Ximena Duque is one of the most beloved telenovela stars in the industry starring in hits like "La Casa de Al Lado", "Corazón Valiente", "Santa Diabla" and others. With the #MeToo movement in Hollywood getting stronger and gaining momentum, there have not been many cases exposed within the Latin production world of telenovelas. However, Duque recently broke her silence on a moment in her career where she was presented with the horrible decision of having sex with a producer to land a lead role in a telenovela.
“It happened to me and it was very sad because I was very disappointed. I said to myself: ‘If this is what the career I want to pursue is like, then I’d rather not do it. I’d rather not follow this path," she told "Suelta La Sopa". “He tells me: ‘I have all [these job offers] for you, soap operas, you will have a leading role tomorrow. And I said: ‘Where do I sign?’”.
The encounter happened right after she took part in the reality show "Protagonistas De Novela", she added: “After I signed, he calls me into his office one day and says: ‘I have the perfect plan for you. I’m going to explain to you how this profession works. There is the long way and there is the short way. The short way is very simple, you and I go out with a couple of executives from different companies — and you can have your leading role tomorrow. Or there is the long way, which will take a long time and who knows when you will get your leading role, or when you will be cast in a soap opera, but you decide.'”
“I looked at him and said: ‘It doesn’t matter how long it takes me, whether it’s 10 years or 20, I choose the long way. And it has been a long way because I still haven’t had a leading role.”
Ximena Duque ultimately made the right decision and didn't accept the offer and worked hard to earn her place in the telenovela world. The actress has done so well that she moved on and landed roles on "Days of our Lives" and "Queen of the South".
“The moment you make the decision to do something like that, to sell yourself or give yourself away for a role, it’s very sad. But if you already did it, there is no sense in regretting it,” she said. “I ask myself: ‘How far will a woman go?’… As a woman, you set the limit. If you tell the executive or that person who is giving you a compliment, ‘What’s wrong with you? Goodbye!’ then doors will close for you. So that’s where you have to use your intelligence, but that intelligence has to have a limit.”
However, Ximena says that it's not only women that face this dilemma, she knows of men that have also been put in these situations. “It not only happens to women nowadays, also to men. It’s very sad that there are men who have had to sleep with another man for a role,” she said. “People who are in that situation now may get their leading role tomorrow, but your career is over like this,” she says clicking her fingers, “when that executive is no longer there.”
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