Cristián de la Fuente

Cristián de la Fuente
Fuente in 2008
Born	Cristián de la Fuente Sabarots (1974-03-10) March 10, 1974 Santiago, Chile
Occupation(s)	Actor, television presenter
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Angélica Castro (2002-present)
Children	1

Cristián de la Fuente Sabarots (born March 10, 1974) is a Chilean actor and model.

Early life

Cristian De la Fuente was born in Santiago, Chile, the only child of chemist Hugo de la Fuente (died 1996) and Adriana Sabarots, a homemaker of French descent. He served in the Chilean Air Force reserve prior to attending the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he pursued a degree in civil engineering. While still a sophomore, de la Fuente was discovered by a talent scout and encouraged to enter the country’s Super Teen contest, which he won. This was soon followed by roles in several soap operas, including “Eclipse de luna” (Canal 13, 1997), as well as a stint as host of Chile’s top-rated variety series, “Venga conmigo” (Canal 13, 1995-2002). Cristian de la Fuente was a popular television actor in South America before breaking into the U.S. markets with appearances in several independent films. He eventually worked his way up to supporting roles in Hollywood features like “Basic” (2003) and popular television shows like “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002- ) and “Soñar no cuesta nada” (Venevision, 2005). In 2008, he was tapped to participate in the sixth season of the wildly successful American edition of “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC, 2005- ) – no doubt raising his international profile more than any film possibly could.

In 1998, de la Fuente was tapped by Telemundo to star in “Reyes y Rey” (1998), a remake of “Starsky and Hutch” (ABC, 1975–79) for Mexican television. The series proved unpopular with viewers, but de la Fuente had already moved on to greener pastures – specifically, the American television industry, for which he made his debut in a 1999 episode of “Pensacola: Wings of Gold” (syndicated, 1997-2000). He was then cast as law clerk Andres Diaz in the Paul Haggis-produced drama “Family Law” (CBS, 1999-2002). For his portrayal, de la Fuente earned an ALMA nomination in 2000.

More Stateside work increased de la Fuente’s profile with American audiences; he made his motion picture debut alongside Sylvester Stallone in Renny Harlin’s racing drama “Driven” (2001), and partnered with Jon Bon Jovi as a vampire-hunting priest in “Vampires: Los Muertos” in 2002. De la Fuente also turned up in John McTiernan’s military thriller “Basic” (2003) opposite John Travolta, and enjoyed several appearances on “CSI: Miami” as lab tech Sam Belmontes between 2003 and 2004.

De la Fuente was seen in supporting roles in the indie romantic drama “Sueño” (2005) with John Leguizamo and the Latin-themed comedy “Once Upon a Wedding” (2005). He was a popular host for Spanish-language specials and series during this period, including the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, the music variety show “Premios Juventud 2006” (2006) and the Chilean reality series “Golpe bajo” (2007), for which he also served as executive producer and writer. In 2005, he starred in the popular Venezuelan daytime soap ““Soñar no cuesta nada,” which filmed in Miami, FL. The busy actor also found time to guest-star in three episodes of UPN’s “One on One” (2001–06), appear in a recurring role on the short-lived CBS comedy “The Class” (2006), and an episode of the wildly popular “Ugly Betty” (ABC, 2006- ). Amidst all the acting gigs, he continued to maintain his status with the Chilean Air Force, for which he occasionally performed as part of the aerial acrobatic troupe, Halcones.

In 2008, de la Fuente’s exposure in American markets grew exponentially larger when it was announced that he would perform as one of the celebrity dancers on the sixth season of “Dancing with the Stars.” He also began work on “Love and Virtue” (2008), an epic historical drama with an all-star cast, including Peter O’Toole, John Malkovich, and Stephen Dillane.

Career

1998–2003

De la Fuente was spotted by a talent scout during his sophomore year as a civil engineering major at Santiago's Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and won a contest as Chile's next "Super Teen". Beginning with small network roles in prime time, he quickly went on to star in four prime time dramas including Eclipse de Luna and the highly acclaimed televised theatrical production of La Tía de Carlos. He starred in Chile's number-one rated variety program Venga Conmigo (Come With Me), the comedy Mi Tío y Yo (My Uncle and Me) and the MTV-style music and dance program Generación 2000 (Generation 2000).

