Angelica Vale, star of the popular Mexican soap opera "The Prettiest Ugly Girl," has talked of her character's recent transformation from a nerdy and ugly office worker to mysterious woman with movie-star looks. The long-running tele-series is one of numerous adaptations of the original Colombian telenovela "I Am Ugly Betty."
In the Mexican version of the telenovela, Vale plays Leticia Padilla Solis, a girl who appears on the screen with thick black glasses, greasy hair, pimples and braces, but gradually transforms into a stunning woman with loud makeup, red hair and long dresses with gloves.
In an interview with AP, Vales likened her character of Leticia to her real life story.
"At one point they fired me from my job as the host of a television program because it's true, I was pretty fat," Vales said. But Vales acknowledges that it was her less-than -perfect figure that landed her the part of Leticia Padilla Solis.
"This is the first change for 'Lety' because there will be more surprises" before the finale, Vale said of the show which ends Feb 23.
"I'm very content with it, though, because what they wanted was to create a scandal that would draw a lot of attention, that would not go unnoticed," she said.
Last year, Mexican film actress Salma Hayek launched an American version of the telenovela dubbed "Ugly Betty." The show which airs on ABC is about a young Hispanic woman who lands an entry-level position at one of the most prestigious fashion magazines but her overall awkwardness make her an unlikely candidate for someone trying to break into the fashion industry.
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