Rafael Amaya

Rafael Amaya is a Mexican model, singer, and actor. Amaya was born José Rafael Amaya Núñez on February 28, 1977 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. At age five, Amaya and his family moved to the little town of Tecate, Baja California. Amaya dedicated himself to a successful modeling career which then led him to begin studying acting at the renowned Centro de Educación Artística de Televisa.

Amaya's television debut came when he was cast on the Spanish-language telenovela, "La casa en la playa" (2000). He quickly followed up that appearance with a recurring role on the Mexican telenovela "Sin pecado concebido" (2001). Amaya went on to play Jose Julian, one of the three children of the titular character on "Salomé" (2001), for which he was nominated for a TVyNovelas Award for Best Male Revelation. In the telenovela "Amar otra vez" (2004), Amaya was elevated to co-lead as the villain Fernando Castañeda Eslava.

He then went on to take the lead in "Las dos caras de Ana" (2006) as the love interest of the main character and was nominated for the Best Lead Actor award by TVyNovelas for this performance. His biggest role to date has been as the lead character, Aurelio Casillas, one of the world's biggest drug dealers, in the hit telenovela "El Señor de los Cielos" (2013).