Manu Ríos

Manuel 'Manu' Ríos Fernández (born 17 December 1998) is a Spanish actor, singer and model best known for his role as Patrick Blanco in the Netflix series ''Elite''. He has been working in the entertainment industry since he was nine years old.

Early life and career

Manuel Ríos Fernández was born on 17 December 1998 in Calzada de Calatrava, a small town in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. His mother is a hairdresser and his father is an electrician. When Ríos was five years old, he would sing for the clients in his mother's hair salon. He made his television debut at the age of nine when he was cast in ''Cantando en familia'' after his mother received a phone call from a local Spanish television looking for young talents. In the following year, he participated as a dancer in ''¡Tu sí que vales!'', a Spanish talent show. At that age, he also began uploading covers of popular songs on YouTube, earning him the nickname "the Spanish Justin Bieber". He grew up learning classical ballet and street dance, and won the Spanish Championships in hip hop dance as a member of the dance crew Sweet Babies. He was also a member of Parchís in its 2012 relaunch, a children's musical band with which he released an album and toured throughout Spain. In addition, he portrayed Gavroche in the musical ''Les Misérables.''

In 2013, Rios signed a 6-year contract with a Grammy Award winning music producer Richy Peña, and moved with his parents and brother to the United States to work on his own music. His work on his debut EP has been postponed due to his acting career, but he has confirmed he will release it in the near future. Ríos characterized the songs he had written as alternative pop with dark elements. He can play the guitar and piano and has cited Lorde, Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey as some of his musical influences.

Rios began his acting career in 2014 as Mauricio Martínez in the Spanish TV series ''Chiringuito de Pepe,'' and made his international breakthrough in 2021, when he landed the role of Patrick Blanco in the Netflix series ''Elite'', joining the cast for the fourth, fifth and sixth season. In February 2023, he received a nomination for Best TV Actor at the 2022 Fotogramas de Plata for his performance in ''Elite''.

Just days after attending the 2022 MET Gala in New York, Rios began filming the Netflix psychological thriller series ''El Silencio'' (''Muted)''. He was also cast in the lead role in ''La edad de la ira'', an adaptation of the bestselling eponymous novel by Nando Lopez. He portrays Marcos, an introverted teenager growing up in a toxic family environment, who is accused of murdering his father. In 2022, Ríos was cast as a balladeer in Pedro Almodóvar's short film '' Strange Way of Life'', which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. In March 2023, Ríos signed with WME.

Filmography

Film

Television

TV appearances

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Manu
Living people
Male actors from Castilla–La Mancha
Singers from Castilla–La Mancha
Spanish television actors
21st-century Spanish male actors
21st-century Spanish male singers
21st-century Spanish singers
1998 births
Spanish male models