|
Witnessing Love Proposals 'In Plain Sight' with Cristián de la Fuente
by Troy Rogers
 Imagine if your mother was a Federal Marshal with the Witness Protection program who was trying her best to hide it from you and the family. If you found out, would you go into your own family witness relocation program knowing that your own mom could make you disappear?
After a successful first season on USA Network, In Plain Sight returns to the airwaves on Sunday, April 19 at 10pm for a new season of Witness Protection action, as actor Cristián de la Fuente steps back into plain sight as Raphael, the part-time character love of series star Mary McCormack's Mary Shannon, who oversees the safety of the federal witnesses of In Plain Sight.
Prior to the Season 2 premiere of In Plain Sight, we came out of hiding in our own online entertainment based relocation program to join a conference call with Cristián de la Fuente who filled us in on how Raphael will be making a significant change this season that will force Mary to confront her feelings for Raphael while trying to balance life as an agent and maintaining a relationship. Also, Cristián gave us deeper insight into his character, the challenges of playing Raphael, and how the cast has evolved from the first season of In Plain Sight.
Cristián de la Fuente on the challenges of playing his character:
 "The first thing that challenged me was playing baseball. I was born and raised in Santiago, Chile where the biggest sport is soccer. We don't play baseball here. I think baseball stops in Venezuela, that's the farthest you go by playing baseball. And also working with a great cast is always challenging, because you have to really give your 180%, but mainly the baseball part. The rest at the beginning was scary, ‘Oh, my gosh, I'm going to work with Lesley Ann Warren and Mary McCormack,’ but then when I got to meet them then that was the best part of the job, not the hardest one."
de la Fuente on what he likes most about Raphael:
"Raphael, I think goes against all the stereotypes. It's like he's not the typical Latin lover. He's not the typical Latino. As a joke always I think we've made history in television and film, because on the last episode of the first season, on the season finale, I think it's the first time that you see a Latino character with a lot of kilograms of drugs and instead of starting dealing them, he threw them away. I think that's the first time that's happened in TV, that Latinos are not portrayed as drug dealers but people that you know they have good hearts and they want the best for their family and their loved ones. And I think that's the beauty about Raphael, he's really in love with Mary and he's a nice guy and I think he's going to do always the right thing and it's great to play those kinds of roles nowadays."
On whether the cast gets along with each other:
 "I'm going to answer you the truth, which is that we all get along very well and we have a great relationship with each other, and even though that didn't happen, I would never say it. But in this case, I'm saying the truth, I'm not lying. Sometimes you don't get along and you still have to lie and say, "We really get along," but I'm happy to say that on this occasion it's true that we all get along very well and we act together.
"Of course, you have a better relationship with those that you work more often, with Nichole Hiltz, with Lesley Ann Warren, and with Mary. I'm not involved in all the cop scenes with Fred Weller or with Paul Ben-Victor. I don't get to do a lot of scenes, but sometimes we go out to dinner and sometimes we go on the same plane back and forth from LA, especially with Paul, so we all have a great relationship. And that's good, because I spend more time sometimes with them than with my family."
Cristián de la Fuente on his favorite scene so far:
"Well, from the first season, there was this scene in the last episode when I go to Mary's house and I'm drunk and I'm trying to convince her to have a better relationship with her sister, with Brandi. That scene I think especially was challenging, because to play drunk is tough and not going through a cliché of really being drunk and playing the drunk and also it was very emotional.
"And on this season there was a very beautiful scene in one of the episodes towards the middle of the season where I proposed again and where I explain to Mary why I want to marry her and why I feel the way I feel towards her. I think that was really nice, mostly like the scenes when the character is vulnerable, I think those are beautiful scenes that you can really open yourself and do a better job."
On whether the bit of humor in the show helps break some tension:
"Yes, I think we don't live in a black and white world. It's like we live in a world when even the most dramatic moment again on the days they're funny. When you see an old lady that falls on the street, sometimes you start laughing. It's funny, but it's a drama for her, and it's funny for you.
 "So at the end of the day even drama or sometimes in my life I've been in problems and I'm trying to make things work and then at the end of the day I just laugh, because there's only so much we can do. So I love when drama has that bit of humor and comedy, because that's life. Life is not all drama or all comedy. It's a mix of both. Sometimes more from one than the other, but at the end of the day it's a mix of both."
Cristián de la Fuente on what’s different this season, as compared to the first:
"Well, with my character, he's going to switch his career. He's going to start working with something different, and in the relationship with Mary we’ll get to a point that Mary's going to have to decide that if she wants to get married with Raphael or not. So I think those are two big changes that is going to happen to Raphael in the relationship and to Mary also."
|
