Award-winning Actor Hector Bustamante Guests on Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable
Online, June 2, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Hector Luis Bustamante is best known for his emotionally-charged performance of 'Pedro Vera' in the Lifetime Movie Network Original Movie "Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story," which earned him a 'Best Actor' award from the Imagen Foundation in 2009. "Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story" premiered on Sunday, August 17, at 8PM ET/5PM PT on Lifetime Movie Network, and became the second most-watched movie, a record-setting mark, in the channel's 10-year history.
"Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story" is the true story of Luz Cuevas (Judy Reyes, Scrubs), a working- class mother who is told that her infant daughter, Delimar, has perished in a suspicious fire in their Philadelphia row home. Despite the evidence, and based only on her intuition as a mother, Luz remains convinced that her daughter was kidnapped and is still alive.
Luz and her husband (Hector Luis Bustamante) attempt to put the tragedy behind them for the sake of their children; however, Luz continues to suspect her distant cousin (Ana Ortiz, Ugly Betty) of foul play and enlists the help of Angel Cruz (A Martinez, Santa Barbara), a sympathetic State representative. "Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story" was produced by Lifetime in association with TF1 International, and was directed/executive produced by Paul A. Kaufman. Harvey Khan, Joy Plager, and Larry Thompson also served as executive producers.
A native of Medellin, Colombia, Bustamante moved to America when he was 12. His family settled in New Jersey, and he became an East Coast boy. As he got used to life in the North, the actor also became interested in the television show I Love Lucy where, as he explained, it was the first time he saw a Hispanic man in an American show. "Something in me said 'wow that's what I want to do.'"
Bustamante began his acting career in high school (Hackensack, NJ) but was discouraged after being told by an acting teacher that his thick accent would never allow him to be a professional actor. Bustamante decided to put his acting dreams on hold and after high school, attended the Parsons School of Design in New York and then spent the next several years working as a corporate investigator.
He got transferred to San Francisco and enrolled in acting classes at Shelton's Actors' Studio. In 1999 while in San Francisco, Bustamante reached a point in his life where it became evident that acting was truly his calling. At Shelton's Actors' Studio, he studied under the watchful eye of acting coach and mentor Jean Shelton. In 2008 he was awarded "Break through Actor of the Year Award" from The Hollywood F.A.M.E. Awards for his work on "The Shield" and is currently an ambassador for "Camp del Corazon," an organization that provides year-round opportunities for children faced with the challenges of growing up and living with heart disease.
Bustamante, who is very close to his family, moved his mom to Los Angeles when he relocated there. He is also a proud dad. His daughter asks that he play a "good guy one time and a bad guy the next." Bustamante's credits include guest roles on "The Shield," "Without A Trace," "24," "Heroes,""Life," "Monk," and the films "Hostage" with Bruce Willis and "Sueño" opposite John Leguizamo.
To see videos of the EOE interviews, please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WUL0XbliuE
