From article
Posted on 10/24/2007 10:10:22 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Not long ago, Eduardo Verástegui was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world by the Spanish version of People magazine.
He was an impossibly handsome Latino soap star, and women around the globe threw themselves at him as a member of Mexican heartthrob pop group Kairo. He was a Calvin Klein underwear model. He played the leading role in the 2003 film Chasing Papi, where his character had three gorgeous girlfriends. He even was the requisite hunk of macho eye candy in a J-Lo music video.
Verastegui in his modeling days
Verástegui was not only playing the stereotypical Latin lover. He was living the role. Money. Cars. Girls. You name it, he had it.
And then he left it all behind. Why? He recommitted his life to God and vowed to make only wholesome entertainment for the rest of his days.
Now, five years after making that decision, his vision becomes reality as Bella, a wonderful independent film about the things in life that really matter, opens in theaters this week.
In the movie—the writing and directorial debut of his friend and business partner Alejandro Monteverde—Verástegui plays José, a pro soccer star whose life is changed in an instant. He ends up as a chef at his brother's Mexican restaurant in New York, where he befriends a waitress named Nina, whose own life is turned upside down when she learns she is pregnant — and decides she doesn't want to keep the baby. She confides in Jose, whose compassion for her plight plays out in unexpected, and life-affirming, ways.
The film, winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival...
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
I'm hoping my fellow FReepers will post pictures of the hunkalicious Eduardo Verastegui! (My husband allows me to use words like "hunkalicious...)
From article
Wow, he is a hunk.
My word, I have hardly ever seen anything as nice to look at as that. < whimper>
Ping to your hearts’ content
What a great story, and the visuals are nice as well.
ping
I’ve dealt with this actor’s agent in the past. There is no recent conversion here, Verastegui refused to look at any roles that contained sexual or criminal language or elements years ago, even the slightest hint. I’m delighted that he’s still around and doing well.
Hmmmmm, looks like a “latin lover” type boyfriend I had many (many, many, many, many) years ago.
At 17 he was adorable..... at mid 50’s, I’ll take Mr G.
dang!
thanks for the ping!
Oh Yeah!....That’s a big ole Dang!!
A question though, can't you be a "Latin Lover", and still be a good Christian, or what passes for a good Christian these days? I mean, does being a Latin Lover automatically mean you are some kind of cheating lothario? If so, guess I need to inform the wife....
Wish you women would stop objectifying us this way.
We have minds too, darn it!!!
Please?
I just posted the pic, but my guess would be that latin lovers in the mold of Don Juan, Casanova and Lothario himself...define the genre.
Dang he’s purdy!!
Prior to filming, in an effort to understand what the character Nina was going through, Eduardo made a visit to an abortion clinic. “I wanted to build my character and do some research and investigation.”
“I was in shock when I saw all these 16- and 17-year-old girls going in and I didn’t know what to do. I forgot about the film and then I saw a few people outside trying to convince [a young girl] not to do it. “I approached that group … (snip) ‘Eduardo we don’t speak Spanish, can you talk to them?’ I said ‘yes.’” (snip) “We ended up talking for 45 minutes about everything: life, food, Mexico, dreams—and I gave her a little teddy bear and a little stroller ... (snip)
After they finished filling their cast, Eduardo and team moved on to New York for the shooting for the film. Then, “I came back to Los Angeles, and a few months later I received a call from the man who was with [the pregnant girl] that day and he tells me, ‘Eduardo, I have great news for you. My boy, my baby was born yesterday. I want to ask you permission because I want to call him Eduardo.’
“It changed my life…. I didn’t plan to do that. I was only doing my investigation as an actor. I never thought that, by the grace of God, I was going to be used as an instrument to save this baby to be Eduardito…. It was just amazing, to the point that I thought: Even if ‘Bella’ never comes out and nobody sees it I rejoice in the Lord for Eduardito’s life.”
* placemarker!*
Oh MY
(Fanning self)
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