José Eduardo Verástegui Córdoba (; born May 21, 1974) is a Mexican producer and actor. He was part of band
Kairo and later a solo music career, before he started appearing in Mexican telenovelas and eventually feature films like ''
Chasing Papi'', ''
Bella
Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...
'', and ''
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress '' Enola Gay ...
'', the latter two produced by his own production company, Metanoia.
Early life
Verástegui was born in
Xicoténcatl, Tamaulipas Xicoténcatl Municipality is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mex ...
, Mexico. He was raised in a practicing
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
family.
Career
After finding success as a musical entertainer, and then as a soap opera star, he decided to pursue a career in Hollywood. In 2002, before filming commenced on ''Chasing Papi'', Verástegui took voice-coaching lessons to improve his English pronunciation. The coach was a committed Catholic, and in the course of their conversations Verástegui re-discovered his faith and resolved to change his lifestyle. He also declared that he had decided to turn down offers to play roles in films that conflicted with his Catholic beliefs or that insulted his Latino brethren. In an interview with Dave Hartline, the author of ''The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism'' and published by ''Catholic Report'', he said he was committed to attend Mass daily, praying, reading the Bible, saying the rosary and going to Confession at least once a week. He also said that he first encountered his renewed faith in
Scott Hahn's book, ''Rome Sweet Home'' that "had a great impact on me and its influences can be seen in a lot of what I do".
Other activities
Verástegui is an
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...
advocate, through the organization Manto de Guadalupe. Verástegui recounts an anecdote about his beliefs: he was doing research for his role in ''Bella'' and had gone to an abortion clinic as part of that process. While there, he started talking to a Hispanic couple who were going to the clinic for an abortion. He says that, recognizing him from his telenovela roles on Mexican television, they listened as he described his upcoming role and the plotline of ''Bella''. They reconsidered their decision and went home without going ahead with the abortion. Immediately after their child was born, they called him to tell him the good news and thanking him and asking for his permission to name the child Eduardo after him. He also made a point of meeting "little Eduardo" weeks later.
In 2008, he released a long video message denouncing the high rate of abortion in Hispanic communities in the United States and speaking out loudly about alleged targeting of the Hispanic communities with messages supporting abortion by the
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
campaign during the presidential race.
Actively involved in charities, he has established Manto de Guadalupe, an anti-abortion organization based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
and offering a
crisis pregnancy center
A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion groups primarily to persuade pregnant women against having an a ...
.
[Mexican actor pledges to build largest pro-life women's clinic in US]
, ''Catholic News Agency'', 19 January 2011.
On September 15, 2020 President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...
announced his intent to nominate and appoint Eduardo Verastegui to be a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity.
Verástegui signed the ''
Madrid Charter'', a document drafted by the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Spanish party
Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of
Ibero-America
Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spai ...
involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".
Verástegui is popular on social media, with an active
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel of nearly 300,000 subscribers.
In November 2022, Verástegui organized a
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) ...
(CPAC) in Mexico.
Metanoia Films
Verástegui cofounded the production company Metanoia Films (the Greek word for "
repentance") with co-founders and partners Sean Wolfington, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde and Leo Severino. The company is based in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. The company released its debut film ''
Bella
Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...
'' directed by
Alejandro Gomez Monteverde and starring Verástegui. The latest project of the company is ''
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress '' Enola Gay ...
'' written by Alejandro Monteverde and Pepe Portillo. Starring Emily Watson, Kevin James, David Henrie, Jacob Salvati, Ben Chaplin, and set in 1945, it tells the story of Pepper, an eight-year-old who does all he can to be reunited with his father, a soldier fighting in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Pepper has to befriend Hashimoto, a Japanese man living in his town.
Little Boy page on Metanoia Films Official website
(PDF) . Retrieved on 2012-08-31.
Discography
Albums
;as part of Kairo
(For detailed discographies, see Kairo discography section )
*1994: ''Signo del tiempo''
*1995: ''Gaudium''
*1996: ''Cara a cara'' Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
]
*1997: ''Éxitos''
;as solo
*2001: ''Eduardo Verástegui (album), Eduardo Verástegui''
Singles
;as part of Kairo
*1994: "En los espejos de un café"
*1994: "Háblame de ti"
*1994: "Te amaré"
*1994: "Perdóname'
*1995: "No nos rendimos"
*1995: "Ponme la multa (Fammi la multa)"
*1995: "Dile que la amo"
Music video
*2001: Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny
"Ain't It Funny" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez. It was written by Lopez and Cory Rooney for the Adam Shankman-directed romantic comedy ''The Wedding Planner'' (2001). Shankman, however, felt that the song had too much of a Latin ...
" (Alt. Version) (playing her love interest in the music video)
Filmography
Films
Television
See also
* List of Mexican actors
References
External links
*Dos dias con Eduardo Verastegui /Two days with Eduardo Verastegui en/at www.TheresaBernabe.T
Eduardo Verástegui's Interview with "Catholic Digest".
Manto de Guadalupe Official Site
Metanoia official website
''Bella'' film official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verastegui, Eduardo
1974 births
Living people
People from Tamaulipas
Male actors from Tamaulipas
Mexican Catholics
Mexican male film actors
Mexican male television actors
20th-century Mexican male actors
21st-century Mexican male actors
Mexican anti-abortion activists
Mexican people of Basque descent
Mexican male telenovela actors
Mexican male models
Mexican emigrants to the United States
Vaccine hesitancy
Signers of the Madrid Charter