Alfonso Herrera at a 2019 gala in Washington. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts’ Gala Night)
BY Alejandro Feregrino-. When it comes to Rebelde and RBD, Alfonso Herrera has mixed feelings. On the one hand, a deep gratitude for this project that made him famous; on the other hand, a feeling of injustice for having signed an unfair contract in which the members of the group have given up everything: image rights, the character and for the exploitation of merchandising.
We didn’t see a single peso. I was 23 or 24 years old and I saw the faces of my classmates and my face on all the counters selling cookies, gum, juices, notebooks, tennis shoes, pencils and nothing.
“For example, we did a Los Angeles Coliseum with 63,000 people, and they paid me 18,000 pesos for it,” he recalls.
The Tragedy of Brazil
But there is one special event that shaped his life and that has not yet been able to overcome: the deaths of three teenagers in Brazil during a riot caused by a lack of security and organization at a group autograph session.
That happened in February 2006 and since then all the members of the band – Anahí, Dulce María, Maite, Christian and Christopher – have admitted on various occasions that this was the most difficult moment they had experienced in those years.
But this time, Poncho went ahead and talked about it the consequences that this event left in his life.
“To this day I still get a bit scared when I go to a place where there are a lot of people,” he admitted in a recent interview with El País.
We were alone and supporting each other because we didn’t have any psychological support to deal with this situation. It was very hard.
Some time later, he recalls, they all returned to Brazil to meet with the families of the young women who had died, whom they paid their respects to.
“That event made a very deep impression on me and no matter how hard I try to reverse it, it’s still there,” he confessed.
His companions have now announced this a new tour with concerts in Mexico, the United States and Brazilthe actor he wanted to stay away and prioritize his acting career.
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“I think it’s great that they’re doing well because I appreciate them, I love them and I respect them. We share things that nobody else can know and that the six of us have been there in difficult moments, in happy moments and in difficult moments like in Brazil.”
But on several occasions he has realized that he will never deny the platform that RBD has meant in his professional life, His real passion isn’t music, it’s acting.
“I am very happy with the projects that I have at the moment and where I have the energy at the moment. I know that this project – the RBD meeting – will be a great success and I have only good wishes for them.”
“At one point a magazine came out that I had charged an exorbitant amount of money for the return, and what I was trying to say is that they better pay them (their colleagues) for all the shit they’ve gotten into for so many years. It has nothing to do with money, it has to do with what is fair.”
Although most of his acting projects have been done in Mexico, Alfonso has also tried his luck in Hollywood and it hasn’t gone bad at all. He had a major role in the Wachowski sisters’ series Sense8 and also in Ozark. Despite this, he assured that the jump to the United States was not his only priority.
“The north doesn’t keep me awake. Since I can go north, I can go south or go back to Mexico. The only thing that interests me is working on things that excite me, that excite me and that challenge me, like ¡Que Viva México!’, he said in reference to his latest film, directed by Luis Estrada.