Rafael de la Fuente

Known to many as Jamal's boyfriend Michael on the hugely popular series "Empire" (Fox, 2015-), Rafael de la Fuente was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1986. By the age of nine, de la Fuente was already singing in the church choir and by 19, he was committed to making performance his life's work. He emigrated to the U.S. to study theater at the University of Tampa, where he earned his BA in 2009, and began acting on stage at the nearby Falk Theater. Eventually, de la Fuente landed his first on screen role, appearing in an episode of the telenovela "Falling Angel" (Telemundo, 2009-) in 2009. Two years later, he was cast as Diego on the kids series "Grachi" (Nick Latino, 2011-). He would follow this up with another role on a show for youngsters, playing Julio on the Nickelodeon series "Every Witch Way" (Nickelodeon, 2014-2018), in addition to appearances in films like "The One I Wrote for You" (2014) and "Lift Me Up" (2015). De la Fuente began appearing on "Empire" in 2015, and quickly became a fan favorite, receiving countless messages via social media from fans who were grateful to him for helping to portray a gay relationship without succumbing to clichés or stereotypes. Eventually, de la Fuente would expand his presence on primetime TV, joining the cast of the reboot of the nighttime soap "Dynasty" (CW, 2017-).