Rafael Amaya made one of the most important decisions in his career by definitively saying goodbye to Telemundo and his role as The Lord of the heavens.
“Closing my cycle with ‘The Lord of the Skies’ with this great ninth season fills me with a lot of satisfaction,” Amaya said exclusively to People in spanish. “I am filled with gratitude.”
RELATED: The details about the departure of Rafael Amaya from Telemundo
After the announcement, the Telemundo network issued a statement about the farewell of the Mexican actor. “Rafael Amaya has been an integral part of the Telemundo family and the success of the Telemundo franchise. The Lord… for more than a decade,” the letter states.
“His continued dedication and professionalism, combined with his great talent, gave life to one of the most beloved and legendary characters of these times. Together, we bring our audience the most successful and longest-running fiction series on Hispanic television. We wish Rafael the best in his future projects and hope to have opportunities to collaborate with him again.”
For more than a decade, Amaya has played Aurelio Casillas in the hit series The Lord of the heavens a role that has elevated him in his profession and has made him one of the best-known faces on Spanish-language television.
Alberto Rodriguez/TELEMUNDO via Getty Images
Now, the actor has decided to end that chapter in his life. “[Estoy lleno de] pride in the evolution of Aurelio’s character, as well as the series over the last eleven years,” said the Mexican heartthrob. “I am ready for a new chapter in my career.”
Since his debut on the Telemundo screen in 2013, Aurelio Casillas’ character fell in love with the audience and gave Amaya a new purpose at the time. Even more so after his abrupt disappearance from networks and television in 2019 after completing a rehabilitation program. “I needed that break, I needed that growth to be able to see life from another perspective,” the heartthrob explained to People in spanish in 2021. “That was very nice, the show of loyalty and also accepting many mistakes that I made, accepting that we are human beings and that it is not wrong to feel bad, that it is not wrong to make mistakes, we are not robots.”
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With its strength recovered after a 2-year break, the successful Telemundo superseries managed to once again reap excellent ratings upon its return in 2023 with the eighth season.
The 2-hour special episode with which Aurelio Casillas (Amaya) returned from the dead managed to gather more than 1 and a half million viewers (P2+) in front of the Telemundo screen. To be exact, 1,623,000 viewers (P2+) followed the premiere of the eighth season of the fiction that also stars, among others, Carmen Aub, Isabella Castillo and Iván Arana, according to Nielsen.
After that debut, Telemundo premiered the ninth season in February.
