Eduardo was born in Xicotemcati, Tamaulipas, a small town in Mexico. As the first born and only boy, he was very indulged. His father wanted him to be a lawyer but he wanted to be an actor and singer, so he dropped out of law school and went to Mexico City to pursue his dream. Working initially as a model he then became part of a boy band called Kairo. He comments “It was not a healthy life style. You are singing in stadiums with 50,000 people applauding you and girls throwing themselves at you and screaming for you. You lose perspective of everything and I was soon seduced by the environment”.

After a couple of years he left the band and started acting in soap operas, which are very popular in Mexico. Then he moved to Miami, the capital of Latin American music where he recorded his first solo album, and did more touring. His good looks and charisma led him to being cast in a music video with Jennifer Lopez. Then while travelling on a plane he was discovered by a casting director from 20th century Fox. He moved to Los Angeles where the plan was to launch him as the new Antonio Banderas.

I was in this bubble of vanity, ego and selfishness

Eduardo remembers, “My dreams were about to become a reality. I had made it. The Hollywood dream. I had a team of 15 people working for me – agents, publicists, accountants. It was crazy. Although I should have been really happy, instead I was confused. I had been working hard for ten years in television, film and the music world. I had everything I had ever wanted but I was empty. I didn’t know what was going on. Something was missing but I didn’t know what. I was in this bubble of vanity, ego and selfishness and was dead spiritually. I needed help but didn’t know whom to ask.”

Salvation came in the unexpected direction of an English teacher, who was also a committed Catholic. She had been hired to get him up to speed with his English, as he could hardly speak a word when he arrived in Hollywood. He comments, “She changed my life. She asked me lots of questions using the Socratic method, like “What is the purpose of your life? How are you using your talents? Who is God in your life? What kind of messages are you sending to our society by the roles you are playing?”

After six months of very meaningful conversations I realised I was using my talents in a very selfish way. I forgot that whatever projects I was involved in, whether I liked it or not, were going to affect how people think and dream and believe and I was not part of the solution, I was part of the problem.” This led him to a personal conversion to Christ and a return to the practice of his Catholic faith. “My biggest regret was offending God with the way I had used my talents. God changed my heart and my life. He cleansed my soul and made me a new man with a new vision. I made a promise to God that I would never work in any project that would offend my faith, my family or my Latin American culture.”

Was this the end of my career?

This radical decision had radical consequences. “I was 28 years old and I realised that 80% of what I was doing was wrong. I had to let go of many habits and friendships. I experienced lots of fear and insecurity. What if the price of following this new path was the end of my career? What if I never worked again?”

Many of his friends thought he was crazy, as he turned down lucrative offers which now were against his principles. For four years he had no work and lived off his savings, and by selling his collection of paintings. It was a difficult time he says but underneath it all he says he was at peace. Eventually he decided to leave Hollywood and go and work as a missionary in the Amazon jungle and try and discern what God wanted from his life. He went to share his plans with his spiritual director, a Catholic priest whom he had been seeing. But rather than endorsing his idea, the priest told him to stay in Hollywood. He remembers, “He told me Hollywood is a bigger jungle than the Amazon and we need to take it back for God. The biggest crisis at the moment is not the financial crisis but the crisis of values. We need to do something to get them back. You need to stay and fight.”

The priest persuaded Eduardo to form a production company so he would have the power to control the message of the films he was involved in. This is what he did. A short time later he got together with Alejandro Monteverde, the younger brother of a friend of his who had just finished film school and Leo Severino, a lawyer from 20th century Fox, who all shared similar values and together they set up Metanoia Films (Metanoia is a Greek word meaning “Turning Back to God”)

Making movies that matter

“Our aim,” says Eduardo, “is to make movies that will not just entertain but will light a candle in the hearts of everyone that will see our movies. Movies that will make people want to love more and judge less, forgive more and complain less and movies that heal, because I believe movies do have the power to heal the wounds of our hearts. We want to make films that matter.”

