Author: Emma Loggins
Date: 2008-04-30

Interview:
In Plain Sight follows the story of a Federal Marshall with the Witness Protection program who must hide her high-risk, high-impact job from her family. To those that know her, Mary Shannon is a glorified meter maid, but her real job is much more dangerous. She must oversee federal witnesses who have been relocated through the Witness Protection program and make sure that they stay safe. We had the honor of sitting down with one of the stars from the series, Cristian de la Fuente. Here's what he had to say:

We're very much looking forward to the show and to your role in it. I was wondering if you could start by telling us in your own words - we've certainly read the press releases and everything - what the show is about, what the plot setup is and about your character, Raphael, and your relation to Mary.

The show is about Mary's life, a beautiful role played by Mary McCormack. She's an agent from the Witness Protection Service. The show tells the story of how she deals with her personal life, where nobody knows what she does for a living, and her professional life, where she has to protect a witness every episode. Pretty much, that's what the show is about.

I was watching the USA interviews on the USA Web site and Mary mentioned that she really feels a strong connection to her character and feels like she's a lot like her. I'm curious about how you feel about your character, if you feel there are a lot of similarities or not as many.

I think every TV show or every movie it is very important, the casting process. That's why executives, they don't create a character, they sign actors that have some connection to the character. I think they did a great job here because Mary really feels like her character, Mary also. In my case, Raphael is pretty much like me. The only difference is I'm an actor; he's a baseball player. The way we see life, the sense of humor that we have, how we approach relationships and how we approach life is very similar. Plus, Raphael and me, we're both immigrants in this country and we both have an accent, so it's really funny.

How different is this character from other characters that you've played? Is that a reason, also, that kind of drew you to it or is it along the lines of what you've played in the past?

Well, this character has something very special that is very different from other characters. I think here is where David Maples, who is the Writer and Executive Producer of the show, did a really great job and took a chance that I'm always going to be thankful for. Many times, in roles that I've played, the character is already written and then I have to play that character. Here, this character, started with an idea that David had in mind and then he started writing the character with my personality. I didn't have to hide my accent, I didn't have to change my sense of humor, I didn't have to change anything. The character has a lot to do with myself.

I was very happy that I didn't have to fight my accent or the fact that English is not my first language. He was able to introduce that in the show, and be part of my character. Sometimes I get misunderstood and Mary doesn't understand me or I try to say something and it comes across the wrong way, which are things that happen to me in real life. I'm very happy that happens also to my character.