Chasing his dream to a ‘Bella’ beginning

It took a lot of soul searching and a few lean years for Mexican-born actor Eduardo Verastegui to realize his career path.

Verastegui, 33, is the star and a producer of the movie “Bella,” which opens Friday. He pulls the heartstrings as Jose, a former international soccer star whose career ended abruptly.

Jose has retreated from the world, working as a cook in his brother’s Manhattan eatery. He finds redemption when he befriends another lost soul, a pregnant waitress (Tammy Blanchard).

A few years ago, Verastegui says, “I realized the reasons why I wanted to be an actor when I was an 18-year-old were very superficial. Everything was the fame, the pleasures and success. I lost perspective of everything.”

Verastegui, who hails from a small town in northern Mexico, originally followed his father’s wishes and studied to be a lawyer. But he quickly realized he didn’t have the passion for such a career. He moved to Mexico City to pursue his dream of becoming an actor and singer. Almost overnight, he joined the Mexican pop group Kairo.

“I was 19, and to travel to more than 15 countries and play stadiums . . . it was very fast.”

But after 3 1/2 years of being the Latino Justin Timberlake, he realized he wanted more. So he gave up the group and began a lucrative four-year career playing Latin lovers in telenovelas. But he realized, yet again, “something was missing.”

So Verastegui moved to Miami and recorded his first solo album. While flying to Los Angeles to promote his record, he met a studio casting executive, which led to the lead role in the 2003 comedy “Chasing Papi.” But he still wasn’t happy.

“I realized that Latinos since the 1940s have been stereotyped in a very negative way,” he says. “I realized there have been very few times they had the opportunity to play heroes -- men who come to this country with a spirit of gratitude to work and serve. Men of integrity and honesty.”

So he made a commitment that he would never lend his talents to a project that would offend the Latin community or his parents. Of course, turning down roles came at a price -- he had problems paying his rent.

Tired of waiting for the perfect role to come along, he formed a production company, Mentanoia Films, with his two best friends: “Bella” writer-director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde and attorney Leo Serverino.

They set up their office in Verastegui’s house -- “a little sofa, a table, a couple of cellphones and a big dream.”