For nearly a decade, Iván Arana became synonymous with Ismael Casillas, the conflicted heir to the Casillas empire in El Señor de los Cielos. The role transformed the Guadalajara-born actor into one of Telemundo's most recognizable faces, eventually leading him to headline the spinoff Dinastía Casillas.
But after years of portraying the same character, Arana made a decision that surprised fans: he walked away from one of Spanish-language television's biggest franchises in search of something entirely different.
That search led him to TelevisaUnivision, where he now plays Falcón, the principal antagonist in Tierra de Amor y Coraje, producer José Alberto Castro's upcoming Western-inspired telenovela starring Sofía Castro, Brandon Peniche, Emmanuel Palomares and Emilio Osorio. Filmed largely in Arizona's dramatic desert landscapes, the production marks a significant creative shift for the actor. The telenovela premieres this friday on TelevisaUnivision.
Speaking from the show's set with this reporter, Arana said accepting the role wasn't simply about changing networks. It was about challenging himself as an actor after spending years inhabiting Ismael Casillas.
"I think it's very important as an actor to keep enriching yourself," he said. "It's important to play different characters so you don't stay in the same place. I also want audiences to dare to see me differently."
The transition was hardly easy.
Arana admitted saying goodbye to Ismael was emotional after living with the character for so many years.
"I did say goodbye to him because you never know what can happen," he said. "It was painful because it's many years carrying a character with you, but it's part of the process."
His decision also meant stepping away from El Señor de los Cielos just before its tenth and final season. Earlier this year, Arana confirmed he would not return as Ismael Casillas, explaining that while he respected the franchise that elevated his career, it was time to pursue new opportunities.
That opportunity arrived in the form of Falcón, a psychologically layered villain far removed from a conventional soap opera antagonist.
According to Arana, Falcón grows up alongside Clara, played by Sofía Castro, after being taken in by her family. Despite living on the ranch, he is never truly accepted, enduring rejection and class prejudice that slowly harden him. When Clara returns years later and fails to reciprocate his feelings, those childhood wounds erupt into something far darker.
"He becomes a very hard character," Arana explained. "When Clara returns, she becomes his light, but he realizes she doesn't see him that way. That awakens very dark and painful things inside him, and he starts doing terrible things."
The actor said the role immediately appealed to him because Tierra de Amor y Coraje blends melodrama with the aesthetics of classic American Westerns.
"It's a kind of Western, and that motivated me from the beginning," he said.
Much of the series was filmed in Arizona, where Arana spent months surrounded by horses, deserts and locations once used in classic Western productions.
Rather than viewing the long stay as a hardship, he described it as transformative.
"I had never been to Arizona," he said. "The skies are beautiful, the deserts, the sunsets, the silence. I love silence. It became a spiritual journey for me."
Working with horses also became one of the production's unexpected highlights. "The horse started acting with me," Arana said. "Because my character is so intense, the horse would react with me, snort with me and move with me. It was an incredible experience."
Born in Guadalajara in 1987, Arana began building his career with projects including Soy tu fan, El Mariachi, El Chivo, La Bandida and Imperio de mentiras. Although he has frequently portrayed morally complex characters, he joked that audiences often underestimate his comedic side.
"I love comedy," he said with a laugh. "The only problem is that my eyebrows don't help. I always look like I'm about to kill somebody."
Despite embracing darker roles throughout his career, Arana says Tierra de Amor y Coraje represents something new, not only because of its Western setting but because it allowed him to leave behind one of television's most recognizable antiheroes and prove he still has plenty of unexplored territory ahead.