Alejandro had already written a script especially for Eduardo called “Bella” but they were having problems getting funding for it, because it was considered by Hollywood executives as not having enough edge. Eduardo comments, “What they meant was that it didn’t have any violence or sexual perversion or darkness.” The film, which is gentle and beautiful is an unusual love story. Eduardo comments, “The film is about a man who had everything or thought that he did, and then lost it all but in the process found everything that mattered – friends, family and true love. True love is prepared to sacrifice everything to help someone in need without expecting anything back in return, which is what the hero of this film does.” A few months later the trio met Pope John Paul II who blessed the fledgling company and promised to pray for them. Ten days later the Wolfingdons, a wealthy Catholic family, agreed to put up the $3 million dollars to make the film. This was shot on a budget in 23 days in New York and finished just in time to enter the Toronto Film Festival. Eduardo and the team dedicated the film to Our Lady of Guadelupe and prayed a nine day novena to St Maximilian Kolbe, asking God’s blessing on it. To everyone’s amazement, the film won the People’s Choice award at the Festival, which raised its profile and created a media stir.

You are my sister now

As part of his research for his role, Jose, Eduardo went to an abortion clinic to talk to women going there. He was shocked when he saw how young some of the girls were, many only teenagers. He comments, “I forgot about the movie Bella, and I wanted to do something to help.” There were some people outside the clinic trying to persuade the women going in to reconsider, and Eduardo was asked by the group if he would talk to a Mexican couple who couldn’t speak English who had just arrived. He remembers, “ The couple recognised me from the TV and were very surprised to see me there. We ended up talking for over an hour about many things and I became friends with them. We exchanged telephone numbers. I told the girl, ‘you are not alone, we met for a reason. I really want to help you. You are my sister now.’” After the conversation the couple decided not to go through with the abortion and had a baby boy whom they named Eduardo.

He comments, “Meeting this couple helped me a lot. I understood that for many thousands of women abortion can seem their only exit. The only response to this is sacrificial love. At that moment I felt that even if the film never got made, it was worth it for this one meeting. This baby changed my life.”

I wanted to become like Jose

The role of Jose in the film is a particularly inspiring one and has had a profound effect on Eduardo himself. He remembers, “A friend of mine rang me up because he had been touched by the film and he asked me to ring a friend of his whose girlfriend was going to have an abortion the following day. I rang the guy and we chatted for 20 minutes and I found myself saying ‘I know that you are going through something very hard and difficult. If you don’t want your baby give it to me. I am willing to adopt it.’ I realised having seen “Bella” myself so many times, I wanted to become like Jose, the character I played, who promises to adopt an unborn child, so her desperate mother won’t abort her.” Eduardo flew down to Miami to show the couple the film and they too decided to go ahead with the birth, naming their daughter “Bella” after the film.

Despite winning many awards, the film has not made it to general cinema release. Instead there has been a huge grassroots movement promoting it in schools, colleges, churches, universities, pro-life events etc, where it has touched many hearts. In fact the production team estimate the lives of 100 babies have been saved through people seeing the film Bella and changing their minds about having an abortion as a result.

Eduardo comments, “It is amazing how this movie has brought churches together – Catholics and Protestants and evangelicals in support of this message of life and family. This has always been my prayer. When you are involved in a movie that brings Christians together you know that this is the Holy Spirit a work.” The film has garnered many awards and Eduardo himself received a lot of recognition.

I am just repeating what the Church has been teaching for years

He is a little uncomfortable about this, as he knows the perils of fame and how easy it is to get sucked in. As a result he is glad of the negative press and misunderstandings that happen that help him keep his feet on the ground. “Fame is not good or bad. It is just how you use it. I am not saying anything new. If you go to any church, the priest there will be saying the same things as I do. I am just repeating what the Church has been teaching for years, it’s just that because of me it is coming from the mouth of a Hollywood actor rather than someone in a religious habit.”

Metanoia films are trying to raise $100 million to make half a dozen or so films which are currently in development, with the same positive message as Bella. Eduard comments, “We want to change the culture of death to the culture of life through the media and are looking for investors who want to join with us in this vision.” Eduardo himself has also been offered the role of Peter in a $160 million big budget movie called Kingdom Come currently in development by the producer of Lord of the Rings. But this too is waiting for funding due to the credit crisis.

In the meantime, the team are not idle and have been the driving force behind setting up the Holywood Media Centre (www.holywoodmediacenter.com). This is a centre that will offer Catholic moral formation and spiritual support to those involved in the media to better help them in this crusade to help rescue the values of Hollywood. He concludes, “We want to create a sign in Hollywood that will shine. It will be open to anyone who wants to use the media to make a difference.”

The film Bella is also available on DVD and can be bought (US version only) on amazon. For clips about the film and its star see www.bellathemovie.com