Nathalie Kelley
(Photo : Twitter: @Overlooked_Inc)

As portrayed in her latest show, "The Baker and the Beauty," Latina star Nathalie Kelley never really had the luxury of growing up with other Latinos. The series premiered on Monday about a Cuban-American family operating bakery in Miami.


Living the Latina Life?

When she was still young, the celebrity, along with her Peruvian mother and Argentinian father, moved to Sydney from Peru. There, Kelley and her family felt like an outsider, even with the increase in the number of Latinos living in Australia then. 

While she could not find enough people who looked like her in Sydney, Kelley stated that in her early years, she had always been attracted to learning about her Latin American heritage and was going out with Brazilians who also moved to the country--so much that she felt herself being an "adopted" Brazilian.

However, she did not have a complete link to her historical roots until she returned to South America while she was still 16 years old.

"There were just so many feelings and emotions. It was the ultimate homecoming," Kelley said during an interview. "I just felt this deep sense of belonging, but at the same time, I recognized, 'Whoa, I grew up very differently, and things aren't all great here. It's not this fantasyland I created in my head. In my head, I thought it was going to be like that Lambada video with everyone dancing on the beach."

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Kelly as Noa Hamilton

Kelly portrays Noa Hamilton, an international celebrity and a fashion supermodel who fell in love with Daniel Garcia, played by actor Victor Rasuk, an average guy who works at his family's bakery in the show.

In the show, Hamilton is judged as shallow because of her popularity. But that doesn't stop her from flying to Puerto Rico to establish schools.

"She's really passionate about all her causes and looks out for the people who work for her because they're her family." said Kelley, talking about her character, "in addition to taking care of her mom who's sick."

"She's got a big heart, and that's what drew me to her; it's an opportunity to peel back the layers and see the real authentic and vulnerable woman underneath the strong, opinionated, powerful boss woman who lays awake at night wondering if she's ever going to find love."

Adjusted from a famous series of Israeli artists in Miami, the show has been almost completely recorded in Puerto Rico with total revenue of $57 million on the island. According to Carlos Gomez, who portrays the father of Daniel and the head of the Garcia family in the series, both the cast and the crew were almost exclusively Latin Americans.

Although 'The Baker and the Beauty' focuses on the relationship involving Hamilton and Garcia, Kelley states the series is just as much a "love story" as it is a family celebration.