Rafael de la Fuente (born November 11, 1986) is a Venezuelan actor and singer. He is known for his roles in the fantasy television series ''

Grachi ''Grachi'' was a Spanish language American fantasy series produced by Nickelodeon created by Mariela Romero. The series stars Isabella Castillo as Grachi and Andrés Mercado as Daniel; also featuring and Kimberly Dos Ramos, Mauricio Henao, ...

'' (2011–2013) and the soap opera reboot ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' (2017–present) as Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones. His other notable role was in the first and

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

seasons of the drama series ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' (2015–2016).

Early life

Rafael Alfredo De la Fuente Torres Jr. was born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. on November 11, 1986. His parents are Rafael Sr., a bariatric surgeon, and Helena. He has a younger sister, Alma. His early goal was to pursue a career as a singer. After high school, he moved to the United States to attend The University of Tampa. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2009. After graduation, he decided to focus on an acting career and began landing roles.

TV and Film

His first acting job came by chance. When he was 18, a casting director visited his father's office and saw a picture of him. This led to a two episode appearance on a Venezuelan telenovela. In 2009, he played Jorge Giraldo in the

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

telenovela, '. In 2011, de la Fuente appeared as Max in the telenovela '. This was followed by the recurring role of Diego Forlán in the

Nickelodeon Latin America Nickelodeon is a Latin American pay television channel, counterpart of the American network of the same name. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas and was launched on 20 November 1995. Aside from airing Nick and Nick Jr. content, it ha ...

fantasy series, ', which became a main role in the second season. In 2014, de la Fuente appeared as Coach Julio on ''

Every Witch Way ''Every Witch Way'' is a telenovela-formatted teen sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon from January 1, 2014, to July 30, 2015. The first season aired as a "One Month Event", where the first 20-episode season aired every weeknight in Jan ...

'', an English-language remake of '. In 2014 and 2015, he appeared in the films ''The One I Wrote For You'' and ''Lift Me Up''. In 2015 and 2016, de la Fuente appeared in the recurring role of Michael Sanchez, the boyfriend of

Jamal Lyon Jamal Joseph Lyon is a fictional character from the American musical drama, ''Empire'' on Fox. Portrayed by Jussie Smollett, Jamal is the middle son of hip-hop mogul Lucious ( Terrence Howard) and his wife Cookie (Taraji P. Henson). Jamal, a ...

, in the Fox musical prime time soap opera, ''

''. In 2017, he appeared as

Cleve Jones Cleve Jones (born October 11, 1954) is an American AIDS and LGBT rights activist. He conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which has become, at 54 tons, the world's largest piece of community folk art as of 2020. In 1983, at the onset ...

' boyfriend Ricardo Canto in the ABC miniseries ''

When We Rise ''When We Rise'' is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Loui ...

''. In 2017 and 2018, he appeared in the films ''¡He matado a mi marido!'' and ''Antidote''. He also guest starred on

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

. In March 2017, de la Fuente was cast in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

's ''Dynasty'' reboot as Sam Jones, a gay male version of the

original series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

Sammy Jo Carrington Sammy Jo Carrington (born Samantha Josephine Dean; formerly Fallmont) is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. The niece of central protagonist Krystle Carrington ( Linda Evans), Sa ...

( Heather Locklear).

Other Works

De La Fuente is a spokesperson for ''Uniquely You'', a brand of ACV gummy vitamins, and the charity website ''Every.Org''. He actively supports many charitable causes, especially those effecting the environment and the LGBTQ community.

Personal life

De La Fuente is openly gay. He was married to Australian actor

Hugh Sheridan Hugh Sheridan (born 30 June 1985) is an Australian actor, singer, television presenter who is known for their role as Ben Rafter in the television series '' Packed to the Rafters''. Sheridan is a four-time Logie Award winner, in the Logie Awar ...

in 2009 but the marriage ended in 2018. https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/hook-ups-break-ups/man-hugh-sheridan-was-married-to-for-nine-years-revealed-as-rafael-de-la-fuente/news-story/65c0bdce8c9889751f542f780d045052

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuente, Rafael De La 1986 births 21st-century Venezuelan male actors Gay musicians Gay actors LGBT actors from Venezuela LGBT musicians from Venezuela LGBT singers Living people Male actors from Caracas Venezuelan male telenovela actors Venezuelan male television actors 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people