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The
ravishing Puerto Rican born actress, ROSELYN SANCHEZ, is
taking America by storm as she appears in the new the movie, Rush
Hour 2 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Sanchez play
a gorgeous U.S. Customs Agent and captures the audience with her
talent and beauty.
She can also be seen on
television in the hit series FAME L.A. The show that is now
syndicated worldwide, is making the young actress a famous name
and Roselyn is now considering film and television offers from
Europe.
By the time Roselyn Sanchez moved
to New York City at age 21 to study acting, dancing and singing,
the San Juan-born beauty had already taken her native Puerto
Rico by storm as an actor, singer, dancer and television host.
Roselyn began acting in
commercials and music videos at age 15. Her undeniable talent
led her to become co-host, dancer and choreographer of Puerto
Rico’s number one weekly television comedy-variety show, QUE
VACILON, where she starred for three years. In 1993, she won the
title of Miss Puerto Rico Petite, and in 1994, she successfully
represented Puerto Rico to win the national title of Miss
America Petite.
Just before completing her
business and marketing degree at University of Puerto Rico, she
left for New York to train as an actor, singer and dancer and to
pursue her dream of becoming a recording artist. Working mostly
in the Latino market, she landed her first English-speaking part
- the role of Pilar Domingo, the first-ever Latina character in
the 40-year history of CBS soap opera AS THE WORLD TURNS. While
in New York, she also wrote and performed her one-woman show,
OUT HERE ON MY OWN, ironically, a song title from the original
film, FAME.
Earlier this year, Roselyn flew
to Los Angeles to screen test with DAMON WAYANS for his new
sitcom. Although she did not land the part, her manager
persuaded her to stay for the FAME L.A. auditions, which she
did. Upon returning to New York, she was thrilled to learn she
landed the part of dancer Lili Arguelo in ‘Fame L.A.’ ‘Fame
gives me the opportunity to do all that I love, acting, singing
and dancing,’ she says,‘I began ballet lessons at age four
and piano lessons at age six. As far back as I can remember my
mom always had me involved in something. By age 15 I began
acting in commercials and music videos. After working in Puerto
Rico for a while, I decided to take my career more seriously and
take my chances in New York. The only bad thing was leaving my
family behind. They have always been very supportive and they
knew I had to make this move. As hard as it was for them to let
me go it was even harder for me to leave them. I am the youngest
of four, with three brothers. It’s funny because people
usually think that coming from a family where there are three
older brothers and a did, that they would be very protective.
They are protective, but I would have to say by far my mom is
the most protective.’
In describing her new part on
FAME L.A. as Lili Arguelo, she says, ‘Lili is also a waitress,
at the cafe next door to her living quarters, because we all
know dancers don’t make any money. Originally the part was
made for a Mexican-American from East Los Angeles, but I’m
from Puerto Rico and have a Puerto Rican accent. I was very
worried that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off and that some
people would be offended. Fortunately, they changed Lili to be a
native Puerto Rican who had moved to Los Angeles with her
family. I’m working on my accent and one day I hope to be able
to play any role.’
She continues, ‘I watch
television, and see how most Latinos are type cast, and it’s
usually negative roles. I was really happy to see that all the
ethnic characters on ‘Fame L.A.’ have some serious, but
positive issues. My character is very intelligent, went to
school, and has hard-working parents. The show focuses on out
talents and more individual and personal issues.’
She feels that, ‘Right now
Latinos are alive and there is a bright future for us. I think,
little by little, the market for Latinos is growing. It’s
great to see actresses like SALMA HAYEK and JENNIFER LOPEZ
landing such great parts. I admire them for making their way up
and opening new opportunities for other Latin newcomers. Latinos
have come a long way and the roles and opportunities just seem
to be improving.
Concerning her goals for the
future, Roselyn Sanchez loves to dance, act, and sing, and she
wants to do it all. She says, ‘My favorite type of dancing is
Jazz and I love to Salsa. I watch people like MERYL STREEP and
GLORIA ESTEFAN and get so inspired by their talent. I would like
to be able to play a part where my Puerto Rican background has
no significance to by character. I want to be given parts based
on my talent not just type cast.’
As for immediate projects,
Roselyn who’s about to begin shooting 22 new episodes of the
series new season, has signed a contract to begin filming early
next year EL CANTO, a motion picture based on the life of a
famous Cuban opera singer, where she will play the lead.
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