Manuel is a Toronto-based community facilitator and theatre artist, originally from Bogotá, Colombia. He continues to develop his career as an actor, expand his experience as an educator, share his experience with new generations, and promote the value of Latino culture in Canada and North America by integrating his understanding of Colombian culture with his experience with Forum Theatre.

 

His lifelong relationship with theatre began with training in Bogotá at TPB and Estudio XXI at age 8. He debuted at age 12 in “De Pies a Cabeza”, where he showed great artistic instinct and won the hearts of an entire generation with his role as Pablo. In 1996, Manuel won the India Catalina Award and the TV y Novelas Award for Best New Actor.

 

He then travelled to Paris, where he studied Performing Arts at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, and performed at the Théâtre de l'Opprimé, where he discovered Augusto Boal's technique and artistic philosophy.

After his return to Colombia, for his role as Ernesto Manrique in “La Saga” (The Saga), he received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 2005 India Catalina Awards.

 

In film, he has 10 credits to his name, including movies such as “Soñar No Cuesta Nada”, which drew 1.198.172 patrons, “Como el Gato y el Ratón” , which has become a cult movie showing the life of two families in the poor outskirts of Bogotá, fighting to see access to hydro turn into a social tragedy.

 

In 2016, his performance in the film “La Luciérnaga” (The Firefly) earned him a nomination from the Colombian Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (ACACC) for the Macondo Award for Best Supporting Actor.

 

In theatre, he worked with the Teatro Nacional in plays such as Pinter’s The Lover, Chekhov’s The Bear, and Miller’s Death Of A Salesman.