In 1998, de la Fuente was contracted by Sony and Telemundo for a drama series remake of Starsky and Hutch called Reyes y Rey. The weekly hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers and it was soon cancelled. He was a guest star on Pensacola: Wings of Gold. He has also appeared regularly on CSI: Miami and Family Law. He has starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in Driven, in John Carpenter's Vampires: Los Muertos with Jon Bon Jovi, as well as the independent thriller Minimal Knowledge.

For his starring role in the independent thriller Minimal Knowledge, de la Fuente won the Individual Achievement Award for Best Male Actor at the Ajijic (Mexico) International Film Festival.

De la Fuente's hosting credits include MGM's Road to the Academy Awards for Latin America and the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade. He has also presented at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, The World Music Awards, and the Alma Awards. De la Fuente also turned up in John McTiernan’s military thriller Basic opposite John Travolta, and enjoyed several appearances on CSI: Miami as lab tech Sam Belmontes between 2003 and 2004.

2004–2007

In 2004, De la Fuente hosted alongside Kate del Castillo the first annual Premios Juventud on the Univision television network. In 2005, he starred in the Venevisión's Miami-made telenovela Soñar No Cuesta Nada, starring alongside Mexican actresses Karyme Lozano and Laura Zapata. It was a huge hit in the daytime slot on Univisión. It ran about 191 episodes and 9 months on air. On Univisión there were talks for him to host a night time talk show, but nothing came of it. He also had a recurring role as "Aaron" in the CBS sitcom The Class.

In 2005, Cristián was seen in supporting roles in the indie romantic drama Sueno with John Leguizamo and the Latin-themed comedy Once Upon a Wedding. He was a popular host for Spanish-language specials and series during this period, including the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, the music variety show 2006 Premios Juventud and the Chilean reality series Golpe Bajo, for which he also served as executive producer and writer. In 2005, he starred in the popular Venezuelan telenovela Soñar no Cuesta Nada, which filmed in Miami, Florida. The busy actor also found time to guest-star in three episodes of UPN’s One on One, appear in a recurring role on the short-lived CBS comedy The Class in 2006, and an episode of the wildly popular ABC show Ugly Betty. Amidst all the acting gigs, he continued to maintain his status with the Chilean Air Force, for which he occasionally performed as part of the aerial acrobatic troupe, Halcones. In the fall 2007, he participated in the mini series directed by Jennifer Lopez Como Ama Una Mujer with the actress Leonor Varela.

2008–present

See also: Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 6)

De la Fuente appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars with dance partner Cheryl Burke. They trained at Palm Beach, Florida's Paramount Ballroom, which is owned by former U.S. Nine-Dance Champion Alec Lazo. De la Fuente suffered a ruptured tendon in his left arm biceps on the April 28, 2008 episode of Dancing with the Stars. The following week, performing with his injured arm, he and Burke led the field. He was eliminated on May 20, 2008 in 3rd place.

Fuentes hosted the Latin Grammy Awards of 2008 on November 13, 2008 in Houston, Texas.

In 2009, Fuentes guest starred in the telenovelas Fuego en la sangre as Demian Ferrer, and Corazón salvaje as Renato.

From 2008-2010, Fuentes played Raphael "Raph" Ramírez, a minor league baseball player and semi-boyfriend of Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) on In Plain Sight.

Fuentes returned to Chile to film the season 2 of his TV show Golpe Bajo, similar to MTV's series Punk'd.

Fuentes also had a recurring role on Brothers & Sisters from 2009-2010.

Fuentes had recurring roles on ABC's Private Practice during its fourth season and on ABC Family's The Nine Lives of Chloe King during its first and only season.

Cristián de la Fuente will star as the protagonist in Carlos Moreno Laguillo's telenovela: El Aroma de tu Amor.

