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Fernando Colunga

Mexican actor (born 1966)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Fernando Colunga Olivares (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando koˈluŋɡa oliˈβaɾes]; born 3 March 1966) is a Mexican actor known for his work in Mexican telenovelas.

Colunga gained international fame for his role as Luis Fernando de la Vega in the hit Mexican telenovela María la del Barrio. He is also widely recognized for portraying Manuel Fuentes-Guerra in the historical drama Amor real, set in mid-19th century post-independence Mexico. In 2012, he starred as Jesús García in the romantic comedy telenovela Porque el amor manda.

Colunga received his formal acting education at the Centro de Educación Artística (CEA), a drama school run by Televisa in Mexico City.

01Career

Colunga worked as an actor in 1988, when he debuted twice as Eduardo Yañez's stuntman in the soap opera Dulce desafío. After that, he decided to start his acting career and enrolled in the Centro de Educación Artística de Televisa in 1990. In his early career, he was known to many audiences for his role in the Mexican version of Sesame Street. Colunga also starred in other shows, such as The Web, Marked Time, and All of It.

He starred in telenovelas, including Cenizas y diamantes, Madres egoístas and Maria Mercedes. Carla Estrada offered him a role in the soap opera, Más allá del puente, together with Maria Sorté in 1993-1994. After this telenovela, Colunga played a role in Marimar. In 1994, the film Bésame en la boca featuring Colunga and Paulina Rubio, was shown in the cinema. In 1995, Colunga played the role of Lieutenant Raul Gutierrez in Alondra, a period novel produced by Carla Estrada. He acted alongside Veronica Merchant, Gonzalo Vega, Ernesto Laguardia, Marga Lopez, Ana Colchero, Juan Manuel Bernal, Beatriz Sheridan, and Eric del Castillo.

In 1995-1996, Colunga got his first starring role with Thalía in the telenovela, Maria la del Barrio, giving life to Luis Fernando de la Vega. With this telenovela, Colunga began to be known internationally and established his sex symbol status.

He later starred in Esmeralda (1997) with Leticia Calderon, seen in countries as disparate as Indonesia and the Czech Republic. After the success of Esmeralda, he made a foray into theater with Original Sin Not where he starred with Chantal Andere, as Jenny and Bill, in an unhappy marriage in the process of destruction. His next show was in 1998, La Usurpadora, with Venezuelan actress Gabriela Spanic, Juan Pablo Gamboa, Chantal Andere, Alejandro Ruiz, Enrique Lizalde and Dominika Paleta. He played Carlos Daniel Bracho, a man who knows that the usurper, Paulina, has replaced his wife Paola, and is being blackmailed for it.

His next telenovela were Nunce Te Olvidare (1999) by Edith Gonzalez and Abrazame Muy Fuerte (2000) with Aracely Arambula, Victoria Ruffo, Cesar Evora and Nailea Norvind. After this, he spent time away from telenovelas to study acting and production. He also played a role in Navidad sin fin in 2001. In 2003, he worked in Amor real with Adela Noriega; a production of Carla Estrada, where he played Manuel Fuentes Guerra, the bastard son of a rich landowner. He starred alongside Mauricio Islas and Helena Rojo. In 2003, he won the TVyNovelas Award for Best Actor. After Amor Real, Colunga took some time from TV acting and concentrated on theater. Along with César Evora, he adapted screenplays and launched Death Trap.

After spending several months touring with his work, Colunga returned to television with the telenovela of Carla Estrada, Alborada (2005) and Pasion (2007). He shared the stage with actors like Valentino Lanús, Daniela Romo, Mariana Garza, Luis Roberto Guzmán, Vanessa Guzman, Arturo Peniche, Irán Castillo, Susana González, Sebastián Rulli, and Daniela Castro.

In 2008, he worked on the telenovela Manana Es Para Siempre sharing credits with Silvia Navarro and Lucero. This telenovela is produced by Nicando Diaz, in which he plays Eduardo Juarez, a man who, for his revenge against Barbara Greco (Lucero) changes his name to Franco Santoro. In 2010, he was the star of the telenovela Soy tu dueña produced by Nicandro Diaz; he shared credit with Lucero, Gabriela Spanic, and Jacqueline Andere.

In 2012, he starred in Porque el amor manda with Blanca Soto, Erick Elias, and Claudia Alvarez, debuting in the genre of telenovela with a comic touch. Porque el Amor Manda is a Mexican telenovela produced by Juan Osorio. It was an adaptation of the 2011 Secretary. This starred Colunga and Blanca Soto, with Erick Elias and Claudia Alvarez, who play the main antagonists of the story.

In 2015, he worked on the telenovela Pasión y Poder sharing credits with Jorge Salinas and Susana González.

Fernando Colunga, 2012.
Fernando Colunga, 2012.

02Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Ref. Notes
1988 La guerrera vengadora Unknown role Mexico
1995 Bésame En La Boca Arturo Mexico
2007 Ladrón que roba a ladrón Alejandro Toledo United States
2009 Wild About Harry Danny Canada
2015 Ladrones Alejandro Toledo United States

Television performances

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1988 Dulce desafío Unknown Stunt
1990 Cenizas y diamantes Unknown role
1991 Alcanzar una estrella II Unknown role
Madres egoístas Jorge
1992 María Mercedes Chicho
1993 Marianela Pablo Ordoñez Main role
1993 Más allá del puente Valerio
1994 Mujer, casos de la vida real Unknown role Episode: "Te olvidaré"
Marimar Adrián Rosales
1995 María la del Barrio Luis Fernando de la Vega Main role
Alondra Raúl Gutiérrez
1997 Esmeralda José Armando Peñarreal De Velasco Main role
1998 La Usurpadora Carlos Daniel Bracho Main role
Más allá de la Usurpadora Main role Television film
1999 Cuento de Navidad Jaime Rodríguez Coder
Nunca Te Olvidaré Luis Gustavo Uribe Del Valle Main role
2000 Abrázame muy fuerte Carlos Manuel Rivero Main role
2001 Navidad sin fin Pedro
2002 XHDRbZ José Episode: "Una de lobos"
2003 Amor real Manuel Fuentes Guerra Main role
2005 Alborada Luis Manrique y Arellano Main role
2007 Pasión Ricardo de Salamanca y Almonte/"El Antillano" Main role
2008 Mañana es para siempre Eduardo Juárez Cruz / Franco Santoro Main role
2009 El Show de Cristina Himself Special
2010 Soy tu dueña José Miguel Montesinos Main role
2012 Porque el amor manda Jesús García Main role
2015 Pasión y Poder Eladio Gómez Luna Main role
2022 El secreto de la familia Greco Aquiles Greco Main role
2023 El maleficio Enrique de Martino Main role
2024 El Conde: Amor y honor Alejandro Gaitán / Count Joaquín de Montenegro Main role
2025 Amanecer Leonel Main role
Watch videos about Fernando ColungaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Fernando Colunga, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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