From playing trumpet alongside Dizzy Gillespie to performing opposite Patrick Stewart in the Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of “The Tempest” directed by George C. Wolfe - Kamar de los Reyes has crafted a musical and acting career as rich and complex as the syncopated rhythms of his Latin roots.
Kamar stars in two films, “Love and Suicide” and "Cayo". In "Love and Suicide", he portrays Tomas, a distraught New Yorker who travels to Cuba with the intention of taking his life but ends up falling in love and rediscovering his ancestral roots. “Love and Suicide” screened in July 2005 at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, Florida, to rave reviews and was featured on the front page of “The Miami Herald” and “ The Sun Sentinel.” “Love and Suicide” may be the first American feature film made in Cuba since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959. “It was a labor of love and a film that I am extremely proud of,” says de los Reyes. View Movie Trailer
De los Reyes also stars opposite Roselyn Sanchez in the Puerto Rican feature film “Cayo”. In “Cayo” Kamar portrays the young Ivan who is forced to leave his beloved island of Puerto Rico to fight in the Vietnam War only to return and find that everything has changed. “I've been very fortunate this year not only to be a part of two wonderful projects but to get a chance to go and film on both the islands that my parents are from. I feel very blessed,” says de los Reyes. View Movie Trailer
He was awarded the HOLA Jose Ferrer Tespis Award which is given to actors in mid-career for their achievements from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. He was honored alongside CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Danny Rivera, world famous troubadour. Kamar was also chosen as one of PEOPLE En Espanol's 25 sexiest bachelors alongside Enrique Iglesias, Wilmer Valderrama and Enrique Murciano.
Kamar de los Reyes has been known by millions of fans for several years as Antonio Vega on the ABC drama “One Life to Live” but has steadily performed alongside a virtual who's who in television, movies, stage, and music for over a decade in a wide range of projects. Kamar was featured in 2005 in "Dining Out" as celebrity chef Aberto Morretti on NBC's primetime hit "Law & Order."
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Kamar de los Reyes moved to Las Vegas at the age of two and had a childhood filled with music. Kamar's father, a Cuban drummer and percussionist, would see two of his three sons become professional musicians, one a world renowned drummer, the other a world renowned percussionist. Kamar, the youngest of the brood, began playing the trumpet at the age of four and although he played alongside trumpet greats like Harry James, Doc Severinson, and Dizzy Gillespie, Kamar chose to go another route.
Putting trumpet aside while in high school, he rediscovered the arts as a singer and dancer in a pop/jazz ensemble called Harmony Express. During his senior year, a stage role as El Gallo in “The Fantastiks” marked his acting debut. Throughout this same period, he studied dance at Backstage Dance Studio and performed with small musical combos. During a trip to Los Angeles to visit his brother Daniel, who was playing percussion for the Cher video “We All Sleep Alone,” Kamar landed a dancing role in the music video, and subsequently went on to work with Kenny Ortega in the feature “Salsa” and the television series “Dirty Dancing.” Later in 2000, Kamar would go on to be featured as Toni Braxton's love interest in her steamy music video “Spanish Guitar.”
In 1989, Kamar began to focus on his acting career. After a number of feature films and television projects, Kamar finally rose to critical attention in 1994 for his portrayal of gay Irish-Mexican boxer Pedro Quinn in the Public Theatre's production of “Blade to the Heat.” The Associated Press praised Kamar's “mesmerizing performance” and a New York Times review noted “The most arresting figure [in the cast] is Mr. de los Reyes.”
Over the next several years, de los Reyes would join the cast of “E.R.,” “New York Undercover,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Promised Land,” and “Total Recall 2070.” He would star in made for television movies “Blood On Her Hands,” “The Way She Moves,” and HBO's “Undefeated,” directed by John Leguizamo.
Kamar is also actively involved with The Gabriel Project, a fund-raising organization that provides life-saving heart surgery for impoverished children, and is developing a curriculum here for our children to participate in this life-saving and life-changing process.
Kamar's recreational interests include reading, writing, and several different sports. But his favorite pursuit is spending time with his son, whom he says, “He is the pride and joy of my life. Everything else is secondary.”
