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The fifth season of Dynasty premiered on The CW in December 2021. In May 2022, the network confirmed that the series had been canceled, with the final episode of the show airing on September 16, 2022.
Devout fans of the Sallie Patrick, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage series wondered what would happen next, with rumors of a reboot starting to spread. Lead actor Liz Gillies put paid to this speculation, though, saying “enough is enough.” This version of Dynasty is itself a reboot of an old soap opera which aired on ABC in the 1980s.
With the entirety of the show behind them, the cast members are already starting to look ahead to what comes next. Gillies, for instance, is set to star in an upcoming film titled Spread, which is due for release at some point in 2023. One would imagine the actress might also invest some time into singing and photography, some of her other interests.
Gillies’ co-star Rafael de la Fuente will be hoping for a much better outlook this time around, having had to work as an Uber driver in between his last job and Dynasty.
Rafael De La Fuente Previously Starred In Empire
Like Liz Gillies, Rafael de la Fuente is an actor and a singer. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela in November 1986. He moved to the United States after high school, and graduated from the University of Tampa in 2009 intent on pursuing an acting career.
After featuring in a number of telenovelas early on, he landed a recurring role – as the superpowered Diego Forlán in the Spanish language fantasy series Grachi on Nickelodeon. After one season, he was promoted to become part of the main cast for Season 2 and the final Season 3.
After starring in a few more TV and movie roles, de la Fuente joined the cast of the musical drama series Empire in 2015. He was given the role of Michael Sanchez, one that he would play in a recurring capacity for a total of 11 episodes until 2016.
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The character was a love interest to Jussie Smollett’s Jamal Lyon, before the actor was sent to jail and consequently written out of the show. Before all that, however, Michael and Jamal had already broken up after the former was caught cheating.
Rafael De La Fuente Worked As An Uber Driver After His Time On Empire
Despite having been an active professional for years, Rafael de la Fuente’s portfolio remained relatively limited by the time his spell in Empire came to an end in 2016. His appearances on the show were spread out over the course of 27 episodes in a period of more than one year.
As such, he is unlikely to have made a fortune on the show. According to a report published on Business Insider nearly three years later, Jussie Smollett himself was said to be unhappy with his reported salary of $65,000 per episode. Given his smaller role, de la Fuente would have been earning even less than that.
Another year or so passed before the actor finally landed his role in Dynasty. In those months, he worked as an Uber driver to make ends meet as he sought his next gig. He spoke about this during a final farewell interview for the cast on The Zach Sang Show on YouTube.
How Does Rafael De La Fuente Feel About Playing Similar Roles In Empire And Dynasty?
Host Zach Sang compared Rafael de la Fuente’s Michael Sanchez in Empire to Sammy Jo, the character he played in Dynasty, saying: “This is the second show that you’ve played the love interest to a gay son…”
De la Fuente concurred, even revealing that Empire executive producer Lee Daniels often referred to their show as “black Dynasty.” He then went on to draw parallels between Michael and Sammy Jo himself. When asked whether he was surprised at being somewhat typecast, de la Fuente said he wasn’t, given it was a common occurrence in Hollywood.
But when Sang pressed him on exactly how he felt about it, the actor quipped: “I mean, I needed a job. I was broke… I was Uber driving at that point. I [had] ran out of money. So yeah, so to answer your question, I was very excited to have a job!”
De la Fuente is not currently attached to any upcoming projects, at least as far as is publicly known. Having been a main character on Dynasty, however, he would have likely earned enough to ensure he doesn’t have to work as an Uber driver again before his next acting gig.
