Cristián Andrés de la Fuente Sabarots (; born March 10, 1974) is a Chilean actor, presenter, model and producer. He began his career appearing in Chilean telenovelas before moving to United States for starring in television series Family Law (1999–2001) and Hidden Hills (2002–2003). De la Fuente later made his big screen debut in the 2001 action film Driven and later appeared in films Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) and Basic (2003). In later years he was a regular cast member in In Plain Sight (2008–12) and Devious Maids (2015). De la Fuente also acted in a number of Spanish-language telenovelas.
Early life and education 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.
Career 1998–2003 De la Fuente was spotted by a talent scout during his sophomore year as a civil engineering major at the 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, the comedy Mi Tío y Yo alongside Gonzalo Robles, and the MTV-style music and dance program Generación 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 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 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 Univision. It ran for 191 episodes. 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 Sueño 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 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. De la Fuente also guest starred in three episodes of UPN's One on One, and in 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 of 2007, he participated in the mini-series directed by Jennifer Lopez, Como Ama Una Mujer with the actress Leonor Varela.
2008–present
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.
De la Fuente hosted the Latin Grammy Awards of 2008 on November 13, 2008, in Houston, Texas.
In 2009, de la Fuente guest starred in the telenovelas Fuego en la sangre as Demian Ferrer, and Corazón salvaje as Renato.
From 2008 to 2010, de la Fuente played Raphael "Raph" Ramírez, a minor league baseball player and semi-boyfriend of Mary Shannon on In Plain Sight.
De la Fuente returned to Chile to film the season 2 of his TV show Golpe Bajo, similar to MTV's series Punk'd.
De la Fuente also had a recurring role on Brothers & Sisters from 2009 to 2010.
De la Fuente 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.
De la Fuente starred as Maximiliano Montesinos, the protagonist in the Mexican telenovela Quiero amarte.
De la Fuente has been tapped to play Ricardo De La Cruz in the romantic comedy film Switch Up, helmed by Tara Pirnia in her directing debut.
Dancing with the Stars performances Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResultInabaGoodmanTonioli1Cha-cha-cha/ "Bang Bang"777N/A2Quickstep/ "Americano"767Last to be safe3Jive/ "Don't Stop Me Now"889Safe4Paso Doble/ "La Virgen de la Macarena"989Safe5Rumba/ "If You're Not the One"788Bottom Two6Foxtrot/ "Come Fly with Me"999Safe7Viennese Waltz/ "I'll Make Love to You"Samba/ "Sobe Son"878797Safe8Tango/ "Beat It"Mambo/ "Saca Tu Mujer"101099910Safe9Semi-finalsViennese Waltz/ "Satellite"Samba/ "Sweetheart from Venezuela"91099910Last to be Safe10FinalsCha-Cha-Cha/ "Dancing on the Ceiling"Freestyle/ "Suavemente"899899Third Place
Filmography Film Year TitleRole Notes2001Driven Memo Moreno 2002Minimal Knowledge Matt Gallagher Vampires: Los Muertos Father Rodrigo 2003Basic Castro The Chosen One Rodrigo 2005Once Upon a Wedding Manolo Sueño Dr. López 2009Dawson Isla 10 Teniente Labarca 2012 ¿Alguien ha visto a Lupita? Maxi Also executive producer2013Siete años de matrimonio Bernardo 2014Historias de Lavapiés Teacher 2015Lushers Enamorándome de Abril Leo Also producer
Television roles Year TitleRole Notes 1994Soltero a la medida Ramiro Pérez Candia 1995Champaña Tadeo Mc Millan El amor está de moda Lucas Correa 1996Marrón Glacé, el regreso Blas 1997Eclipse de luna Román Celis 1998Reyes y Rey Rey / Alex "Rey" Reyes 1999Pensacola: Wings of Gold Sgt. Dominguez Episode: "Gypsy Tumble" 1999–2000Family Law Andres Diaz Recurring role; 42 episodes 2000Queen of Swords Antonio Episode: "Duel with a Stranger" 2002–2003Hidden Hills Manolo Recurring role; 10 episodes 2003Phil at the Gate Television filmHope & Faith Paolo Episode: "Hope Has No Faith" 2003–2004CSI: Miami Sam Belmontes Recurring role; 6 episodes 2004Threat Matrix Special Agent Wilmar Sánchez Episode: "Mexico"Infidelidad Miguel Television filmEve Dr. Anderson Episode: "Footloose" 2005 Soñar no Cuesta Nada Felipe Reyes Retana 191 episodes 2005–2006One on One Andrew 3 episodes 2006The Class Aaron Recurring role; 7 episodes 2007Ugly Betty Rodrigo Veloso 2 episodesPsych Zapato Dulce Episode: "American Duos"Side Order of Life Eduardo Encarnación 2 episodesComo ama una mujer Andrés Recurring role; 5 episodes 2008 Fuego en la sangre Damián Recurring role; 9 episodes 2008–2012In Plain Sight Raphael Ramirez Recurring role; 23 episodes 2009Brothers & Sisters Cal Episode: "S3X" 2009–2010Corazón salvaje Renato Vidal Montes de Oca / Renato Vidal 2010–2011Private Practice Dr. Eric Rodriguez 4 episodes 2011Love Bites Marcelo (segment "Not to Speak") Episode: "Stand and Deliver"The Nine Lives of Chloe King Frank Cabrera 3 episodesHaven Cornell Stamoran Episode: "Friend or Faux"Prófugos Ignacio Córdova 2012Maldita Ignacio Echaurren Recurring role; 9 episodesAmor Bravío Daniel Díaz Acosta Main role; 166 episodes 2013–2014Quiero amarte Maximiliano Main role; 161 episodes 2014Royal Pains Tobias 2 episodes 2015Devious Maids Ernesto Falta 13 episodes 2016Sueño de amor Ricardo Alegría Main role; 131 episodes 2017En tierras salvajes Daniel Otero Main role
Awards and nominations YearPremioCategoryTelenovelaResult201028th TVyNovelas AwardsBest Actor ProtagonistCorazón Salvaje2012Premios People en Español 2012Best Lead ActorAmor Bravío2012Premios Telenovela de OroBest Actor Protagonist201331st TVyNovelas AwardsBest Actor ProtagonistFavorite CoupleSilvia Navarro and Cristián de la FuenteFavorite KissEl Mas Guapo (What A Hottie)Cristián de la Fuente
References
External links
Cristian de la Fuente in his profile as a stunt pilot of the Air Force of Chile