Adan Canto (5 December 1981 – 8 January 2024) was a Mexican actor. He portrayed Sunspot in the 2014 superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past, Paul Torres on the Fox drama series The Following, and A.J. Menendez in the ABC prime-time series Blood & Oil. He appeared as Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in the Netflix drama series Narcos, Aaron Shore in the ABC/Netflix political drama Designated Survivor, and starred on Fox's The Cleaning Lady until his death.
Canto wrote and directed his first short film Before Tomorrow in 2014. His short film The Shot earned several festival awards for Best Narrative Short Film in 2020.
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Early life
Canto was born in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, on 5 December 1981. He crossed the border daily as a child to attend an American Catholic school in Del Rio, Texas. He grew up riding horses at his grandfather's ranch in Acuña where his father was a charro. With the encouragement of his mother, Canto began performing on stage as a singer at the age of 7. He was introduced to the traditional boleros and mariachi music from a young age and performed in and around his home state through his teenage years.
Canto left home at the age of 16 to pursue a career as a musician. He had success as a singer/songwriter in San Antonio after collaborating with Studio M. He spent five years working as a musician in Mexico City where he performed as lead singer for the jazz band Del Canto. Canto wrote for and produced several songs for film and TV in Mexico. He began acting in a handful of commercials in Mexico City and was soon cast in a television series called Estado de Gracia. Canto eventually turned to the stage after being cast as a lead in the adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother.
