Manolo Cardona (born
Manuel Julian Cardona Molano;
April 25,
1977) is a
Colombian
actor.
Personal life
Cardona was born in
Popayán,
Cauca,
Colombia. At the age of seven Cardona's family baptized him "Manolo".This would later be used as his name as an actor.
When he was eighteen he moved to
Bogotá,
Colombia, to finish his studies. Manolo studied finances and international relations. Manolo's mother, Nancy Molano, is a psychologist and astrologer. His father, Javier Enrique Cardona, has devoted his life to politics, and was the mayor of Popayán. Manolo has two brothers. The eldest Francisco, is an agent and engineer, and the youngest Juan Jose, studies film direction in the University of Cataluña in Barcelona, Spain. One of his greatest passions is playing soccer.
["Manolo Cardona Biography"]
He has been involved with very few women, he is known for having lasting relationships. The most noticeable and heard of was with actress/model
Barbara Mori, who he dated for about 3 years. They broke up in 2005 after filming
La mujer de mi hermano. Since then he has been in a very stable relationship with Brazilian model Katarina Sacht.
["Los Rostros de Telenovelas: Manolo Cardona"]
Career
Manolo began modeling at a very early age. It was his eldest brother who introduced Manolo to a modeling agency, he was then quickly signed on to a contract, then at the age of fourteen he shot his first television commercial and began modeling professionally for TV commercials, photography, and including runways for several agencies in Colombia. When Cardona was eighteen, in 1995, he began his acting career on a popular Colombian Television series called "Padres e Hijos" in which he starred for three years. Then in 1998 he won his first lead role in the television soap opera "Carolina Barrantes". A year later he became even more prominent for his role in the successful soap opera
Porque Diablos?, portraying a young man who becomes part of a drug organization so he can avenge his friend's death. Later in 2001 came
Amor a Mil, a highly popular soap opera in Colombia. In 2002 he signed an exclusive contract with
Telemundo and
Argos Comunicación, and a year later in 2003 he starred in his first Mexican soap opera,
Ladron de Corazones. In it he portrayed Gustavo Velazco, a man who returns to his home town in Mexico after ten years to avenge his father's death and clear his name. He was the host of Telemundo's Spanish version of
Temptation Island. He is also known for his role as "Sebastián" on the Mexican telenovela
Gitanas.
["Manolo Cardona Biography"] In 2005, the film
Rosario Tijeras, Cardona's big-screen debut, was released in Colombia. The film was based on Jorge Franco's book of the same name. Cardona worked opposite
Flora Martinez (playing Rosario Tijeras) and Unax Ugalde and was directed by Emilio Maille. The film was nominated for a
Goya Award for best foreign film.
["Internet Movie Database: Rosario Tijeras"]. In 2005 the film had its North American premiere at the
American Film Institute Festival, in
Hollywood.
["IMDB: Rosario Tijeras"]
In 2005 he starred in the film
La mujer de mi hermano opposite
Bárbara Mori and
Christian Meier which was released in the United States in 2006.
In 2006 he finished filming "Madrid-Mexico" with director Enrique Renteria. Cardona is working, with his brothers, on his two production companies "11-11 and Miramas".
["Los rostros de telenovelas: Manolo Cardona"]
After two years of absence Manolo Cardona returned to work for
Telemundo and Argos on the Telemundo soap opera production
Marina, replacing Mauricio Ochmann as Ricardo. The soap opera was filmed in Acapulco, Mexico. In 2008 both of his production companies (onceonce films and Miramas) will produce a film in Colombia.
On September 27, 2007 Manolo was awarded the "Latin Pride Award" in the Back Bay Events Center in Boston. The award honors the accomplishments of Hispanics of different areas and is a production of the Latin Pride Magazine. Cardona appeared in the 2008 Disney film
Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Manolo is working on a documentary film about the life of the infamous drug dealer Pablo Escobar. The documentary will be edited in the United States.
In 2008, Manolo will begin filming a series,"
El Cartel de los Sapos" for Canal Caracol where he will play a drug dealer, the series will be filmed in Miami, New York, Colombia, Panamá and Madrid. The series will be followed by a film of the same name. The series and film were based on a book written by Andres Lopes alias "florecita", who wrote the book while his years in prison. The series was screened at the LA Screenings this year and the series is expected to air in 2008 in Colombia. Caracol tv will air the series of 40 episodos which stars Manolo Cardona, Karen Martinez, Diego Cadavid and Robinson Diaz. The series debuted on Caracol Tv on June 5, 2008, which received high ratings, for Colombian television. The series had it finale in October 2008. Since it premiered on July 2008,
El Cartel was the highest rated show on Colombian television.
When it premiered on Telemundo on December 2008, it was the highest rated show in the history of the network.
[Toby Muse. "[1] 'Cartel' takes over Colombian TV]", July 16 2008.]
On November 2008 Cardona began is filming "Contracorriente (Undertow)" in Peru. Cardona will play the character of a gay painter who arrives in a small town and falls in love with a married man. The film is currently in post-production. The film also stars
Cristian Mercado and
Tatiana Astengo. The film is Produced by Dynamo Capital (Colombia) and Calvo Films (Peru), and it is directed by
Javier Fuentes["Dynamo Capital]
He appeared in an episode of the second season of Tiempo Final titled "la entrega" which also co-starred his girlfriend Katarina Sacht. Tiempo Final is a remake of the Chilean series of the same name, and airs on Fox.
He began filming "La Ultima Muerte" alongside
Kuno Becker, in 2009. The film is scheduled to premiere in Mexico in November 2009.
["IMDB: La Ultima Muerte"]
In May Cardona will begin filming the third season of Spain's version of Sin tetas no hay paraiso, which aired on Telecinco. He will play a police named Martin La Roca. The series is set to premiere in Spain in the Fall.
["IMDB: Sin tetas no Hay Paraiso"]
The film "Contracorriente" premiered at the San Sebastian film festival on September 23.
[Pamela Rolfe "[2] "San Sebastian unveils Latin Horizons lineup", Aug 18, 2009.]
He produced and directed a short film called "Risas Inocentes (Innocent laughter)" with his brother Juan, it premiered in Colombia in 2009. The short film was produced by his company "11:11 (onceonce) films".
["Cromos: Cortometraje de los Cardona"]
Awards
- “Best Actor of Colombia” from TV y Novelas (2000).
- “The Best Colombian Leading Actor of the Year” in Houston; a tribute paid by the Hispanic community in the United States. (2001).
- “Best Supporting Actor” from Image Foundation Awards for Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008).
Filmography
Television
Film
