Cristian de la Fuente, currently a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars, will play the role of Raphael Ramirez on USA’s upcoming series, In Plain Sight, which will premier on Sunday, June 1st at 10:00/9:00 p.m.
Here is an exerpt from a recent interview with Cristian.
Tell us in your own words about “In Plain Sight,” what the plot setup is and about your character, Raphael, and your relation to Mary.
C. de la Fuente: The show is about Mary’s life, a beautiful role played by Mary McCormack. She’s an agent from the Witness Protection Service. The show tells the story of how she deals with her personal life, where nobody knows what she does for a living, and her professional life, where she has to protect a witness every episode. Pretty much, that’s what the show is about.
How do you feel about your character, do you feel there are a lot of similarities or not as many?
C. de la Fuente: I think every TV show or every movie it is very important, the casting process. That’s why executives, they don’t create a character, they sign actors that have some connection to the character. I think they did a great job here because Mary really feels like her character, Mary also. In my case, Raphael is pretty much like me. The only difference is I’m an actor; he’s a baseball player. The way we see life, the sense of humor that we have, how we approach relationships and how we approach life is very similar. Plus, Raphael and me, we’re both immigrants in this country and we both have an accent, so it’s really funny.
What drew you to the role of Raphael?
C. de la Fuente: You know, when I read the script and I saw the sense of humor, the way Raphael was written and his personality, it was really appealing to the way I see life. Also, I’m very proud to be a Latino in this country and to play positive role models on television. There are enough drug dealers and killers and thieves played by Latinos. It’s great being able to play a successful baseball player on a television show.
How different is this character from other characters that you’ve played?
C. de la Fuente: Well, this character has something very special that is very different from other characters. I think here is where David Maples, who is the Writer and Executive Producer of the show, did a really great job and took a chance that I’m always going to be thankful for. Many times, in roles that I’ve played, the character is already written and then I have to play that character. Here, this character, started with an idea that David had in mind and then he started writing the character with my personality. I didn’t have to hide my accent, I didn’t have to change my sense of humor, I didn’t have to change anything. The character has a lot to do with myself.
I was very happy that I didn’t have to fight my accent or the fact that English is not my first language. He was able to introduce that in the show, and be part of my character. Sometimes I get misunderstood and Mary doesn’t understand me or I try to say something and it comes across the wrong way, which are things that happen to me in real life. I’m very happy that happens also to my character.
On “Dancing with the Stars,” what is your most favorite dance to perform and what is your least favorite?
C. de la Fuente: It’s really funny because I’m a Latino and I’m supposed to enjoy all the Latin dances and not like the ballroom, classic dances. But, last week, I did the foxtrot and for me, it was a lot of fun. It’s a dance that I have enjoyed the most and I think that was reflected, also, in the scores that I got from the judges. I was having a lot of fun.
I like them all, but probably the hardest one for me was the rumba because it was a very slow song. I think the problem was that the music that we had for the dance wasn’t appropriate, so I don’t think I didn’t like the dance; I didn’t like the song that we had to dance to.
Do you have any favorite parts that you’ve played or favorite roles from the various things that you’ve been doing lately?
C. de la Fuente: Well, I think acting is like life in a way and like relationships, you know? I’m never going to forget my first movie because it was kind of my first love. It’s like your first girlfriend, your first movie or your first big project. That was the movie that I did with Stallone, Driven.
Then, as life also, then your favorite one is your last one because it’s the one that you have more recently done and the one that you were able to put everything that you learned in life to play. My favorite will be Driven because it my first and then In Plain Sight now because I’m very happy that I was able to be part of this show.
How different it was working on a comedy (ie your role on “Ugly Betty”) versus more drama-driven shows you’ve done in the past.
C. de la Fuente: I’ve tried to always put a little comedy in drama. The good thing about Ugly Betty is it was 100% comedy. I had a lot of fun. I think I have a way of looking at life that is with a sense of humor. Even the worst things in life, always when you look at them, after weeks or months, there is some humor in them. It was always good to do comedy. That’s why I really like, also, In Plain Sight because even though it’s a drama, it has a lot of humor in it.
On In Plain Sight, Raphael and Mary sound like pretty different people and they have pretty different professions. How did they met and how they get along so far in your experience.
C. de la Fuente: The characters of Mary and Raphael are, as you say, completely opposite. Not only in their jobs, Witness Protection Service and baseball player, but the backgrounds, the ethnicities, the language, the way they approach relationships, everything is completely different. They have this on-and-off relationship where Raphael wants to get really serious. As a good Latino, he wants to have his girlfriend or his wife; he wants a name to the relationship. Mary tries to avoid it because she can’t commit; because of the nature of her job, she can’t really commit to a relationship. Even though we’re completely opposite and completely different, that would prove the rule that opposites attract.
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