VICTOR-Y
DAYS's Franco Finds success In America -- and a special friendship with Kristian Alfonso -- in Spite of his "Big Nose" and limited Enlgish.

When Italian-Born Victor Alfieri decided to come to America to become an actor two yeras ago, he learned English right away. But something was clearly lost oni the translation. "I didn' thave a car," Alfieri recalls, laughing, "So I walked everywhere. I would walk up and down Santa Monica Boulevard waiting for the bus. These men were always offering me rides and things. And I'm thinking, 'Everyone in America is so nice.' But then it hit me -- they think I'm a prostitue!"

Well, if hooking the audience was a crime, Alfieri -- incidentaly a former cop in Italy -- would have been booked a long time ago. He caught the eye of DAYS OF OUR LIVES audience when he dubed in the role of engimatic model Franco Kelly in August and since that time, this real-life former model has thrown a wrinkle into the rekindled relationship of Bo and Hope. "Franco does not want to hrut htem; he thinks they are nic epeople. But he is falilng for Hope," Alfieri stresses. "Someone is paying him to cause trouble." Throw into the equation the fact that Franco dated Billie in Europe and you have a twisted quadrangle.

"I love playing Franco," Alfieri declares, sitting in his dressing room trying to contain his boundless enthusiasm. "He is incredible. A little mysterious, dangerous, funny. He is a model, a spy, a chef. Franco can do anything he watns to."

The same thing could be said, perhaps, about Alfieri -- save the evil part. He is a self-described "nice guy who believes in being nice to everyone," but does share Franco's impetuous personaltity. "Two years ago," Alfieri says, "I just decided I'm going to America to be an actor. It's the best move I ever made. I grabbed a bag, $200 and told my mother I'm going. And she was like 'What?' and I said, "You heard me.' My mom was supportive, but the rest of my family was not. To them, I'm like the black sheep. My uncle, my aunt, my grandmother....they were all like, he is skinny, he has a big nose, he doesn't know English. Dont' worry. He will be back."

Despite (or maybe because of his "big nose" and fractured English, Alfieri who has never studied acting -- got a commercial almost immediately. But it was nine months before he started working regularly as an actor. "I spent almost a year sleeping on a friend's floor," Alfieri recalls. "No money, no food. I suffered, but I never gave up. I always believed in myself. And I figured [Arnold] Schwarzenegger and [Jean Claude] Van Damme have accents, and they are working." His never-say-die spirit and charming, sexy accent "But I need to reduce it, I think") eventually led to roles on MUDER, SHE WROTE and NED AND STACEY, a TV movie with Kirstie Alley, adn a brief, recurring role as Jose (the boat guy) on DAYS before landing Franco, his biggest break.

Alfieri insists that this new found success has not altered him in the least. "Nothing has changed," he says. "I'm still the same guy, living int hee same bedroom apartment in Hollywood. It's very messy and I have some bad neighbors. I just want to do my job."

By all accounts, he has done that well. In rehearsals, Alfieri says he often makes suggestions that his co-stars Peter Reckell (Bo) and Kristian Alfonso (Hope) take a note of. "they are stars, but they treat me like a professional," Alfieri marvles. "We are a team." If the rumor mill is correct, he and Alfonso have become more than an On-Camera duo, but Alfonso insists the two are "just friends." Alfieri maintains that he is not looking for romance. "Alot of people come after you for the money or because you're on a sopa, not for who you are," he points out. "So, I don't believe in looking for [a relationship]. When it's right, it will find me." Alfieri admits that Alfonso assists him immeasurably with his English. "I understand the words," he says, "but not always now they are used, and Kristian helps me alot. I had a line recently where I say, 'Are you sure I can't see you home?' And I had to say, 'Kristian, what this means?' Things like that." For his part, Alfieri is returning the favori in this on-job Berlitz program. "I try to teach her italian,"He Laughs, "and she will learn!"

When he isn't working, the actor likes to go to the beach. "I always have a great time," he says. And to the movies. "I willl go by myself if I have to go...all the time. I just love movies. Give me a box of popcorn and I'm happy."

In the future, Alfieri dreams of building his vila and farm in italy. "I already have a big piece of land," he sighs. "And I love animals." as if to prove that, Alfieri cups his hands together to do the mating call of a wile pig. "They can kill you, but I'll live to call them over," he says.

Let's see Franco attempt that.

(Soap Opera Digest, November 19, 1996 - By Alan Carter)