José María Yazpik | |
---|---|
Born |
Mexico City, México |
November 13, 1970
Nationality | Mexican |
Occupation | Actor, voice actor |
Years active | 2001–present |
Partner(s) | Iliana Fox |
Children | 1 |
José María Yazpik (born November 13, 1970) is a Mexican film, voice and television actor.
Yazpik was born in Mexico City in the bosom of a wealthy family, the son of a successful gynecologist, Dr. Jose Maria Meza, and Cristina Yazpik. He has two siblings, Carlos and Cristina. Although the family's financial situation was excellent, Dr. Meza decided to move the whole family to San Diego, California. He started a practice in Tijuana, the border town between the two countries and closer to their workplace. The family settled in La Jolla, one of the most exclusive districts of San Diego. There the two brothers were enrolled in an exclusive high school, Saint Augustine High School, an all boys school directed by priests.
Dr. Meza did not have the same success as in the Mexican capital, so after a year and as the dollar increased in value against the Mexican peso the family had to move to Tijuana and Mrs. Cristina optimized the family income. José María and his brother Carlos continued to attend school in San Diego.
Yazpik was always a bad student; in the last year of high school he was about to be expelled from school for his abysmal academic performance and bad behavior, but his ability in sports saved him from expulsion, as it had years earlier. Jose Maria also went through an existential crisis, not knowing what he wanted to do with his life. A teacher recommended that he participate in theater school. The future actor was enthusiastic about the proposal and began taking acting classes. He finished school without being expelled. Although he liked theatre, Jose Maria returned to Tijuana and began to study communication in the Universidad Iberoamericana, but did not enjoy it at all and only attended for three months. He then enrolled in law at the University of Baja California, while participating in the school theater. He left law school as well, convinced that acting was his future.
His first acting job came from a friend of his father, who produced the TV movie The brute with the angel of death. He moved to Mexico City to study at CEA of Televisa. At the CEA he studied with future celebrities like Arath Tower, Fabián Corres and Eduardo Rill. Upon graduating he was offered minor roles in youth soap operas on Televisa, which he wanted to refuse, however the exclusive contract with the station forced him to accept all the roles he was offered, and was additionally punished with two months without pay. He received his first major role on television in the soap opera The Dove in 1995, produced by José Rendón, which stopped production because of the tragic death of its protagonist, actor Gerardo Hemmer.