A succession of actors for the same role is distressing for the public !
By Joan Mac Trevor, Ciné Télé Revue, 1985	Home   Cette page en Français

In the little story of Santa Barbara, Gina Gallego is the third and last Santana Andrade. She succeeded in the United States to Margaret Michaels. Like her character, this dark beauty has Mexican blood in her veins. By becoming an actress, Gina fulfilled the dream of her father's, a modest gardener. And it was on a television set that Gina met her husband, actor Joel Bailey who also appeared in Santa Barbara.

"I always dreamed of this job when I was a child. My father kept telling me that I was going to be an actress, and I believed what he told me. My parents are from Mexico, that's my heritage - but my siblings were born in Los Angeles. My father was fascinated by cinema..."

Gina Gallego took over the role of Santana at a particularly delicate moment. "The first day is always very distressing... For the public, I think it's a bit difficult to follow. We are very attached to the actor who embodies a character, to his appearance, to his way of moving. When he changes, it takes time to get used to it."

Before Santa Barbara, Gina had been part of the cast of the soap opera Flamingo Road with Morgan Fairchild. "It was a wonderful experience. It was while filming this soap opera that I became an adult. I was playing a very young and very naive character, Alicia, and I was very naive myself about certain things in life. At the same time as my character, I too grew up because I had met the man of my life, Joel played Tom in Flamingo Road. It wasn't really love at first sight. We talked from time to time on the set but I didn't realize that I was attracting him. I was too absorbed in my work, I had blinders on. On December 31, I found myself alone. Joel called me in the afternoon to invite me to spend the evening with him. As friends."

"Then the next day, he called me back and said, "Usually, I spend January 1st with my family in Florida, we watch the parades (very popular in the United States)... Can I come and watch the parades on television with you ?" It was when he told me this that he seduced me. I didn't know anyone, especially among boys his age, who would like to sit in front of the television to watch a parade. It reminded me of my grandfather who spent all his holidays in front of the television. Joel is really a simple boy, attached to his family, to home... I love that !".