Taken from our Winter 21 issue, order your copy here…

There’s no doubt about it, Manu Rios can sing. He first posted on YouTube 10-years-ago with a cover of Jessie J’s “Price Tag.” Since then, his 1.72M subscriber-strong channel has seen him cover everything from Vance Joy’s “Riptide” to Rihanna’s “Diamonds.” On Instagram, he’s already an established social media star. In the fashion world, a respected prescriber. But Manu Rios is a social media superstar, who refuses to be put in a box. Not satisfied with nearly 10 million Instagram followers and an ardent online fanbase, the 22-year-old is now determined to rehabilitate his global influencer label and branch out to new horizons. Gifted with an array of artistic talents, Rios has already made an outstanding foray into professional acting, after recently starring in Netflix’s hit Spanish teen-thriller Elite, to great critical acclaim.

Taking on the role of Patrick Blanco in season four, Rios plays the new student joining Las Encinas, Elite’s fictional high school whose student body continues to navigate the brutal reality of teenage hormones and the even more brutal reality of teenage homicide. And it was Rios’ raw portrayal of the former, through Patrick’s polyamorous relationship with Omar and Ander, that set the internet ablaze. Rios catapulted from 5.6M Instagram followers to 9.7M in a blink.

Sitting down with Wonderland, Rios talks about his social media beginnings, becoming an actor, the pressures that come with having such a huge online presence, and why he believes the world needs to express more kindness.

Joshua Evans Hi Manu! How are you?
Manu Rios I’m pretty good! I’m in vacation mood right now, I’ve just finished a show I was working on and right now I’m spending time with my friends and family.

JE Tell us how you started out on social media, and when did you realise you started to break through and gain attention?
MR Before I started on social media, I used to do musicals and theatre and I wanted to share that on YouTube. I started posting videos of me singing covers. It was a little bit later on that a friend told me about Instagram, and he said that’s where he posted his photos and videos. I love photography, taking pictures, and modelling and I started to post those on [Instagram] too. My dad used to help me a lot, but it was really organic and natural and things just started growing from there.

JE In regards to your interests in acting, what first inspired you to pursue that career?
MR I remember as a kid I used to force my friends to record short videos at home and we’d have to prepare a role and act as different characters and it was fun, but we did take it seriously. Ever since I was a kid, acting was just what I loved and wanted to do!

JE You recently starred in Season four of Elite on Netflix and Season five is soon to premiere, what has that experience been like?
MR It was an amazing experience! I met amazing people and the team were great and the cast was incredible. I am still learning a lot because we’re still filming, but I’m not going to lie, I was really nervous and a little overwhelmed at first. But once you start recording and working with everyone in the team it’s just really amazing.

JE How was it getting into character to play Patrick, did you find it difficult?
MR I enjoyed it a lot! At the beginning, it was a little hard because I guess Manu is more calm, quiet and chilled and I had to get out of my comfort zone. It was really fun, rehearsals were super useful for me, and they really got us all involved and helped us get engaged with our characters and build relationships with everyone. It was super fun and really incredible!

JE You’ve now got nearly 10M Instagram followers. If you could send one message out to all of them tomorrow what would it be?
MR I think it’s really important to spread love and positivity. Also, to stay educated and educate yourself on topics that matter such as sexism, racial discrimination and the LGBTQIA+ community. Society right now is just mental and it’s important to spread the love!

JE Do you feel pressure knowing millions of people follow you and does that influence what you post and how you act?
MR I try not to put much pressure on myself. At the end of the day, I don’t want to be a role model. Of course, I want to use my platform to talk about important things and important topics. As a public person with this amount of followers, I think it’s important to use my voice. I’m a normal person, I make mistakes and I just want to use my platform positively. But some things you just need to keep private, I share what I want to share but I also have this personal, private life that I don’t want to put on social media.

JE You’re a man of many talents. Singer, actor, model and social media star! Which of your passions would you say is your favourite and why?
MR I love music and singing, but I also love acting. I would say those two are my favourite but I cannot pick between them. Music gives me something that, I don’t know, that acting doesn’t, but they both inspire me in different ways.

JE I’ve read you also write your own songs, what inspires you to write and who are your musical inspirations?
MR Inspiration comes from everything, it can be from my personal life, my friends’ experiences, or if I read stories that inspire me I write about them too. I really like to write from my own experiences. Most of the time when I’m stressed, feeling sad, or feeling overwhelmed, writing music helps me a lot. I like a lot of different artists – Frank Ocean is one of my favourite artists of all time. Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Fleetwood Mac also…I get inspiration from a lot of different styles and genres!

JE You’ve got a keen interest in fashion as well, who are your favourite designers at the moment?
MR Right now, Balenciaga and I’m obsessed with Jacquemus – I met him recently and he was the nicest guy!

JE As we near the end of 2021, what would you say you’ve learnt this year and what do you plan to achieve in 2022?
MR I’m working on being more patient because I’m a really impatient guy. I definitely learned to be more patient this year, but I’m still working on it! With the pandemic, I’ve learned to live more in the present and to not be so selfish, and to be more generous to the people I love and are closest to me – because they’re so important. It’s easy to be selfish and neglect people. Season six of Elite is confirmed and we’re going to be filming that in 2022, hopefully make some more music and finally put it out!