Benjamín Rojas

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Rojas and the second or maternal family name is Pessi.
Benjamín Rojas
Birth name Benjamín Rojas Pessi
Born April 16, 1985
La Plata, Argentina
Genres pop rock, rock
Occupation(s) Actor, singer-songwriter, musician, spokesperson
Instruments guitar
Years active 1998 – present
Labels Sony Music
Associated acts Erreway, Cris Morena, Luisana Lopilato, Felipe Colombo, Camila Bordonaba y Mariana Espósito.
Website Official Web

Benjamín Rojas Pessi (born April 16, 1985 in La Plata) is an Argentinian actor, singer, musician and former occasional model. He is perhaps the best known for his roles in Chiquititas, Rebelde Way, Floricienta, Alma Pirata, Casi Ángeles and Jake & Blake. Rojas also appeared in several films, most notably Chiquititas: Rincón de Luz and Erreway: 4 Caminos. He was the member of Argentine band Erreway from 2002 to 2005, and from 2007 to 2010, along with Luisana Lopilato, Felipe Colombo and Camila Bordonaba. He also made a cameo appearance in Sonny with a Chance-Sonny with a Secret as one of West Appleton's students.

Acting career

Breakthrough (1998–2003)

Benjamín Rojas began his professional acting career in 1998, he was age 12 years old; when he was cast as Yago in Cris Morena's production, Chiquititas. His portrayed a Tarzan–like boy who helped Jimena, played by María Jimena Piccolo, to get out of a jungle. In turn Jimena took him to the Rincón de Luz orphanage. In 1999, for its fifth season, Chiquititas got a complete makeover and renewed its story completely. Rojas continued on the show but playing a new character, Bautista Arce. He reprised the role in Chiquititas feature film Chiquititas: Rincón de Luz.[1]

In 2002, he renewed his contract with the Cris Morena Group and was cast for the role of Pablo Bustamante in the Martín Fierro Award—nominated hit television series Rebelde Way. Along with former Chiquititas fellows Camila Bordonaba, Felipe Colombo and Luisana Lopilato, he formed a music band, named Erreway, which sold more than 10million units worldwide.[2][3] In 2004, Rojas reprised his role of Pablo Bustamante in Erreway: 4 Caminos, a Rebelde Way spin–off film.His films have grossed 8.7 billion in global box office.

Stardom (2004–present)

In 2004, Rojas starred in the El Trece series Floricienta, his third consecutive project with the Cris Morena Group in the span of seven years.[3] He starred the series as Franco Fritzenwalden for two seasons, alongside Florencia Bertotti and Juan Gil Navarro. Rojas also reprised his character in the theatre version of Floricienta.[4] In 2006, he once again worked with Cris Morena on television series Alma Pirata, opposite Luisana Lopilato, Mariano Martínez and Elsa Pinilla. Rojas also recorded several songs for Alma Pirata soundtrack album.[5]

Throughout 2007 and 2009, Rojas had several guest appearances in the television series Casi Ángeles. In 2008, he appeared in two films, Kluge alongside Alejandro Awada, and La leyenda alongside Pablo Rago. These were his first projects done independently from the Cris Morena Group. In 2008, Rojas signed a contract with the Cris Morena Group and the Disney Channel Latin America for a new television sitcom, Jake & Blake, his first project in English.[6][7] The series, based on the story of The Prince and the Pauper,[8] went on to reach a worldwide success.[9][10] Rojas signed up for two television series in 2011, Venezuelan series Amigos y Rivales and Argentine series Cuando me sonreís, opposite Facundo Arana and Mariana Espósito.[11][12] his films have grossed

Musical career

During the development of Rebelde Way, Rojas and his co-stars: Luisana Lopilato, Felipe Colombo and Camila Bordonaba have become the members of the band Erreway. They immediately reached worldwide popularity, especially in Latin America, Spain, Europe and Israel. All their studio albums, Señales (2002), Tiempo (2003) and Memoria, reached Platinum certification.[4] The band was partially innactive from 2005 to 2007, when they reunited as a trio, without Lopilato.[13] They released Erreway presenta su caja recopilatoria, the greatest hits compilation, in 2007, and a new album Vuelvo was announced.[14] However, Vuelvo has never been released. In 2010, Bordonaba and Colombo began their independent musical project, La Miss Tijuana, marking the final split of Erreway.[15][16]

Rojas has recorded several soundtrack albums for his television series. This includes five Chiquititas soundtrack albums, released from 1998 to 2001. He also had songs in the Floricienta soundtrack album. Rojas also recorded a soundtrack album for Alma Pirata in 2006 and appeared in 2007 soundtrack album of Casi Ángeles. In 2010, Rojas released the soundtrack album for his television series Jake & Blake.[17]

