After 'Dancing,' star 'In Plain Sight'

By Luaine Lee

STUDIO CITY. Calif. — When actor Christian de la Fuente ripped his bicep during the finals of the sixth season of "Dancing With the Stars," he was more determined than ever to win. Despite the injury, he kept perfecting his steamy samba. De la Fuente came in third, but he considered it another winning challenge.

After all, in his native Chile, de la Fuente was a big star when he decided to risk it all and move to Los Angeles. "I was 24 when I came here," he says in a restaurant here.

"I wasn't afraid because I think fear always stops you from doing things. I was young. I didn't have a lot to lose, probably savings, and that was pretty much it. The worst-case scenario, which I never thought about, was going back to Chile and continue working there. But I think it helped that I never thought of going back and I never thought of it as a possibility."

Hyper as a kid, de la Fuente was always on the move. "After school, I would play tennis, then I would study something else and do several sports — always doing things, not sitting home watching TV or playing games."

He's channeled that energy here. He co-starred in several episodes of "CSI: Miami" and "Class" and appeared on shows such as "Psych" and "Brothers and Sisters." But his latest is his most memorable. He plays the baseball-playing boyfriend of the series star, Mary McCormack, in USA's "In Plain Sight."

Though he and actress McCormack sizzled up the soundstage during his audition, the role was written for an African-American. The producers were cool to the idea that a Hispanic should play it, and the network was concerned about his Spanish accent.

"Then David Maples, executive producer and writer, told them, 'He's a Latino, he needs to have an accent, so it's fine.' So thanks to him he really fought for me to be Raphael. At the end of the day, the network said yes. The process wasn't easy. To be able to convince them that he was 100 percent Latin, not a Latino who doesn't speak Spanish."

The actor's transition to North America wasn't easy. "I left everything I had behind in Chile and had to start all over again," says de la Fuente.

"I would be here during important events in Chile. I was living alone, learned to be by myself. When you have family and friends, you have a lot of distractions. A lot of people cannot be alone. And I was one of them. I was constantly doing stuff and being with people. And suddenly, I was alone in a country where I didn't know anybody. So this was a big change, to start thinking in English, working in a different language it was a big change," he says.

Not much fazes him. He is a lieutenant in the Chilean Air Force Reserve and flies with the air acrobatic team. "I had some time off and wondered, 'What can I do? Oh, I'll learn to fly,' " he shrugs. The Air Force later contacted him about joining the service to help with its PR.

De la Fuente, 35, was 21 when he lost his dad to cancer. It was partially that loss that convinced him to live for today. "I realized that loved ones can leave soon. And my wife lost her mother and her father. They saved money all her life because they wanted to go to Europe once the kids were older. They died before going to Europe," he says. "So I believe you should never postpone that trip to Europe. If you want to go to Europe, get on a plane, go. If you have no money, find a way to do it, without being irresponsible, but do it.

"If you're an actor and you want to go to the States, do it. If you want to do crazy things, do them."