| Benjamín Rojas | |
| Birth Name: | Benjamín Rojas Pessi |
| Birth Date: | 16 April 1985 |
| Birth Place: | La Plata, Argentina |
| Occupation: | Actor, singer, songwriter |
| Years Active: | 1998–present |
| Partner: | Martina Sánchez Acosta (2011–present) |
| Children: | 1 |
Benjamín Rojas Pessi (born April 16, 1985) is an Argentine actor and singer. He was part of the pop-rock band Erreway together with Camila Bordonaba, Felipe Colombo and Luisana Lopilato.
Rojas was born in La Plata, and began his professional acting career in 1998, when he was 12 years old: 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 .[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 10 million compact disc units worldwide.[2] [3] In 2004, Rojas reprised his role of Pablo Bustamante in Erreway: 4 Caminos, a Rebelde Way spin–off film.
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. 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]
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.[13] The band was partially inactive from 2005 to 2007, when they reunited as a trio, without Lopilato.[14] They released Erreway presenta su caja recopilatoria, the greatest hits compilation, in 2007, and a new album Vuelvo was announced.[15] 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.[16] [17]
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.[18]
Rojas was born in La Plata, 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. Rojas is a fan of football soccer and a passionate supporter of Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. He is fluent 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.[19]
From 1998 to 2004, Benjamín Rojas was in a relationship with his co-star the actress, Camila Bordonaba at the time they were both cast for Chiquititas and Rebelde Way.[20]
From 2006 to 2008, Benjamín Rojas was in a relationship with the actress and model, María Del Cerro with whom he was engaged.[21] [22] [23]
Since 2011, Benjamín Rojas has been in a relationship with Martina Sánchez Acosta, a television producer. On December 21, 2018, the couple's first child was born; a girl they named Rita.
| Year | Title | Character | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Chiquititas | Yago | Telefe |
| 1999–2001 | Chiquititas | Bautista Arce | |
| 2002–2003 | Rebelde Way | Pablo Bustamante | Canal 9 / América TV |
| 2003 | Rincón de Luz | Himself with the Erreway group | Canal 9 |
| 2004–2005 | Floricienta | Franco Fritzenwalden | Canal 13 |
| 2006 | Alma Pirata | Cruz Navarro | Telefe |
| 2007 | Casi Ángeles | Himself | |
| 2009 | Casi Ángeles | Cacho de Buenos Aires | |
| 2009–2010 | Jake & Blake | Jake Valley / Blake Hill | Disney Channel |
| 2011 | Cuando me sonreís | Juan Segundo Murfy | Telefe |
| Atrapados | Gonzalo | Yups Channel | |
| 2012–2013 | Lynch | Hacker | Moviecity |
| 2013 | Solamente vos | Federico | Canal 13 |
| 2014 | Mis amigos de siempre | Maximiliano "Maxi" Barraco | |
| 2018 | Rizhoma Hotel | Lalo | Telefe |
| 2018–2019 | Mi hermano es un clon | Ignacio "Nacho" Carmona | Canal 13 |
| 2022 | El fin del amor | Amazon Prime Video | |
| Dos 20 | Pedro | TV Pública | |
| Year | Title | Character | Director | Theater |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Chiquititas | Yago | Teatro Gran Rex | |
| 1999–2001 | Chiquititas | Bautista Arce | ||
| 2002 | Rebelde Way | Pablo Bustamante | ||
| 2002–2007 | Erreway | Himself | ||
| 2004–2005 | Floricienta | Franco Fritzenwalden | Teatro Gran Rex | |
| 2006 | Floricienta, el tour de los sueños | |||
| 2007 | Floricienta, el tour de los sueños en México | |||
| 2012 | Juicio justo | Judge | La Clac | |
| 2014 | Al final del arco iris | Anthony | Ricky Pashkus | Teatro Apolo |
| 2015–2017 | El otro lado de la cama | Pedro | Emilio Martínez-Lázaro | |
| 2018 | Se alquila | Himself | Alfonso Burgos | Teatro Buenos Aires |
| 2019–2022 | Una semana nada más | Martín | Mariano Demaría | Teatro El Nacional Sancor Seguros |
| Year | Movie | Character | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Bautista Arce | José Luis Massa | |
| 2004 | Pablo Bustamante | Ezequiel Crupnicoff | |
| 2007 | Kluge | Lautaro | Luis Barone |
| 2008 | La leyenda | Lucas Vallejos | Sebastián Pivotto |
| 2009 | Horizontal vertical | Juan | Nicolás Tuozzo |
| 2011 | El abismo, todavía estamos | Mateo | Gustavo Adrián Garzón |
| 2013 | La noche del Chihuahua | Juan | Guillermo Grillo |
| 2016 | En busca del muñeco perdido | Facundo Baigorri and Hernán Biasotti | |
| 2017 | Ojalá vivas tiempos interesantes | Santiago Van Dam | |
| 2018 | Eso que nos enamora | Ariel | Federico Mordkowicz |
See main article: Chiquititas soundtracks.
See main article: Erreway discography.
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Kids Choice Awards Argentina | Favorite Supporting Actor | Solamente vos | |
| 2017 | Estrella de Mar Awards | Supporting Actor | El otro lado de la cama | |
| 2022 | Estrella de Mar Awards | Supporting Actor | Una semana nada mas | |