A Troublesome Protagonist - ESDLC

Rafael Amaya as Aurelio Casillas

While some actors are beloved in the United States, the star system in Latin American telenovelas are a different story. Compared to the "second class" soap opera U.S actors, telenovelas determine the star system in Latin America where actors may not be directly linked to their characters. One of these characters, out of hundreds, is Rafael Amaya, otherwise known as Aurelio Casillas, El Senor de los Cielos. With six seasons and over 300 episodes, this telenovela has hooked countless individuals all over the world  — until season 6.

With the beginning and end of season six, Telemundo recorded its lowest numbers of all seasons. The beginning of the season counted 2.14 million viewers, with the season finale accounting for 2.06 million viewers. Merely viewing these numbers do not tell us the entire story, though we can obviously assume something negative happened throughout the season. [Spoilers] In the most recent season in a heated duel with El Cabo (Róbinson Díaz), Aurelio is heavily injured with his future in the show being uncertain. With this occurrence, and being put in a coma, rumors began about the continuation of his character on the show. 

With some news from People Magazine, and confirmation from Dr. A, word got out about the state of the character being put on hold due to problems between the actor and the network, Telemundo. Due to this, viewers and fans on social media greatly voiced their unhappy opinions, affecting the overall viewership of the narconovela. With a loss of 80,000 viewers from the beginning to the end, this frustration was evident, especially with comments such as "si llegan a sacar a Rafael Amaya ya no seria lo mismo. Yo en lo particular dejaria de ver la serie." In other words, if Rafael were to be removed from the show, "I, in particular, would stop watching the series," and rightfully so since the main character, similar to any show, is usually highly beloved to the audience members. 

As we can see from the angry comments above, main characters, especially in telenovelas, become incredibly powerful and loved figures — able to pull thousands of people away from a show. While the show has had six seasons to pull people in, no matter how big of a super-series, the star system in Latin America creates an impeccable bond between the viewers and the show. And, as shown in El Senor de los Cielos, unfortunately, broadcasting networks are pinned with their backs to the wall having to decide between attempting to reach a compromise with an actor, or losing an invaluable member of the show who ties everything together.