Personal and media life

Rojas was born in La Plata, Argentina, as the youngest of four children of Juan Carlos Rojas and Rosalinda Pessi. He has two brothers, Carlos María and Juan Luis, and a sister, Milagros. Rojas attended the Gimnasia La Plata and played for its rugby team. However, he quit his sports career due to his role in Chiquititas.[3] Rojas is a fan of football soccer and a passionate supporter of Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. He is influent in Spanish and English, which he studied for six months in New York City as the preparation for the television series Jake & Blake, which was shot in English.[18]

Rojas had a relationship with fellow actress Camila Bordonaba at the time they were both cast for Chiquititas and Rebelde Way, but they split in 2004.[19] He was then engaged to model and actress María Del Cerro,[20][21] until their break up in 2008.[22]

Filmography

Films

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2001 Chiquititas: Rincón de luz Bautista Arce Chiquititas spin–off film
2004 Erreway: 4 Caminos Pablo Bustamante Rebelde Way spin–off film
2008 Kluge Lautaro
La leyenda Lucas Vallejos
2009 Horizontal/Vertical Juan
2011 El abismo, todavía estamos Mateo
2013 La noche del Chiguagua Alejandro

TV

TV
Year Title Role Notes
1998- 2001 Chiquititas Bautista Arce
2002- 2003 Rebelde Way Pablo Bustamante
2004- 2005 Floricienta Franco Fritzenwalden
2006 Alma Pirata Cruz Navarro
2007 Casi Ángeles Himself (1 episode) Guest Appearance
2009 Cacho (4 episodes) Guest Appearance
2009- 2010 Jake & Blake Jake Valley/Blake Hill (2009–10) Disney Channel Original Series
2011 Cuando me sonreis Juanse
2011 Atrapados Gonzalo
2013 Solamente vos Federico
2013 Lynch Hacker
2013- 2014 Mis amigos de siempre Maxi Barraco

Theater

Theater
Year Title Role Notes
1998–2001 Chiquititas Yago/ Bautista Arce Adaptation of Chiquititas
2002 Rebelde Way Pablo Adaptation of Rebelde Way
2002-03 Erreway Himself
2004-05 Floricienta Franco Fritzenwalden Adaptation of Floricienta
2008 The Jungle Book Mowgli Adaptation of The Jungle Book
2012 Juicio Justo Juez
2014 Al final del Arco Iris Anthony

Discography

Soundtrack albums

Erreway

Main article: Erreway discography

References

  1. "Official Website of Benjamín Rojas". www.benja-rojas.ya.st. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  2. "Music Publishing". Cris Morena Group. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Federico Fahsbender (29 June 2004). "Jamás nos consideramos sex symbol". Gente. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "En una época dudé de seguir actuando porque quería jugar". Gente. 15 July 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  5. "Me siento seguro para arriesgarme". Clarín. 20 October 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  6. "Benjamín Rojas cerró contrato con Disney Channel". www.erre-way.com. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  7. "Benjamín Rojas, de vacaciones en España". DERF. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  8. "Emociona a Benjamín Rojas mostrar su doble vida en Latinoamérica". Globedia. 12 July 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  9. "Benjamín Rojas a la conquista de Inglaterra". Astrolabio. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  10. "Se comienza a transmitir "Jake & Blake" en varios países europeos". Globedia. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  11. "Benjamín Rojas y Mariana Esposito pareja en "Eterno"". Todotnv. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  12. "Facundo Arana, Lali Espósito y Benjamín Rojas en Telefé". www.tvycable.com. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  13. "Luisana no viaja a España". www.erre-way.com. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  14. "Gira cancelada y nuevo CD anunciado". www.erre-way.com. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  15. "La Miss Tijuana on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  16. "La Miss Tijuana on MySpace". MySpace. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  17. "Disco de Jake & Blake". Extremista. 1 May 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  18. Sebastián Fernández Zini (23 August 2009). "No me gusta acelerar los tiempos". www.revistanueva.com. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  19. "Camila Bordonaba: Ni loca convivo antes de casarme". TVyNovelas. 29 June 2006.
  20. Pablo Procopio (28 June 2005). "Benjamín es un caballero, siempre me sorprende". Gente. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  21. Romina Ryan (3 May 2008). "Cumple en pareja". Gente. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  22. Juan Cruz Sánchez Mariño (12 May 2009). "Soy histérica, orgullosa y vergonzosa... pero así consigo lo que quiero". Gente. Retrieved 26 April 2011.

External links