Man Crush Monday: Jaime Camil from Jane the Virgin (and our dreams)
In the last few months Jaime Camil has been referred to as a “breakout star” for his role as Rogelio de la Vega on Jane The Virgin, (tonight is the season finale!) but he’s actually a massive celebrity in his home country, Mexico — and in the rest of Latin America — due to several roles on record-breaking telenovelas and sitcoms.
His portrayal of Rogelio de la Vega, who is part soap-opera heartthrob, part heart-felt father to Jane, has expanded his fame across the border for the first time.
With an extremely varied and successful career, Camil is an on-screen veteran who has more Twitter followers than the whole cast of Jane The Virgin combined (BY A LOT), has hosted his own talk show (TWICE!), had a singing career, has been on Broadway, directs movies, and all while being ridiculously good-looking.
We think Jaime is on track to follow in Sofia Vergara’s footsteps: Comes to the US with massive Latin American fame in tow, wins over our hearts on a TV comedy, quickly becomes a media mogul/sex symbol/dominates everything. So America, get used to this face:
Let’s count the reasons why to crush hard on Jaime:
1. He has the voice of an angel.
Jaime has released two studio albums and this incredible music video where he proves that sleeves are pointless:
2. This album cover that is everything:
3. Because this face, that arm.
4. Because he speaks a million languages
(Ok, just Spanish, English, Portuguese and French)
5. He’s just strolling into US domination like…
6. Because he did his own stunts when he did sitcoms in Mexico:
7. Because he speaks the truth:
8. This guest appearance on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” last week:
9. And of course, there is Rogelio de la Vega, the character he plays on Jane the Virgin
Possibly the greatest character on TV right now — or at least the most exfoliated — garnered him a Critic’s Choice Award:
Rogelio even has his own spoof Twitter account that is run by the show writers and Camil himself. If you are not following it, you are not living:
His daughter is his number one fan. We’ll give you a minute while you watch this video a good ten times:
In fact, he’s constantly uploading video messages for his fans on Instagram whilst looking like this:
….and we’re just gonna leave this here:
Behind that charmingly handsome face (and that body) there is a lot of heart, talent and soul. The role of the telenovela star Rogelio de la Vega would have turned to ridiculous stereotype in the hand of anybody else, but Camil has made Rogelio a pillar of the show. He pays respectful homage to his telenovela colleagues while advancing a more modern and nuanced portrayal of a Latin man than what we usually see on TV. He’s poised to not only become a huge star here, but to help evolve the perception of Latinos that live and work in this country. Can someone give this man a leading role already? (As long as it doesn’t conflict with Rogelio’s schedule, of course.)
Elisa is a designer & illustrator that writes (and doodles) about pop culture, women, diversity and all things art. She is the human behind Fusion’s Instagram account and Elvis Presley is her spirit animal.