The Son I Never Knew

Weekdays Telemundo (*118) 17:10 Telenovela The Son I Never Knew (2011) started in January 2017 in SA with varsity student Ignacio dead at the foot of a cliff. Cop Antonio Avelica (Mario Cimarro) stepped forward to help investigate and quickly learnt that it wasn’t suicide as first thought. We called the 45-yearold in Mexico to find out more about his role, how he was cast and more…

Tell us about Antonio. He’s the protagonist. Antonio is a sarcastic but caring police officer and he’s helping criminal lawyer Santiago and his wife Clara (Rubén Zamora and Gabriela de la Garza) find out what happened to their dead son Ignacio. Antonio and Clara have a connection… My character works with Clara but they don’t have a strong relationship mainly because Clara doesn’t trust Antonio. She’s also very emotional, while Antonio is about logic, and Clara has a privileged life and turns a blind-eye to people who are part of the working force. How did you prepare for playing a cop? I’ve had to research my role to learn the mannerisms and ethics of the police force. I spent a few weeks working with the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as a retired detective. I learnt how to fire a gun, drive a police car and track down criminals. What was it like shadowing real police officers? As an artist, it helps to immerse yourself in the character’s shoes to better understand the person you are portraying. There weren’t physical challenges but there were a lot of other things that I came across while working at the LAPD. I learnt how important society is, what role social media plays in keeping people safe and how to deal with kids who’re from the wrong side of life’s tracks.