William Levy, star of Sortilegio

William Levy Gutiérrez was born August 28, 1980 in Cojimar, Havana, Cuba. His first career was as a model, and he was then in a couple of Telemundo reality shows: Isla de la Tentación and Protagonistas de Novela 2.

We saw him first on Univision in Mi Vida Eres Tu and Acorralada; then he had his breakout in Carla Estrada's Pasión, and afterwards he was the lead in Cuidado con el Angel with actress Maite Perroni. (Seen with him in this picture - oh, amazing, he got the girl.)

Of all these, the only one I saw was Pasión.

I think it's his current role, as the smart, tender, sexy millionaire who falls in love with the girl of humble origins who has been presented to him as (surprise!) his wife following his near death in a car crash, that's going to really send him skyrocketing.

Carla Estrada is perhaps the most respected producer of telenovelas today; until now she mostly made period pieces like "Alborada."

In Pasión, she cast Levy as a blacksmith with a, uh, weak personality. He was loved by - and redeemed by - the sweet, ingenuous Ines, though he also carried on a romance with a frizzy-haired modern beauty on the side.

He had one of the worst haircuts ever seen on tv - a very, very long mullet.

William Gutiérrez Levy was born in Cuba, but before he was 15 years old he emigrated legally to the United States because his stepfather obtained political asylum and was able to get his family out of the country.

While Levy was secondary school he excelled at baseball, which permitted him to get a scholarship to university. He began his studies in business administration, but after two years he stopped in order to enter the entertainment agency; he was hired as a model...

It was during his work on Protagonistas de novela 2 that he met the Mexican-American actress Elizabeth Gutiérrez; they have a son named Christopher Alexander, but their relationship has come to an end according to statements of the actor himself; nevertheless they are expecting a second child according to statements by the actress.

He's decided to stay in the artistic realm and studied acting in Miami, Los Angeles, and Mexico. In July of 2009 he professed the Catholic religion.

Long ago, two married people had a torrid affair. The woman got pregnant. Her husband, who was infertile, spirited her off to Europe where she gave birth to twins. He raised them with great love as if they were his own. Unfortunately, they turned out to be the villains of this story: Raquel is spoiled and capricious, Bruno is angry and doesn't want to share his mommy with anybody.

There in Europe, the kind husband and his once-straying wife live in harmony until he dies, but not before he tenderly tells his beloved spouse, "Go back to Mexico and find that guy, the love of your life, the father of your twins." Considerate, eh?

So she goes, and discovers that the love-of-her-life's wife died giving birth to Alex (the hero of our story - William Levy), so he's widowed also, so the two reunite and raise their three kids together, not telling any of them that they all have the same blood father. Are you following? Also, they're filthy rich.

They grow up. The dad realizes Bruno (the bad son) is a disaster and so in his will he leaves everything to the good son except for a few random very handsome properties. Then he sticks his crutch-tip into a hole in the sidewalk and gets smashed to death by a motorcycle.

Bruno and his sister quickly run through their inheritances, but they are living in luxury in Alex's mansion - along with the mom and a big batch of servants.

Bruno hatches a peculiar plot. He finds a pretty poor girl on vacation in Cancún (so how could she afford that?), makes her fall in love with him (by the device of always having his shirt unbuttoned), and marries her - all under the name of his brother Alex! Then he hires a guy to kill Alex by running him off the road into a chasm. See, then the "widow" will inherit everything, and he Bruno who she THOUGHT she married can marry her and then HE'LL have everything!

But Alex doesn't die. So when he gets back from the hospital he discovers he's "married" a woman he's never seen before. Now, gradually, he and she are falling in love for real as he tries to unwind his evil half-brother's machinations.

That's as far as we've gotten. Oh, except of course she's pregnant.

My translation from an interview published in May 2009 called "William Levy has a proposal from Hollywood"

The Cuban actor William Levy, star of Mexican telenovelas, was contacted by Gene Mottola, of the U.S. Mottola Entertainment productions, who offered him participation in a project.

"It will be after the telenovela Sortilegio is complted," said Levy, who was named in the list of the "50 most beautiful men" in People en espanol, and who some have called "the Latino Brad Pitt."

"There are also other projects in the Latino cinema. ... I hope the project (with Mottola) comes through, because the American movie industry is what I would like to dedicate myself to in the future."

In agreement with Universal Pictures, Mottolla is preparing the filming of "Life in the Fastlane," which will be produced by his company and by Sundeep Malani, an iconic actress from India.

Levy left Cuba with his family for Miami when he was 15, after the United States granted his stepfather political asylum. His grandmother still lives in Cuba.

"I had to part from my family, leave my native country because of the Cuban government, I don't want to go into details. I had to confront very difficult things even as a child... What's difficult ... is the moment of leaving your loved ones behind, those that you slept with every night in the same bed; we all slept together," said the actor.

"But at that age I already knew I had to leave to help find a better future for myself and my family."

Mujer is the Spanish word for woman (it's often used, though, as in mi mujer, to mean "my wife"). A mujeriego is a womanizer, a philanderer, a skirt-chaser.

Handsome movie and tv stars are often gossiped about. There has been gossip about Levy and his past co-stars (like Maite Perroni) and his current one as well (Jacqueline Bracamontes). It is not for me to say. But a guy who is constantly found posing in very tiny undies would not be my first choice as a husband.

Or, as Susana says...

HERE WE ARE! Caray, Caray! Come see us!