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 With plans to appear in a TV drama in Mexico?on top of a schedule of two TV movies in Puerto Rico, one TV movie in Spain, and 90-hours serial TV dramas in Venezuela, Spain, and Puerto Rico?actor Osvaldo Rios is now, after nine years of artistic activity on the international activity, feeling the need to take things a little easier.
During a break in filming for a TV movie, the handsome Osvaldo Rios said, “At the moment I’m really enjoying myself, and I’m able to laugh more at a range of things and enjoy the process. Before it was a battle to do everything well, I placed terrible demands on myself. Now I don’t feel as bad about things as I used to, and that’s had good results. I’m not going to rush life like an idiot the way I did when I was young, not any more. I will do things little by little, climbing step by step. In the past I wanted to do 1,000 things in a day, but now 999 will do, and I’m enjoying it.”
 Asesino En Primer Grande (Top-class Assassin) will be broadcast on TV Centro
in April.
It is already nine years since Rios made his first TV appearance, in Ahora O Nunca (Now is the Chance) with Marisol Calero, and his theatrical debut in the commercially successful M.A.C.H.O.S. In that time, the works in which he appears and the images of the characters that he plays have appeared on TV screens in 78 countries, and he has been transformed into one of the few international representative of Puerto Rico. He can be seen in Moscow, China, and Bosnia, and will shortly be seen in Bulgaria, too.
Says Rios, who is also a singer: “It was a tremendous growth process, like being beaten to the floor and then getting back up again. Personally as well as artistically, I think that I am reaching a very mature level, and this been possible because I worked a lot through various blows and personal experiences.”
The change of course in his career did not begin with his quitting psychology to pursue art. There is a legend in his family that when Osvaldo Rios was born, he laughed instead of crying. Throughout the time he was a student, he continued with his acting, music, and sport, and sport is still today one of his greatest interests. However, he has always felt a certain degree of enthusiasm for everything that he has done.
 Says Rios: “Whether it was study or whatever, I approached everything I did with excitement, passion, and dedication. Then at some point, when I was in graduate school studying psychology, I realized that I should pursue my great loves of acting and music. After I filmed the program with Marisol, a big chance came my way from Nydia Caro and Gabriel Suau, who produced Corin Tellado’s work. Starring in En Aquella Playa (At the Coast) with Venezuelan actress Rudy Rodriguez abruptly changed my life 360 degrees.”
Fighting for His Career
En Aquella Playa was seen throughout the world. Then, just as he was in Miami rewriting the script for Peregrina (Pilgrim)?the melodrama that made Jose Bardina and Rebeca Gonzalez household names?the TV drama writer Delia Fiallo saw Osvaldo Rios perform and immediately telephoned Univision, announcing that Rios was perfect for the lead and that the name was to be changed to Kassandra.
Since then, as everyone knows, Rios has starred in numerous TV dramas and movies, released an album, and his voice, dubbed into the language of each country, has traveled around the world. He has gained celebrity, fortune, and even scandal.
The famously good-looking actor asserts: “I lived my life, achieved a certain level in my work, and became known. Much of what has been written about me has unfortunately not always been accurate. That’s why I hope that people will someday remember me for my work and for what I’ve achieved and not for the appeal or incidents that the mass media has conjured up. I’ve fought quite a lot to get what’s written about the kind of person I am written seriously. I understand that this comes with the job, of course.”
However, Rios is a realist and a person who takes responsibility for anything in which he is involved. He squarely stands and faces any accusations or criticism aimed at him.
The star of the Columbian TV drama La Viuda De Blanco (Blanco’s Widow),
broadcast weekly from 2 o’clock on Telemundo, says, “For me, the most
difficult thing about the world of show business was revealing my emotions
and feelings, exposing myself in a vulnerable state. Ever since I was a
child, I’ve been very passionate. In study, in work, in my family?in anything?I
have certainly always been intense, but it was very difficult for me to
express feelings or emotions in front of an audience. But I am from Carolina,
and my adoptive father even now has a street stand in the Rio Piedras Markets. That’s the kind of person I am. That’s why even now I think
of myself as being the same as any boy from Rio Piedras. My adoptive father
advised me to always make my own bed, clean up my room, and throw out the
garbage, no matter how far I went or what position I achieved. This metaphor
is still alive inside me, and I apply it even today.”
Rios’s role in La Viuda De Blanco?written by Julio Jimenez of Las Aguas Mansas (Still Waters) and En Cuerpo Ajeno (Into Another’s Body) fame?makes splendid use of Rios’s diverse range of experiences, and through this the depth and expressiveness of this character has provided the turning point for Rios to transform himself from simply a good-looking actor to a complete one, adding a new layer of depth to his career.
Says Rios: “Going back to the story about my father’s metaphorical advice, I continue to uphold this principle with a tremendous sense of responsibility. He told me, ‘Each time you leave the country, you carry the country on your broad shoulders. Because of people’s expectations of you, you won’t be able to forget the perspective of the roots of your life.’ These words are my base.”
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