'In Plain Sight' w/ Cristián de la Fuente

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

We often joke here at PTR we'd like to clone a couple of our favorite male characters from some of our favorite shows so that we could send at least one of them over to the perpetually unlucky on love Detective Lilly Rush (Cold Case) as proof there are decent guys left on the planet that COULD keep up with her and her issues.

Jon Tenney's Fritz Howard (The Closer) is one.

Dean Winter's Charley Dixon (the now canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is another.

And we're now adding In Plain Sight's Cristián de la Fuente to that list given his portrayal of Raphael Ramirez is just so.darn.good.

If we thought keeping up with Lilly was tough, keeping up with U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon is a full-time job, which Raph manages to do unbelievably well - not to mention with the patience and understanding of a saint.

He really is that good AND that decent of a guy.

Just like the actor who portrays him.

PTR was recently invited on to a conference call with fellow bloggers to speak with Cristián in anticipation of the second season premiere of In Plain Sight, which airs this Sunday at 10 p.m. on USA Network.

On the challenges of his role as Raphael: "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. Also, working with a great cast is always challenging because you have to really give 180%. But [it's] mainly [been] 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 [it became] the best part of the job, not the hardest."

On what he likes most about his character: "I think [Raphael] goes against all the stereotypes. He's not the typical Latin lover. He's not the typical Latino. Latinos are not [being] portrayed [on the show] as drug dealers but [as] people [who] have good hearts, [who] want the best for their family and their loved ones. I think that's the beauty about Raphael - he's really in love with Mary, and he's a nice guy. I think he's going to always do the right thing and it's great to play [that] kind of role nowadays."

On where he draws inspiration to portray Raphael: "I try to draw the inspiration [from] the way I would like to be. I think, 'How would I like to be if I was the perfect guy?' And the perfect version of me is Raphael."

On what is in store for the Raphael character this season: "There are big surprises. Let me see, how can I say it without ruining it? There's going to be a change in my career. I can say that. I'm going to get closer to changing my marital status."

On Mary and Raphael's relationship and whether Raphael will run out of patience with Mary's indecision on things: "Mary, that character, is very hard to deal with. Raph would like to marry her and have a family, but it's tough. Mary is hard to get, and she's a little bit afraid of commitment. In the ideal world, which doesn't exist - not even in fiction - Raphael would like to marry her and have children and be happy. He's going to try to do everything in his power [to make that happen], and hopefully Mary's going to try to do something, too."

On who he would want most to guest star guest on the show: "I would love to have Al Pacino, but I don't think he would [do] our show. I'm going to apply to see if I can serve him coffee on the set of his movie. Maybe that will work ... but I can guarantee that there will be some big names guest starring [this season]. We're doing 16 episodes, and more than half [have] big name [guest stars]. So, be prepared."

On his ultimate dream role: "I've always wanted to do like a modern version of I Love Lucy. What would happen today if a guy like Raphael married an American? How would they live and all the issues that they have to deal with? I think that would be a nice role to play."

On the advice he would give someone wanting to get into the acting business: "I would give them two [pieces of advice]. As a friend of mine says, life is too short and then you die. So, you have to do everything that you want even if people tell you that you're crazy, that [it's] not for you, that it's hard - all the bad things that they can tell you - you just have to do it. The second [piece of] advice is, you need a lot of patience. A lot of times, doors are going to be closed, people are going to say 'No,' and you just have to keep believing in [yourself], believing your dream, and just keep going because one day you're going to make it. Maybe you're not going to make it huge, maybe you're not going to be the star of a big action movie, maybe you're going to do a play in a theatre, maybe you're going to do a local TV show, maybe you're going to do a national TV show ... [whatever it is] you're going to do it, and [the] satisfaction of having a dream and really being able to accomplish it [is] priceless"

On why people are drawn to continuing to watch the show: "I don't think there's a lot of female driven shows. In this case, In Plain Sight follows [both] the life and work of Mary McCormack's character, Mary [Shannon]. We have a lot of cop [and] law shows - Law and Order or all the CSI's - but they all investigate one crime, one suspect and/or they have one [crime] story. I think what's very unique about [our] show [is that] Mary has to protect the witness every week, but she also has a personal life. She has to deal with her mother, her sister, her boyfriend. So, there's a lot of the personal life of Mary that we see, and I think that's unique. That really makes a difference in the show."

And you know how much we love the personal here at PTR.

We extend our great thanks to Cristián for taking the time to chat about all-things Raphael. And yes, we really DO want to clone him. We also thank our friends at New Media Strategies. The second season of In Plain Sight premieres Sunday, April 19th at 10 p.m. on USA Network. To catch up on all-things Witness Protection, head on over to the show's official Web site.