Fernando Colunga

Fernando Colunga Olivares is a Mexican actor born on March 3, 1966. He is best known for his extensive work in Mexican telenovelas, gaining international fame for leading roles in major television productions such as María la del Barrio and the historical drama Amor real.

Colunga began his path in the entertainment industry in 1988, debuting as a stuntman for Eduardo Yañez in the soap opera Dulce desafío. Following this, he decided to pursue a professional acting career and enrolled in Televisa's drama school, the Centro de Educación Artística (CEA) in Mexico City, in 1990. During his early career, he appeared in the Mexican version of Sesame Street, as well as television shows including The Web, Marked Time, and All of It.

Throughout the early 1990s, Colunga performed in several telenovelas, including Cenizas y diamantes, Madres egoístas, Maria Mercedes, Más allá del puente, and Marimar. In 1994, he featured alongside Paulina Rubio in the film Bésame en la boca. The following year, he portrayed Lieutenant Raul Gutierrez in the Carla Estrada period production Alondra.

Colunga secured his first starring role between 1995 and 1996 playing Luis Fernando de la Vega alongside Thalía in María la del Barrio, a project that established his international popularity and sex symbol status. He followed this in 1997 by starring in Esmeralda with Leticia Calderon, a show broadcast in countries such as Indonesia and the Czech Republic. During this period, he also made a foray into theater, starring alongside Chantal Andere in Original Sin Not.

In 1998, Colunga played Carlos Daniel Bracho in the telenovela La Usurpadora with Gabriela Spanic. He subsequently starred in Nunca Te Olvidaré in 1999 and Abrázame Muy Fuerte in 2000. Taking time away from telenovelas to study acting and production, he appeared in the project Navidad sin fin in 2001.

Colunga returned to high-profile television roles in 2003 to portray Manuel Fuentes-Guerra, the son of a rich landowner, in Carla Estrada's mid-19th century historical drama Amor real alongside Adela Noriega. His performance earned him the TVyNovelas Award for Best Actor in 2003. Afterwards, he focused on theater work, adapting screenplays and launching Death Trap with César Evora.

Following months of touring, Colunga returned to television in Carla Estrada's productions Alborada in 2005 and Pasión in 2007. In 2008, he starred as Eduardo Juarez—who assumes the name Franco Santoro—in Nicandro Díaz's Mañana Es Para Siempre alongside Silvia Navarro and Lucero. He collaborated again with Nicandro Díaz in 2010 as the lead in Soy tu dueña.

In 2012, Colunga debuted in comic telenovelas by starring as Jesús García in Juan Osorio's production Porque el amor manda opposite Blanca Soto. Later in his career, he starred in the 2015 telenovela Pasión y Poder alongside Jorge Salinas and Susana González.