| Eduardo Verástegui | |
| Birth Name: | José Eduardo Verástegui Córdoba |
| Birth Date: | 21 May 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico[1] |
| Years Active: | 1990s–present |
José Eduardo Verástegui Córdoba (pronounced as /es/; born May 21, 1974) is a Mexican actor, singer, and producer. He was part of the band Kairo and later embarked on a solo music career, before he started appearing in Mexican telenovelas and eventually feature films like Chasing Papi, Bella, and Little Boy, the latter two produced by his own production company, Metanoia.
His political ideas have been described as ultra-conservative and far-right by various media outlets.[2] [3] Currently, Eduardo directs the Viva México movement. On September 7, 2023, he registered as an independent candidate for the 2024 Mexican presidential election.[4] He was later disqualified from the election, as he did not meet the required number of signatures.[5]
Verástegui is popular on social media, with an active YouTube channel of nearly 300,000 subscribers.[6]
Verástegui was born on May 21, 1974, in Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico. And grew up in the town of Xicoténcatl.[7] Son of José Jesús Verástegui Treviño (1950-2022), a sugarcane farmer, and Alicia Córdoba, Eduardo, He was raised in a practicing Catholic family.[8] [9] and was interested in the world of entertainment since his childhood,[10] After studying law for a time, Verástegui decided to instead try his hand at modeling, acting and singing and moving to Mexico City at the age of 17 to enter the Televisa Artistic Education Center (CEA).[11]
Before he began his acting career, Verástegui was a backing singer and founding member of the musical group Kairo. Eduardo Verástegui, his lone solo album to date, was released in 2001 following his collaboration with the aforementioned ensemble on the albums Signo del tiempo (1994) and Gaudium (1995).
At the end of the 90s he appeared in some Mexican television productions such as Una luz en el camino (1998), Soñadoras (1998-1999) and Alma rebel (1999).
After finding success as a musical entertainer, and then as a soap opera star, he decided to pursue a career in Hollywood.[12] 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.[13] 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".[14] [15]
In 2011 Verástegui produced a new short film, titled Crescendo.[16] [17] The short, starring Colombian actress Montserrat Espadalé, was awarded at the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival and won awards at other important events such as the Heartland International Film Festival, the Rochester Film Festival, the San Antonio Film Festival and the San Diego Latino Film Festival.
In 2012 he played the Mexican martyr Anacleto González Flores in the historical film Cristiada, directed by Dean Wright and starring Andy García, Eva Longoria and Peter O'Toole.[18] The film was based on the events of the Cristero War and obtained several nominations for the ALMA awards in 2002, among other recognitions.
In 2014 he served as executive producer and provided the voice of Jesus of Nazareth in the dubbing of the film Son of God. A year later he played the role of Eduardo Furtillo in Andy Fickman's film and Father Crispín in the film Little Boy, another project from the company Metanoia Films where he again served as producer.[19] [20] [21] The film, starring Emily Watson, Kevin James, David Henri, Jacob Salvati and Ben Chaplin, tells the story of Pepper, an eight-year-old boy who goes to great lengths to reunite with his father, a soldier who fought in World War II, and was captured by the Japanese.[22] In 2016, Verástegui produced the documentary The Other Part: The Untold History of Narco, a work that tells the story of the son of one of Mexico's first drug traffickers and his fight for redemption.[23] [24]
In 2017 the actor made an appearance in the episode "Trainer Wreck" of the second season of the American CBS television series Kevin Can Wait, playing the role of Alejandro.[25] A year later, filming began in the city of Bogotá on a new Metanoia Films production titled The Sound of Freedom, which will present the events of the rescue carried out by the organization Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) of more than one hundred child victims of sexual exploitation in Colombia. That same year it was announced that American actor Jim Caviezel would be in charge of playing Tim Ballard, founder of the OUR organization.[25] [26]
Verástegui is an 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.[15] [27]
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 campaign during the presidential race.[28]
Actively involved in anti-abortion organizations, he has established Manto de Guadalupe, an anti-abortion organization based in Los Angeles and offering a crisis pregnancy center.[29]
On September 15, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate and appoint Eduardo Verástegui to be a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity.[30] Verástegui signed the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by the far-right Spanish party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".[31]
In November 2022, Verástegui organized a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Mexico.[32] [33]
In September 2023, he filed paperwork with the National Electoral Institute enabling him to collect signatures for a possible run as an independent candidate for President of Mexico in the 2024 general election.[34] [35] His efforts were unsuccessful, as his campaign did not met the required number of signatures; he only got 165,166 signatures, far behind the 961,000 signatures necessary for participating.[36] [5]
As of February 2024, Verástegui was under investigation by the National Electoral Institute (INE) for illegal foreign funding of his presidential campaign.[37] There were financial transactions from a political firm in Miami, United States to Verástegui's personal account. Verástegui then transferred US$390,000 from that personal account to his campaign between October and December 2023.[38] INE has asked the Financial Intelligence Unit and Tax Administration Service to look into the origin of these funds.[39]
Verástegui cofounded the production company Metanoia Films (the Greek word for "conversion") with co-founders and partners Sean Wolfington, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde and Leo Severino. The company is based in Beverly Hills, California. The company released its debut film Bella directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde and starring Verástegui. The latest project of the company is Little Boy 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 and captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Pepper has to befriend Hashimoto, a Japanese man living in his town.[40]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Chasing Papi | Thomas Fuentes | ||
| 2005 | Meet Me in Miami | Eduardo | ||
| 2006 | Bella | José | ||
| 2009 | The Butterfly Circus | Mr. Mendez | Short film | |
| 2012 | Cristiada | |||
| 2014 | Son of God | Spanish dubbing | ||
| 2015 | Eduardo Furtillo | |||
| 2015 | Little Boy | Fr. Crispin | ||
| 2023 | Sound of Freedom | Paul Delgado | Also producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Mi querida Isabel | Malaysia | ||
| 1998 | Soñadoras | Manuel Vasconzelos Jr. | ||
| 1998 | Una luz en el camino | Daniel | ||
| 1999 | Tres mujeres | Ramiro Belmont | ||
| 1999 | Alma rebelde | Emiliano Hernández / Mauro Expósito | ||
| 2003 | Jarod Parker | "Forced Entry" (Season 1, Episode 14) | ||
| 2003 | Karen Sisco | Tuck Rodriguez | "Dear Derwood" (Season 1, Episode 6) | |
| 2004 | Charmed | Mr. Right | "Prince Charmed" (Season 6, Episode 11) | |
| 2015 | Nuestra Belleza Latina 2015 | Himself | Celebrity guest (Finale) | |
| 2017 | Kevin Can Wait | Alejandro | "Trainer Wreck" (Season 2, Episode 11) |