Ximena Duque and Carlos Ponce’s real-life love story is the stuff telenovelas are built on. Having separated after a long courtship, the couple reunited on the set of Broken Angel. Debashine Thangevelo caught up with them at MultiChoice’s recent African Showcase 2014.
XIMENA Duque and Carlos Ponce are insanely gorgeous actors. When she stepped into the room in glittering nine-inch heels and a figure-hugging dress, many eyes followed her. He has this very chilled vibe and a smile that leaves you weak-kneed. It doesn’t hurt that he is also a musician.
The Colombian actress and Cuban actor-singer were an item for a while before they split.
He cheekily responded: “We have been dating for a couple of years, then we broke up. It was her fault, obviously.”
Then fate intervened and both ended up signing on for Broken Angel and rekindling their romance.
Ponce revealed: “When they called me to do this telenovela, they were hiding the fact that she was in it. I did a little digging and found out that she was in it and then I signed.”
She teased: “I didn’t wanna do it!”
Expanding on his character, he shared: “I play a really bad guy. Nothing is exactly what it seems.”
Duque added: “My character was just a little bit crazy.”
Interestingly, she is also in the upcoming telenovela, Fearless Heart.
“It is one of my favourite telenovelas,” she laughed. “I get to play a bodyguard. I had to train. I had to know how to shoot guns and defend myself. It is a very different soap opera. I also loved Camila Wood in Someone’s Watching. I always played the good girl and bad girls have so much more fun. I enjoyed it. She was very bad and, as an actor, was a great challenge for me.”
And he is currently starring in Cruel Love.
On playing Antonio “El Perro” Brando, he noted: “It was the first time I got to do something outside the box. Male leading roles in telenovelas, I have to confess, sometimes, are a little boring. In this particular telenovela there were lots of twists and turns and the plot thickens half way through it.”
She added: “And you had to kiss so many girls.”
He chuckled: “Yeah, that was tough!”
Ponce is also fortunate in that he gets to infuse his passion for music with his acting. He explained: “I went to a conservatory for musical theatre. I was aiming more towards that. I had an active music career in Spanish pop and I have released four very successful albums, thank the Lord. Then I made the transition.
“Music is so important to me that every time I do a telenovela, I present to the production a music option for their approval. And I have been lucky in most of these projects. I have written the theme song for Broken Angel and Cruel Love. I have also done stuff for other telenovelas from other networks.”
With the Telemundo channel a success in Africa despite it not even being a year old, Duque said: “Telemundo has original productions. Their soap operas are traditional/modern. That is probably why it’s so popular. That is what we love.”
He added: “And they are sexy too. Very, very sexy!”
“But not vulgar, that’s very important,” she pointed out.
Just watching the two lovebirds’ banter other made them even more endearing as a couple. It is nice to know such love stories exist in real life.
• Fearless Heart debuts on Telemundo (DStv channel 118) on July 21 at 4.20pm. Someone’s Watching airs weekdays at 7.40pm, Cruel Love at 5.10pm. Broken Angel will air later this year.