Louis Matias Karl Padin Varela (born 23 June 1980) is a Swedish actor.

Early life

Varela was born and grew up in

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

on the south side of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Both of his parents are from

Cambados Cambados is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra. It is known for its historical monuments, its seafood and the famous white wine, Albariño. The town is a Site of Cultural Interest, declared in 2001, and was named E ...

, Galicia and he did not learn Swedish until he started school. During

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, he became friends with

Gustaf Skarsgård Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård (born 12 November 1980) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his roles in ''Evil'' (2003), '' The Way Back'' (2010), ''Kon-Tiki'' (2012), and '' Oppenheimer'' (2023). He also appeared in the HBO TV series ''Westworld ...

, son of actor

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

. Varela did not then know of the famous Skarsgård family because he mostly watched Spanish satellite television. When his friend Skarsgård applied to a selective upper secondary school,

Södra Latin Södra Latin, officially Södra Latins gymnasium, ("Southern Latin" in Swedish) is an upper secondary school ("''gymnasium (school), gymnasieskola''"), situated in Södermalm, Stockholm. The current school building was inaugurated in 1891. History ...

's drama program near where both boys lived, Varela wanted to do the same. The elder Skarsgård gave the young Varela a few hours of acting instructions and he was accepted by the school. Varela said he was surprised, because he had shown up in a track suit and looked more like a "

chav "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * Julie Burchill descri ...

" than an aspiring actor.

Career

After a brief appearance in the soap opera ''

Nya tider ''Nya tider'' () is a Swedish soap opera which was broadcast on TV4. It began after ''Skilda världar'' became a one-episode-a-week show. The show premiered in 1999 and got good ratings the first season, but they soon dropped. Broadcast was moved ...

'', he left Sweden for a while and on returning worked as a construction worker with small acting jobs for a sideline. After reading the bestselling Swedish crime novel '' Snabba Cash'' and hearing that a film production company Tre Vänner was adapting the book for the big screen he set his sights on starring as the Swedish-Chilean drug dealer Jorge Salinas. Varela convinced the director

Daniel Espinosa Jorge Daniel Espinosa (born 23 March 1977) is a Swedish film director from Trångsund, Stockholm, of Chilean origin. Early life He attended the National Film School of Denmark and graduated in 2001. Career His third feature film, '' Easy Mo ...

to give him a screen test. Espinosa, who himself is of Chilean descent, had stated he wanted someone with roots in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and Varela would eventually land the role. ''

Easy Money A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk, skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich qui ...

'' was a success and Varela went on to star in both sequels: '' Easy Money II: Hard to Kill'' (2012) and '' Easy Money III: Life Deluxe'' (2013). He also got the part of Police Detective Jorge Chavez in the big budget TV series '' Arne Dahl''. In series 2 Alexander Salzberger replaced him. Varela had his first international role in an episode of ''

Covert Affairs ''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...

'' as a Basque terrorist. In 2013 he was in several episodes of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' The Borgias'' in the prominent part of

Ferdinand II of Naples Ferdinand II (; 26 June 1467 – 7 September 1496) was Kingdom of Naples, King of Naples from 1495 to 1496. He was the son of Alfonso II of Naples and the grandson of Ferrante I of Naples. At the start of the Italian Wars in 1495, Alfonso abdic ...

. Among his projects in 2015 and 2016 were

Johan Renck Bo Johan Renck (born 5 December 1966) is a Swedish director of music videos, TV and film. He was originally a singer-songwriter from 1991 to 2001, using the moniker Stakka Bo, and had an international hit with his single " Here We Go" in 1993. R ...

's quirky crime drama '' Ettor och nollor'' alongside his old friend Gustaf Skarsgård, the 2015 remake ''

Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", where a ...

'', and the video game adaptation ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...

'', with

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on ''The Irish Ti ...

. In 2017, he starred as Jorge Salcedo Cabrera, the head of security for the Cali Cartel in season three of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

Narcos ''Narcos'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are about Colombian narcoterrorist and drug lord Pablo Escobar, leader ...

''. In 2020, he reprised the role in the second season of '' Narcos: Mexico''. In 2019 he co-starred again with Gustaf Skarsgård in ''478 dagar'' (''478 Days'') based on the true story of two Swedish journalists who spent over year in an Ethiopian prison; '' Fartblinda'' (2019, 2022), a Swedish TV series set in the world of finance; and American independent film ''Heavy''. In 2020, he starred in

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

's '' Raised by Wolves'' by director

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

and

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is a film and television production company founded by English filmmakers and brothers Ridley and Tony Scott in 1995. The result of multiple mergers between companies established by the Scott brothers since 1971, it curre ...

Personal life

He is fluent in Swedish,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Galician, and English.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Matias 21st-century Swedish male actors 1980 births Living people Swedish people of Galician descent Swedish people of Spanish descent Male actors from Stockholm