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Soap Opera Acting with "Telenovela" Star Jencarlos Canela

Soap Opera Acting with "Telenovela" Star Jencarlos Canela

7:28·By Gemma G
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About this video

Cue the wind machines! The YH Studio is en fuego when "Telenovela" star Jencarlos Canela pays us a visit to tell us all about his hilarious NBC comedy starring Eva Longoria, which happens to be familiar territory for the actor, as he has appeared in several actual telenovelas himself! To that end, we quiz him about on-screen kissing, some of the wackier storylines he's been involved in, and we challenge him to a good old-fashioned Telenovela Face-Off!

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Young Hollywood

Are you ready?

Jencarlos Canela

Yeah.

Young Hollywood

All right. 1, 2, 3. I broke. I broke. I broke. I broke. Here with Jen Carlos Candu Canela. Oh, Nikki No Chance. I told her I was going to call her that forever now. Yo, I love being with this. You just called Thank you for coming in. I'm I really love that you're here.

Jencarlos Canela

No, I love that I'm here as well.

Young Hollywood

How do you pronounce your name? In Spanish, it would be Jen

Jencarlos Canela

Can you do it in a very romantic Telenovela kinda way?

Young Hollywood

Oh God. I'd rather you do it in a very romantic Telenovela way. How?

Jencarlos Canela

Jen Carlos Canela.

Young Hollywood

Wow. Yeah. That was impressive. Oh, you'll find out soon that I am

Jencarlos Canela

Can I record you doing that? Just so I can

Young Hollywood

I am born to be on a Telenovela. That was amazing. I love how you rolled the R.

Jencarlos Canela

Oh, I can roll the R's all day long.

Young Hollywood

And no, if you rolled an R even where there wasn't an R.

Jencarlos Canela

That's right. I make up R's.

Young Hollywood

That's creative. And then and then the remote at the end. That was your nice way of saying I said it all wrong.

Jencarlos Canela

No, I loved it. I enjoyed it. I thought it was great. You had me hooked.

Young Hollywood

Okay. You did. Will you say Nikki No Chance Novack with uh Telenovela.

Jencarlos Canela

Sure. I'm going to give it a I'm going to give it a shot.

Young Hollywood

Okay. Can I set it up for you?

Jencarlos Canela

Sure.

Young Hollywood

I'm like, you've wanted me. Okay, you've wanted me. Since the moment I saw you. Since the moment you saw me. Okay. Since the moment you laid eyes. Okay. But I'm married to your brother.

Jencarlos Canela

Wow. Okay. So, you gave me that backstory just so I can say your name. Nikki No Chance. Yeah. You've got no chance 'cause I'm married to your brother. Okay. Nikki No Chance Novack.

Young Hollywood

Okay. Nikki No Chance Novack. Okay, first of all, you are a huge star. You've done Telenovelas before. Now you're on this NBC show with Eva Longoria.

Jencarlos Canela

There was so much going on and I'm primarily a musician and singer before an actor. So it wasn't something that I really wanted to do. And then one night, I get a phone call from from Eva which out of the blue and and her and I had we don't talk or anything.

Young Hollywood

Well, back then. Now you do.

Jencarlos Canela

She just now we do. Of course, now we're now we've gotten much closer.

Young Hollywood

Now you have nicknames for her.

Jencarlos Canela

Now we have nicknames for each other exactly. Yeah. She calls me and she's like, look Jen, uh there's a character. He's going to be you know, he's a singer. He's an actor based in Miami. And he's my love interest in the show and I was like, hey girl. That's enough. I'm done. You could have started there. You could have started there. You could have started with that.

Young Hollywood

So give me a good tip because I'm assuming in your Telenovela career, you've done some kissing. Yeah. What how do you make a good on-screen kiss? Because you can't kiss like you normally kiss, right? Because then your face is are too mashed in. Is that true? Don't you have to extend the lips more?

Jencarlos Canela

I had this thing where at first when I'm going to do a scene like that with someone. I just I like to talk to her first and say, hey, look with much respect. Is there something you feel uncomfortable? some

Young Hollywood

I love it that you talk dirty to her first. I'm like, wait, what? That'll do it. That works.

Jencarlos Canela

You imagine. It's like how do you like it baby?

Young Hollywood

So you work with Pitbull.

Jencarlos Canela

I have.

Young Hollywood

You know what I love that you know what I love about that song is that he says your name in the beginning. He's like, yo, yo. Carlos. Says my name. Yeah. Yeah. I've always wanted Pitbull to shout out. To say your name. Yeah.

Jencarlos Canela

Oh, we can we can make that happen.

Young Hollywood

Should we call him? Yeah. Are you chat with him?

Jencarlos Canela

It's my boy.

Young Hollywood

Um okay, so I have a couple little games for you. Okay. First of all, I want to know did you we're going to play did you ever? Did you ever do this when you were a Telenovela star? Did you ever have these plot lines on you know for your character on any of the shows you did? Okay. Did you ever come back from the dead?

Jencarlos Canela

Yes.

