Background
Varela was born and grew up in Södermalm, in southern Stockholm.
Varela was born and grew up in Södermalm, in southern Stockholm.
Varela claims he did not know of the Skarsgård family as he mostly watched Spanish satellite television When Gustaf applied to a highly selective upper secondary school Södra Latin’s drama program, Varela wanted to do the same. Stellan Skarsgård gave the young Varela a few hours of acting instructions and he later was accepted at the school.
Varela says he found that very surprising as he showed up in a track suit and looked more like a homeboy/chav than an aspiring actor.
After a brief appearance in the soap opera Nya tider, he left the country for a while, and on returning he worked as a construction worker with small acting jobs as a sideline. Varela convinced the director Daniel Espinosa to give him a screen test.
Espinosa, who himself is of Chilean descent, had stated he wanted someone with roots in Chile. Varela would eventually land the role.
Easy Money became a huge success and he went on to star in the two sequels: Easy Money II: Hard to Kill (2012) and Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (2013).
He also landed the role of police investigator Jorge Chavez in the big budget television-series Arne Dahl. In series 2, he was replaced in the role by Alexander Salzberger. He made his first international role in an episode of Covert Affairs as a Basque terrorist.
In 2013 he starred in several episodes of Showtime"s The Borgias, as Ferdinand II of Naples.