Ser bonita no basta

Ser Bonita No Basta (Beauty is not enough) is a 2005 Venezuelan telenovela produced by RCTV and distributed internationally by RCTV International. Marjorie De Sousa and Ricardo Álamo star as the main protagonists while Fedra López and Hugo Vasquez star as the main antagonists.

Plot

The telenovela tells the story of three half-sisters: Coral Torres, Topacio Martínez and Esmeralda Falcón. Three sisters are completely unaware of each other's existence and of the fact that their father, Asdrúbal Torres, is still alive. The only thing that links them is a birthmark in the shape of a crescent.

All three sisters are incredibly beautiful in their own way, but nevertheless miserable in their private life.

Characters

Protagonists

• Coral Torres: Coral is the eldest of the three sisters. She is a fashion model, who is constantly controlled by her dictator-like mother, Soledad. She loves Alejandro and always has, but there is no way her mother will let them have a happily ever after. Nor will Soledad let anything else stand in the way of her dream of Coral being the top model of Venezuela, not even her own granddaughter. Coral had a daughter which was named Perlita, but as a result of her mother's plots and manipulations she was robbed of both her child and the man she loved. Now Coral is forced to continue pursuing the dream that was never hers, and that she has grown to detest.
• Topacio Martínez: Topacio grew up as an orphan in orphanage. The only family she ever knew was a brother from the orphanage who died at a young age. Due to her extraordinary beauty, she becomes Ms. Venezuela, but gives it all away at the moment of victory, for the man she loves. Unfortunately the man, Orlando Álvarez, is just using her beauty and fame to his own advantage and does not have any real love for her. Once he has gained all that he can from their relationship, he abandons her at the altar in front of the whole world. This leaves Topacio completely destroyed.
• Esmeralda Falcón: Esmeralda is the youngest of the sisters. In the beginning of the novela, she takes care of her dying mother. She is tormented by her two wicked stepsisters, who have for years bullied her and stole the credit and rewards from her fashion drawings. At her deathbed, Esmeralda's mother tells her the truth about her real father and that he is alive. After her mother's death, she tells this to her stepsisters who lock her up in her room to keep her from leaving to find her father.
• Alejandro Mendoza: Alejandro is a handsome young attorney to be. He loves and always has loved Coral, but their happiness is shattered by her wicked mother, Soledad. Alejandro is also, unbeknownst to himself, the father of Coral's child Perlita, who was given away at birth by her grandmother, Soledad.
• Julián "El Duque" Mendoza: El Duque is Alejandro's brother. In the course of the telenovela, he becomes Esmeralda's hero, saving her from being raped, and her loved-one.

Villains

• Soledad Olavarría: Soledad is the tyrannic mother of Coral. She is emotionless and determined to make sure her daughter becomes the top model she never got to be, whether Coral likes it or not. She refuses to let anything stand in the way of her obsessed determination. She steals Corals chance for a life with the man she loves and their daughter, Perlita.
• Orlando Álvarez is Topacio's deceitful fiancée. He was only with her to become famous and to also otherwise take advantage of her fame and beauty. Underneath his polishes appearance he is a cold-hearted opportunist. After taking Topacio for all that he considers she is worth he cruelly dumps her at the altar leaving her shattered. He considers her a typical beauty - beautiful, but air-headed. In the course of the telenovela, he will be proven incredibly wrong on that assessment.

Cast

• Marjorie De Sousa ... Coral Torres Olavarría, (Heroine)
• Ricardo Álamo ... Alejandro Mendoza (Hero)
• Javier Vidal ... Asdrúbal Torres (the father of the three heroines)
• Flavia Gleske ... Topacio Martínez (Heroine)
• Ricardo Bianchi ... Julián Mendoza 'El Duque' (Hero)
• Marianela González ... Esmeralda Falcón (Heroine)
• Fedra López ... Soledad Olavarría (Coral's mother, Villain)
• Hugo Vasquez ... Orlando Álvarez (Villain)
• Alejandro Otero ... Francisco Arias
• Marlene Maseda ... Carmela Guerra
• Adolfo Cubas ... Justo Olavarría
• Juan Carlos Baena ... Eduardo Márquez
• Ernesto Balzi ... Ezequiel Villavicencio
• Beatriz Vásquez ... Teresa de Mendoza
• Leopoldo Regnault ... Reynaldo Mantilla
• Alejandro Mata ... Don Ramiro Campos
• Nathalie Cortez ... Etelvina Martínez
• Gioia Lombardini ... Doña Consuelo Rojas
• Sandy Olivares ... Darío Peña
• Maria Antonieta Castillo ... Elena 'Lala' Tirado (Coral's cousin and Perlita's stepmother)
• Ana Gabriela Barboza ... Jazmín Falcón (Esmeralda's stepsister, Villain)
• Lolymar Sanchez ... Rosa 'Rosita' Falcón (Esmeralda's stepsister, Villain)
• Sebastián Falco ... Benjamín Eskenazi
• Carmen Alicia Lara ... Eilín Campos
• Anabella Troconis-Neri ... Isabelina Villavicencio
• María Gabriela de Faría ... Andreína Márquez
• Verónica Cortez ... Margot de Falcón (Esmeralda's mother)
• César Román ... Ramón Seijas 'Ramsés'
• Crisol Carabal ... Michelle
• Dora Mazzone ... Betty Marrero
• Ligia Petit ... Gala (Coral's evil model-colleague)

References