Young Hollywood

You're one for one. Did you ever find out the baby you thought was your baby wasn't your baby?

Jencarlos Canela

No.

Young Hollywood

Did you ever have an evil find out you had an evil You did?

Jencarlos Canela

Yes, thank God.

Young Hollywood

Two for two. Did you ever find out you had an evil twin brother?

Jencarlos Canela

No.

Young Hollywood

Did you ever get taken hostage?

Jencarlos Canela

Yes.

Young Hollywood

I love this. Did you ever ride a horse on the beach with no shirt on?

Jencarlos Canela

Yes.

Young Hollywood

Nice. Had a shirt on. Okay. Was it open flowing? Nice. Did you ever do a scene? A love scene in red satin sheets? I feel that that question is not on there and you just made it up. I want to know that.

Jencarlos Canela

It's written on there. I swear it's on my cards.

Young Hollywood

Okay. All right. What was the question? Did you ever do a love scene in red satin sheets? You seem so excited. You're like, are you kidding me? You ever do a love scene? I saved the best for last. Your eyes were like wide open. They're popping.

Jencarlos Canela

I'm popping for the red satin sheets. Like I'm kind of sad if I say no now. Like I kind of want to say yes.

Young Hollywood

Say yes.

Jencarlos Canela

Yeah, sure.

Young Hollywood

All right. I'm really excited. Okay. And last but not least, I have a challenge for you. I think like I said in the beginning, I should I could do some Telenovela acting. Okay. So I'm going to give us some scenarios and then we're going to do the face or whatever together. Okay. Are you game?

Jencarlos Canela

I'm game.

Young Hollywood

I'm putting you on the spot. But are you game?

Jencarlos Canela

Let's do it. I love challenges.

Young Hollywood

Let's do the end of scene stare. Okay. And I know you got a no over the shoulder situation. Let's do it. Yeah. I'm ready. One. What are you thrown into camera? What type of stare is it though? Are we upset at each other? Are we in love with each other?

Jencarlos Canela

Okay. We're upset at each other. We're upset, but we're also in love.

Young Hollywood

Okay. Oh, both. Okay. One. Wait. Oh, sorry. You have to get into character. I'm going to laugh. I feel like I'm going to laugh. Okay. Okay, are you ready?

Jencarlos Canela

Yeah.

Young Hollywood

All right. One, two, three. I broke. I broke. I broke. I broke. 1 2 3. I don't know. But did I do it?

Jencarlos Canela

Okay. That was amazing. Okay. I feel like you were going to like bite me.

Young Hollywood

Listen, there was a chance. Um, number two. Um, the I'm not going to cry lip quiver. You just did the some you your lip was moving in ways I've never seen a lip move before.

Jencarlos Canela

I was born to do the lip quiver.

Young Hollywood

Can you lip quiver? It is dangerous to date this girl. Because you can I feel like you can fake a cry very well. With that lip quivering? I've never gotten a speeding ticket. I'll put it that way. Look, I I knew it. Okay, lip quiver. Can you do it?

Jencarlos Canela

Yeah.

Young Hollywood

Was it good? Yeah. I never tried. Can we do a fake face slap?

Jencarlos Canela

Sure.

Young Hollywood

It has to be fake. No. You want to smack me? Go ahead. Oh, you want to slap me? Oh, you want me to hate you? I thought you were slapping me. Okay. Yeah. So I'll go this way. You can really deck me though. It's fine. Okay, ready? Okay. How could you cheat on me?

Jencarlos Canela

I'm sorry.

Young Hollywood

You can get a little closer though. Okay. How could you cheat on me? I I did. Did it look real? I'm over here. Okay. Last but not least, we're going to faint. We're going to faint. In a very dramatic way. Okay. And then I guess that's how we're going to take you out of the segment. Thank you for coming in. One, two, three. Bye. Bye.

Timestamps are approximate — click one to jump the player.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

  • Jencarlos Canela

    Main guest, star of 'Telenovela'

  • Nikki Novak

    Host of the interview, mentioned by name and role

  • Eva Longoria

    Co-star in 'Telenovela', called Jencarlos to offer him the role

  • Pitbull

    Musician, Jencarlos worked with him

FAQ

What show is Jencarlos Canela promoting?+
Jencarlos Canela is promoting his NBC comedy "Telenovela," where he stars alongside Eva Longoria.
What is Jencarlos Canela's background before acting?+
Jencarlos Canela states he was primarily a musician and singer before becoming an actor.
What advice does Jencarlos Canela give for on-screen kissing?+
Jencarlos advises talking to his scene partner first to ensure comfort and respect, and that actors often extend their lips more to avoid mashed faces.
What kind of plotlines has Jencarlos Canela experienced in telenovelas?+
Jencarlos has experienced plotlines such as coming back from the dead, having an evil twin brother, and being taken hostage.
Who calls Jencarlos Canela to offer him a role in "Telenovela"?+
Eva Longoria personally called Jencarlos Canela to offer him the role in "Telenovela" as her character's love interest.
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