David Fumero
When David Fumero joined ABC's long-running soap opera "One Life to Live" last June, he faced one of daytime TV's toughest tasks: stepping into a role created by another actor. But fans have taken a shine to Llanview's improved Cristian Vega, a sensitive yet street-smart struggling artist-and this time, he's here to stay.
Havana-born Fumero, 26, came to the United States at age 8. His family had survived some difficult times in Cuba, including the three-year imprisonment of Fumero's father for attempting to leave the country. After a stint with the marines following high school graduation ("It was just a crazy kid thing," he says, showing off the marine corps tattoo on his right shoulder), Fumero took the advice of a girlfriend and entered the modeling world. His career took him to Paris, where he modeled for Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Dior, among other big names. Two years later, an appearance in Mariah Carey's video "Honey" led him to the role on "One Life to Live".
Fumero is happy to have left behind the jet-setting European lifestyle for New York and an acting career. "Acting takes a lot of work," he says with a hint of an accent. "I'd like to do movies, but I'm not ready for anything big right now." He also plans to return to Cuba for a visit one day, despite his father's hesitations.
For the time being, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, an Argentine model. While they don't talk marriage and take things "one day at a time", Fumero says he fills their relationship with romance every day they're together. "Romance is not just roses and nice dinners," he says. "I think it's more of the little things, the details." How did you get chosen for the Mariah Carey video?
"It was through a hairstylist on a shoot I was doing who also happened to work for Mariah Carey, and he mentioned me to her. I was in Milan when they called me about it. I was there to do a shoot for Armani Jeans the next day with my brother. I was having lunch in this little café and my agent called to tell me that Mariah Carey wanted me for her video, but they weren’t offering much in the way of money. I told him he was crazy, that I’d make more doing the campaign. By the end of my lunch the agent called back and the video had turned into great pay and travel by Concorde, so I did it and had a blast." (Model Launch)
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