Short film
2009 The Fighter Leone
2009 Pepe y Santo vs América Julio
2009 Me importas tú, y tú Unknown role
2009 Días extraños Unknown role Short film
2010 Rock Marí Pablo
2010 Sin memoria Raúl
2010 Adiós mundo cruel Luis Armando
2010 Atrocious Psiquiatra Voice role; Spanish dubbing
2014 Kiss of Vengeance Aldo Short film
2014 Cantinflas Frank Sinatra
2015 Oro y polvo Daniel

Television roles

Year Title Roles Notes
2000 La casa en la playa Romualdo Reyes
2001 Sin pecado concebido Cástulo Campos Ortiz
2001 Mujer, casos de la vida real Unknown role 2 episodes
2001 Salomé José Julián
2002 Las vías del amor Paco / Pablo Rivera
2004 Amar otra vez Fernando Castañeda Eslava
2006 Las dos caras de Ana Rafael Bustamante / Gustavo Galván
2007–2009 Ugly Betty Lorenzo Guest role (seasons 2–3); 4 episodes
2008 Los simuladores Rubalcaba Episode: "El pacto copernico"
2008 Mujeres asesinas Óscar Episode: "Claudia, cuchillera"
2008 Sexo y otros secretos Martín Main role (season 1); 12 episodes
2009 La ruleta de los sueños Dan Television film
2010 La piel azul Fernando Television film
2010–2011 Alguien te mira Julián García Correa Main role (season 1); 116 episodes
2011 Hospital Central Enrique Guerrero Recurring role (season 19); 9 episodes
2011 La Reina del Sur Raimundo Dávila Parra "El Güero" Guest role (season 1); 22 episodes
2011 Doctor Mateo Roberto Recurring role (season 5); 12 episodes
2013 Meddling Mom Pablo Television film
2013–present El Señor de los Cielos Aurelio Casillas Main role (seasons 1–6,8); guest (season 7); 600 episodes
2014–2015 Señora Acero Aurelio Casillas Guest role (seasons 1–2); 2 episodes
2016–2017 Queen of the South Aurelio Casillas Guest role (seasons 1–2); 3 episodes
2016 El Chema Aurelio Casillas Guest role (season 1); 2 episodes
2021 Malverde: El Santo Patrón Teodoro Valenzuela Guest role (season 1); 1 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Works Result
2002 TVyNovelas Award Best Male Revelation Salomé Nominated
2007 Best Actor Las dos caras de Ana Nominated
2011 People en Español Awards Best Supporting Actor La Reina del Sur Nominated
Best Villain Alguien te mira Nominated
2013 Premios Tu Mundo Favorite Lead Actor El Señor de los Cielos Nominated
The Perfect Couples (with Ximena Herrera) Nominated
People en Español Awards Best Actor Nominated
The Perfect Couples (with Ximena Herrera) Nominated
2014 Miami Life Awards Best Male Lead in a Telenovela Nominated
People en Español Awards Best Male Lead in a Telenovela Nominated
Best on-screen chemistry (with Fernanda Castillo) Nominated
Premios Tu Mundo Favorite Lead Actor Won
The Perfect Couples (with Fernanda Castillo) Nominated
Qué Papacito Nominated
2015 Premios Tu Mundo The Best Actor with Bad Luck Won
Favorite Lead Actor: Series Won
The Perfect Couple (with Carmen Villalobos) Nominated
2016 Miami Life Awards Best Male Lead in a Telenovela Nominated
Premios Tu Mundo Favorite Lead Actor: Series Won
The Best Actor with Bad Luck Won
The Perfect Couple (with Fernanda Castillo) Won
2017 6th Your World Awards Favorite Lead Actor Won
Produ Awards Lead Actor - Serie, Superserie or Telenovela of the Year Nominated
Actor - Best Transmedia Use of the Year Nominated

This page was last updated at 2023-11-30 02:28 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari