Jorge Blanco

Mexican teen heartthrob Jorge Blanco was born Jorge Blanco Güereña in Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara. As a child, Blanco developed an interest in both music and acting which led to roles in school plays and other creative outlets. After the American TV movie phenomenon "High School Musical" made inroads into Mexican popular culture, the Latin American division of The Walt Disney Company and Mexican television network TV Azteca announced a 2007 reality TV competition called "High School Musical: La Selección." Blanco was among the contests on the reality series, in which the viewing audience chose who to cast in the Latin American version of "High School Musical." As one of the show's winners, Blanco was cast as Jorge in 2008's "High School Musical: El Desafio." (The role was roughly equivalent to the characters of Zeke or Jason in the original "High School Musical," the basketball-playing friends of lead character Troy.) Following the success of that film, Disney signed Blanco to co-star in an original series on Disney Channel Latin America, "Cuando toca la compana," alongside fellow Latin American Disney stars Mariana Magaña (the female lead in "High School Musical: El Desafio"), Leonel Deluglio, Diana Santos, and Nicole Luis.