Matias Varela

Matias Varela
Varela on January 21, 2013
Born	(1980-06-23) 23 June 1980 (age 36) , Sweden
Other names	Louis Matias Padin Varela
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)

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

Varela was born and grew up in Södermalm, in southern . Both his parents are originally from Spain, and he has said that he did not learn proper Swedish until he started school. During middle school he became good friends with Gustaf Skarsgård, son to well established Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. Varela claims he did not know of the Skarsgård family as he mostly watched Spanish satellite television. When Gustaf applied to a highly selective upper secondary school Södra Latin’s drama program, Varela wanted to do the same. Stellan Skarsgård gave the young Varela a few hours of acting instructions and he later was accepted at the school. Varela says he found that very surprising as he showed up in a track suit and looked more like a homeboy/chav than an aspiring actor.

After a brief appearance in the soap opera Nya tider, he left the country for a while, and on returning he worked as a construction worker with small acting jobs as a sideline. After reading the bestselling Swedish crime novel Snabba cash, and hearing a production company were 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 to give him a screen test. Espinosa, who himself is of Chilean descent, had stated he wanted someone with roots in Chile. Varela would eventually land the role.

Easy Money became a huge success and he went on to star in the two sequels: Easy Money II: Hard to Kill (2012) and Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (2013). He also landed the role of police investigator Jorge Chavez in the big budget TV-series Arne Dahl. In series 2, he was replaced in the role by Alexander Salzberger.