The recent images of Manuel García-Rulfo and Shakira enjoying an evening at a salsa club in Los Angeles have aroused the public's curiosity. But beyond the romantic rumors, the 45-year-old Mexican actor has a career that consolidates him as one of the Latin figures with the greatest projection in the American entertainment industry.

Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, García-Rulfo grew up with a special bond with letters: he is the grandnephew of the famous Mexican writer Juan Rulfo, author of the masterpiece Pedro Páramo.

However, his passion was always cinema. "I never liked school. The only thing that mattered to me was cinema. Since I was a child, I knew I would be in this world," confessed the actor. His main inspiration was Steven Spielberg, especially with “Jurassic Park”, a film that, decades later, would mark a milestone in his career.

The jump to Hollywood

Although he began his career in Mexico, his landing in Hollywood came with a role in “The Magnificent Seven” (2016), where he shared credits with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke. High-caliber productions such as “Murder on the Orient Express”, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and “A Man Called Otto”, alongside Tom Hanks, followed.

But the turning point came in 2022 with “The Lincoln Lawyer”, the Netflix series where he plays lawyer Mickey Haller. This leading role earned him worldwide recognition and the series has already confirmed its final and fifth season, which is expected to premiere in early 2027.

In 2024, García-Rulfo starred in the film adaptation of “Pedro Páramo”, directed by Rodrigo Prieto. The project had a special meaning due to its family bond with the author, and the film received multiple nominations at the Ariel Awards.

In 2025, the actor made history by starring in “Jurassic World: Reborn,” being the first Latino to have a leading role in the franchise. He plays Rubén Delgado, a father who fights for his family's survival, and shares the screen with well-known actors such as Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali.

"Being part of a franchise like this is a dream come true. I'm sure that young Manuel, with his aluminum lunch box from Jurassic Park, couldn't believe it," he declared at the time.

Behind his success there is a story of improvement. García-Rulfo suffers from dyslexia and developed an unconventional method for memorizing scripts: he fills whiteboards with drawings and mental maps to associate each scene with images, as he revealed in an interview with The New York Times in 2022.