Beginnings and notable roles (2000–2010)
After leaving his short musical career, in 2000, his first acting role was on the telenovela La casa en la playa, where he played Romualdo; after gaining attention in the role, he received offers for roles in other productions. In 2001, he was cast in the role of Cástulo in Sin pecado concebido. In 2002, he was given his first lead role in the telenovela Salomé, where he plays José Julián, one of Salomé's three sons, a role that solidifies him as a bonafide actor and earns him two nominations, one for the El Heraldo de México and another for the TVyNovelas Awards. In that same year, he is called to be part of the cast of Las vías del amor. In 2003, he again secures a leading role in the telenovela Amar otra vez with Irán Castillo and Valentino Lanús. His film debut comes in 2004 with the film Desnudos, in which he shares credits with Karyme Lozano and Isabel Madow. In 2006, he goes to Miami, United States to film Las dos caras de Ana with his ex-partner Ana Layevska. In that same year, he returns to the cinema co-starring with Ana de la Reguera and Gabriela Platas in the controversial film Así del precipicio. In February 2008, he began filming 24 cuadros de terror, where for the first time in his career, he played a serial killer. In that same year he filmed the romantic comedy film Amor letra por letra with Plutarco Haza and Silvia Navarro, which premiered in August of that year. He also participated in the film Me gustas tú, a film that pays homage to the late comedian Germán Valdés, which also stars Carmen Salinas and Luis Felipe Tovar. That year proved to be a busy one with much activity having also appeared in the series Mujeres asesinas and Sexo y otros secretos. At the end of that same year, he began filming the feature film North, a thriller about immigrants who were robbed of their organs and then trafficked. He also appeared in the video clip of Enrique Iglesias song, "Lloro Por Ti".
In 2009 he ventured further into the film industry. The frantic activity continued in 2010 playing Julián García Correa, a doctor with a mental disorder, in the telenovela of Telemundo Alguien te mira. This production was the first time in which Amaya played a villain in a telenovela. In 2011 he had a brief role in the very successful telenovela La Reina del Sur, playing the role of “El Guero,” who was the love interest of Kate del Castillo’s character and was the foundation on which the role of Aurelio Casillas in “Senor de Los Cielos” was based (both characters were pilots who had their own fleets of planes which were used to transport drugs for Mexico's most notorious cartels). In that same year, he traveled to Spain to participate in two series Hospital Central and Doctor Mateo and in the film La piel azul.
