LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Diego Boneta had grown tired of Hollywood鈥檚 obsession with narco storylines for Latinos. The actor decided he would provide some new source material with his debut novel, out Thursday, a self-described 鈥渕urder mystery, sexual thriller鈥 set around a fictional business dynasty.
鈥淎s someone who鈥檚 from Mexico City, seeing all these stories that are Mexican stories, most of them have been about narcos or border crossing. And that is part of our culture. But that鈥檚 only this,鈥 the actor said, gesturing to indicate it only makes up a small portion of Mexico. 鈥淪o why don鈥檛 we show the other stuff?鈥
Boneta, best known for portraying Latin pop icon Luis Miguel in and co-starring in is now fighting against these stereotypical portrayals by unveiling his debut novel, 鈥淭he Undoing of Alejandro Velasco.鈥 The Amazon Crossing book is publishing in English and available in Spanish on digital and audio formats. It is also slated for a television adaptation.
鈥淚 feel weird calling myself an author. I feel like I鈥檓 a storyteller,鈥 said Boneta, 34, who is also a producer and a musician. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most personal thing I鈥檝e ever done, so it鈥檚 really close to my heart.鈥
The novel centers on a mysterious man named Julian Villareal, who sets out to solve the mystery behind his friend and tennis rival Alejandro鈥檚 sudden death but finds himself in a series of twists and turns thanks to the Velasco family鈥檚 wealth and business ties.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in the vein of 鈥楾he Talented Mr. Ripley鈥 meets 鈥楳atch Point,鈥 set in San Miguel de Allende, full of plot twists,鈥 Boneta said.
Boneta says he wanted to set the novel in to showcase a different side of Mexico to mainstream audiences. He grew up visiting family in the historic city and calls it the 鈥淔lorence of Mexico.鈥
鈥淚 really wanted it to feel like it was coming from my heart. So, I had to write about things that I was really passionate about, and San Miguel is one of them,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 truly a magical town.鈥
Boneta did not plan on adding author to his list of attributes, until his sister and producing partner, Natalia Gonz谩lez-Boneta, suggested that they create their own intellectual property. Boneta will star as Julian in the Amazon Studios MGM series adaptation, which is currently in development. The actor and his team developed the novel and the series in tandem, though they put a pause on the series during the Boneta says that he crafted the character to challenge himself when bringing the story to the screen.
鈥淚 love transformative roles. I love the chameleon aspect of acting,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we tried to do with Julian and having the con man not be the introvert, but be like this like bon vivant guy. He鈥檚 so worldly and says he has so much money, but is he really who he says he is?鈥
Julian is a role Boneta dreamed about as a kid when he failed to see himself represented on screen. He still remembers growing up and wondering why Batman wasn鈥檛 someone who looked like his family members.
鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 the most powerful way of creating an exclusive environment,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, we鈥檙e doing the Latin Batman, and he鈥檚 gonna have a mariachi, sombrero and a lucha libre mask and maracas.鈥 I鈥檓 like, 鈥楧ude, I don鈥檛 wanna see that.鈥 I want the real Batman to happen to be a Latin guy. You don鈥檛 even have to make a thing out of it.鈥