Dancing with the Stars performances

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Cha-cha-cha/ "Bang Bang"	7	7	7	N/A
2	Quickstep/ "Americano"	7	6	7	Last to be safe
3	Jive/ "Don't Stop Me Now"	8	8	9	Safe
4	Paso Doble/ "La Virgen de la Macarena"	9	8	9	Safe
5	Rumba/ "If You're Not the One"	7	8	8	Bottom Two
6	Foxtrot/ "Come Fly with Me"	9	9	9	Safe
7	Viennese Waltz/ "I'll Make Love to You" Samba/ "Sobe Son"	8 7	8 7	9 7	Safe
8	Tango/ "Beat It" Mambo/ "Saca Tu Mujer"	10 10	9 9	9 10	Safe
9 Semi-finals	Viennese Waltz/ "Satellite" Samba/ "Sweetheart from Venezuela"	9 10	9 9	9 10	Last to be Safe
10 Finals	Cha-Cha-Cha/ "Dancing on the Ceiling" Freestyle/ "Suavemente"	8 9	9 8	9 9	Third Place

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1993-94	Venga Conmigo	Himself	Variety Show
1994	Soltero a La Medida	Cristián	Telenovela
1994	Champaña	Tadeo Mc Millan	Telenovela
1995	El amor está de moda	Lucas Correa	Telenovela
1996	Marrón Glacé, El Regreso	Blas	Telenovela
1997	Eclipse de La Luna	Román Celis	Telenovela
1998	Reyes & Rey	Alex 'Rey' Reyes	Telenovela
1999	Pensacola: Wings of Gold	Guy	Television series
2000	Queen of Swords	Antonio	Television episode "Duel with a Stranger"
2000	Family Law	Andres Diaz	Television series
2001	Driven	Memo Moreno	Film
2002	CSI: Miami	Sam Belmontes	Television series
2002	Vampires: Los Muertos	Father Rodrigo	Film
2003	Basic	Castro	Film
2003	Hope and Faith	Paolo	Television series
2005	Americano	Adela	Film
2004	Infidelity (film)	Miguel	Film
2005	Soñar No Cuesta Nada	Felipe	Telenovela
2005	Once Upon a Wedding	Manolo	Film
2006	The Class	Aaron	Television series
2006	Psych	Zapato	Television series (episode American Duos)
2007	Como Ama Una Mujer	Andres	Television series
2007	Ugly Betty	Rodrigo	Television series
2008	Dancing with the Stars	Himself	Reality show
2008	In Plain Sight	Raphael Ramirez	Television series (Recurring character)
2008	Fuego en la Sangre	Damián Ferrer	Telenovela/ Televisa
2008	¡Viva Hollywood!	Himself	VH1's reality show
2009	Brothers & Sisters	Cal	Television series
2009	Dawson. Isla 10		Film
2009/2010	Corazón Salvaje	Renato Vidal Montes de Oca	Telenovela/ Televisa nominated- Premios TVyNovelas 2010 for Best Male Villain
2010/2011	Private Practice	Dr. Rodriguez	Television series (Recurring character)
2011	The Nine Lives of Chloe King	Frank Cabrera	Television series (Recurring character)
2011	Profugos	Ignacio Córdova	Television series
2011	Haven (TV series)	Cornell Stamoran	Television series (episode Friend or Faux)
2012	Maldita	Ignacio Echaurren - Villano	Telenovela/ Mega
2012	Amor Bravío	Daniel Díaz Acosta / Andrés Duarte	Telenovela/ Televisa nominated -Premios People en Español 2013 for Best Lead Actor nominated -Premios TVyNovelas 2013 for Best Lead Actor nominated -Premios Los Favoritos del Público 2013 for Favorite kiss with (Silvia Navarro) nominated -Premios Los Favoritos del Público 2013 for Favorite Couple with (Silvia Navarro) nominated -Premios Los Favoritos del Público 2013 for Favorite Slap from (Fernanda Castillo)
2013-14	Quiero Amarte	Maximiliano Montesinos Ugarte	Telenovela
2015	Devious Maids	Ernesto Falta	TV Series
2016	Sueño de amor	Ricardo Alegría Sandoval	Telenovela

External links

• Cristián de la Fuente at IMDb
• Cristian de la Fuente in his profile as a stunt pilot of the Air Force of Chile