Felipe Otaño
“Ultimately, the most valuable thing I take away from every project is the people and everything I learn from them.”
The actor from Society of the Snow speaks with Casa Zoreli about the role that changed his career, the friendships that grew during filming, and the life that exists beyond the cameras.
Before millions of people knew his face as Carlitos Páez, Felipe Otaño was a reserved young man who found his place in football, tennis, and running. Acting came almost by accident: first as a school activity, and later as the space where he discovered he could leave his shyness behind. “I was very shy, but when I stepped onto the stage, something in me changed.”
Almost nine months of auditions and waiting led him to Society of the Snow. Playing a real person—and one of the survivors of the Andes tragedy—meant something deeper and more meaningful than simply learning a script. Felipe met the real Carlitos, observed his gestures and the way he spoke, and found in those small details a way to connect with the character.
But perhaps what Felipe took away most from the film happened away from the cameras. The shoot created deep friendships among the cast, especially during the most challenging scenes. Recalling one of the avalanche sequences alongside Feli Ramusio and Blas Polidori, Felipe puts it simply, with emotion: “They were my best friends in the cast. Seeing them like that broke my heart.”
Then came the success. Society of the Snow became an international phenomenon, and Carlitos one of the film’s most recognizable characters. But for Felipe, recognition never fully defined the experience. What seems to stay with him is something much simpler: the people he met, the friendships he built, and everything that happened when the cameras stopped rolling.
Perhaps that is why he also speaks so naturally about the distance between a public image and the person behind it. “It’s impossible to know someone by what they post on social media. We all suffer, we all have our problems. No one has the perfect life.” Away from the spotlight are his family, friends, sports, and the same small routines that existed long before Netflix.
And while acting continues to open new doors, Felipe is also writing and considering directing. Carlitos Páez may have been the role that changed his career, but he doesn’t seem in a hurry to stay there. Now, the story he wants to tell is his own.
