By: Jason Sheppard

Columbian born actor Victor Turpin is making waves for his roles on Days of Our Lives and Shades of Blue

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In just a very short amount of time, Colombian-born Victor Turpin has been living his lifelong dream of being a professional actor. Within the last year, Turpin has appeared in Will and Grace and Happily Divorced. Keen-eyed soap opera fans may recall seeing him play Diego on Days of Our Lives. 

This summer, Turpin is earning a new set of international fans as Enrique on the hit NTV series Shades of Blue, where of course he shares many scenes with Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta. Turpin spoke to The Herald about himself and his career. 

Acting Bug

 “I got the bug for acting since I was a kid, my family is very artistic,” says Turpin of his earliest desire to perform. “There was always music and singing in every party. I grew up leaning more towards the arts, singing, drawing, acting, being the entertainer in class.  Also, my sister, who’s older than me used to be a singer and dancer. I used to attend all her performances, watching and learning and wanting to do it myself.” 

As a teenager, Turpin started singing in a choir and going to open call auditions for local TV stations. While studying advertising in university, he continued singing and even modelling. After graduation, he decided to follow his passion which was acting and singing. Turpin moved to Bogota, Columbia and began searching for a producer to make a music album. During this time, he took acting classes. After working for commercials and telenovelas, he then decided to take it a step even further and move to Los Angeles – which he refers to as “the land of opportunities,” where he was looking to advance his career. 

Turpin landed roles on Days of Our Lives, Happily Divorced and this year, on Will and Grace. When Will and Grace star Debra Messing starred in the 1995 sitcom Ned and Stacey, it was her very first TV role. Turpin for one, says he also realizes the steps a performer must take to establish a character where after an audience has seen them, they will then say ‘Wow! Who is that?’

“I think you just need to really commit and put yourself aside – how you look, how you think and start being the character. Give it your all,” he shares. “Once you are totally committed and submerged in your character, the audience will see it, and you will clearly communicate who that character is and this will allow the audience to hate it or love it, but they will remember it.”   

Turpin is doing that this summer with his role as Enrique on Shades of Blue. He admits that the level of talent on the popular drama is quite extraordinary with Lopez and Liotta. He says when all actors merge talents it creates something special. 

“Actors feed from each other. We react from the emotions and choices of the other actors playing in the scene. We also learn from watching others do a scene. It doesn’t matter if we are in it or not. Many times, I would just sit on set to watch other actors do their scenes because as actors we never stop learning and trying to perfect our craft.” 

A Lasting Career

With performers on shows such as Will and Grace and Shades of Blue now being performers for 20 to 30 years, Turpin admits this is the kind of lasting career he would also ultimately like.

“Of course, that is my goal,” he admits. “To keep going, keep developing and to be able to live as long as I live and do what I love.” 

With the success Turpin is experiencing this year, he says he’s now returning to a show which should please many Newfoundland soap fans:

“I am returning to do another role on Days of Our Lives this week,” he told us. “It was my first American credit, when I had just moved to L.A., my first USA job on TV, so it was really exciting and it meant a lot to me to be a part of such an iconic production that has been entertaining audiences for decades, not only in USA, but all over the world.”

Most every actor has that dream role in mind, the one they feel they must play and Turpin is no exception.

“I would love to play a Latin superhero,” he admits. “Sadly, there are not too many. Maybe ‘El Zorro’ was the only one that left a mark.” 

While the three series Turpin have appeared in this year, Will and Grace, Shades of Blue and of course Days of Our Lives are broadcast on NTV, we of course asked Turpin would it take to get him down here to Newfoundland to dazzle audiences in a project? 

“A good project, a good script and the right time to do it. I love Canada, I’ve been to Toronto and Montreal, and I would like to keep falling in love with many other parts of it.”