On a cloudless afternoon on South Beach, Aarón Díaz and Lola Ponce are having a very Miami moment. The sultry couple prance and pose in besotted bliss as paparazzi dart between beachgoers, trying to catch a shot. Giggling, lovesick fans clamor for Díaz's attention, but the pair — perfectly tanned and swimsuit slim — only have eyes for each other. While still new on the US pop culture scene, Díaz and Ponce are global sensations, thanks to star turns on hit telenovelas and a ripped-from-the-script real-life romance.
Tall, dark, and handsome in an almost otherworldly way, Mexico-born Díaz is particularly famous to Spanish-language soap fans, with his six-pack abs and chiseled features that make teenage girls swoon. Ponce,
meanwhile, is an Argentine-born sex bomb, best known in Italy and Latin America as a pop-opera chanteuse.
They each landed in Miami in October 2010 — Díaz from Los Angeles, Ponce from Rome — lured by plum roles on the telenovela "El Talismán," which was shooting in town. The pair were cast as TV siblings whose stormy rivalry often turned violent. But in the weeks before shooting began, a different kind of passionate relationship exploded between the two. For Díaz, it was love at first sight. Ponce, however, took a bit of convincing.
The sultry couple, who met in Miami while filming a Spanish-language soap opera, go for high drama atop the art deco diving board at the Shelborne hotel in South Beach. Photographer: Brian Smith Stylist: Emma Pritchard for Goldteeth & Co. Hair: Steven Hoeppner/ABTP.com Makeup: Paola Orlando/ABTP.com. Location: Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach,1801 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, Fla., shelbornewyndhamgrand.com ON DÍAZ: SUIT JACKET, $3,800, and Pants, $850, both at
Dior Homme,133 Greene St.; Shirt, $435 at Gucci.com; Loafers, $750 at GIUSEPPEZANOTTIDESIGN.com; Pocket square, $95 at PAUL SMITH, 142 Greene St.
ON PONCE: Silk dress, $3,595 at DonnaKaran.com; SANDALS: $845 at GIUSEPPEZANOTTIDESIGN.com; satin gold EARRINGS, $130 at Kenneth Jay Lane, 877-953-5264Photo: Brian Smith
"I had always made a rule of never dating co-stars," she recalls. "But," she continues slyly, "We weren't technically working together yet."
Four years later, Díaz and Ponce, both 32, now live together on Miami's Venetian Islands with their two daughters: Erin, who's almost 2 years old, and new baby Regina (born a mere three months before Ponce's steamy swimsuit cover shoot for this issue).
It's a surprising plot twist, as Miami was only meant to be a professional pit-stop for both entertainers. Díaz had just wrapped up a string of telenovela roles and made his English-language debut on the short-lived ABC series "Pan Am." Ponce was focused on a singing career that had kept her in Europe for more than a decade. They planned to shoot "Talismán" and then return to "real life."
"I thought I would come to Miami for a few months as sort of a working vacation," Ponce says. "I never imagined I'd create an entire life here — you could say that Aarón became my own lucky talisman."
The couple's red-hot chemistry proves that blurring the lines between work and play clearly has its advantages. These days, Ponce is busy juggling her new life as a mom with her music writing and recording projects, while dad Díaz is shooting the new "Tierra de Reyes" for the Telemundo network. The show, which debuted Tuesday, casts Díaz as a sultry, macho cowboy — rodeos and all. "It's my first time playing a cowboy, which is great, since I've always loved horses," says Díaz, who was mostly raised in the colonial Mexico town of San Miguel de Allende. "I've been riding since childhood, so I get to perform almost all of my own stunts."
Unlike traditional American soap operas, telenovelas are shown in prime time, with
story arcs lasting between six and eight months. The format results in a strong bond between the audience and stars. "We are on five nights a week, so we really become part of people's lives," says Díaz, who boasts close to a million Twitter followers.
His shows are broadcast in Latin America, Europe and Asia, as well as on a growing number of Spanish-language networks in the US, where the popularity of these channels is swelling. Indeed, Miami is emerging as an unofficial headquarters for the entire telenovela industry.
"I never thought I could live in Miami and do the kind of work that I love to do," says Díaz, who was born to an Irish-American mother and spent his high school years in Palo Alto, Calif. "But the networks began producing here," he continues in nearly unaccented English, "and now we have this incredible creative community." That community, reports the Miami-Dade County Office of Film & Entertainment, now pumps more than $50 million into the local economy each year.
Of course it's not all toil for Ponce, Díaz and their little ones. During downtime, the young family takes full advantage of Miami's most prized commodities: sun, surf and food.
Díaz and Ponce dodge paparazzi (and swooning fans) while frolicking on the hotel's beach for their steamy cover shoot. ON DÍAZ: "Solar" swim trunks, $395 at CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION, 654 Madison Ave.; "Portrait" sunglasses, $325 at PRADA.com; Necklace, his own. ON PONCE: "Kimmi" swimsuit, $690 at AGENT PROVOCATEUR, 675 Madison Ave.; MAAJI "Hickory Victory" kimono, $88 at neimanmarcus.com; "Grace" sunglasses, $425 at TOM FORD, 1-888-866-3673Photo: Brian Smith
"We literally live on the water," enthuses Díaz, who, like Ponce, is rarely spotted in more than shorts and a tank top. "We're constantly kayaking and paddle-boarding — the girls just love it."
They even stick to the water for their occasional nights on the town. "We have a boat and love that Miami is the rare city where you can actually cruise to dinner," says Ponce, whose favorite restaurants include Pubbelly and Barceloneta in Sunset Harbor, along with Seasalt and Pepper along the Miami River.
Miami's booming cultural scene has also charmed the pair, particularly the dazzling Pérez Art Museum Miami and the New World Symphony, where Ponce hopes to one day bring her distinctive opera style to the local stage. Díaz, meanwhile, is enthusiastic about more "indie" adventures in the city, including Micro Theater Miami, which mounts experimental Spanish- and English-language productions inside converted shipping containers on Biscayne Boulevard.
"The microtheater concept already exists in Spain and Latin America," Díaz explains, "so it's great to have it here in Miami as well."
And, of course, there's Art Basel Miami, which is an annual must-visit event for the couple. In their few years in town, they've cultivated friendships with important local artists like Marcello Ibañez, Paloma Teppa and Nina Surel. While the new parents may keep their Basel party-hopping to a minimum this year, they're still planning to attend the fair, and are quick to praise Basel's relevance to Miami's continued vitality.
"It's not just the range of art, but the quality of art that sets Basel apart," says Díaz. "The best galleries and artists and brands want to be a part of Basel now — and it's easy to see why."
And as the couple settles in for another sun-kissed Floridian winter, it's easy to see why they're content with their unexpected existence as Miamians. While still unsure if they'll remain in the Magic City forever, for now, at least, they see no reason to call anywhere else home.
"Miami is a new city and it's exciting to watch it evolve," Díaz says. Then Ponce, in her elegant, Argentine lilt chimes in.
"This is a place where you can truly find anything you ever desired — from music to culture and a career," she says, "to literally the love of your life."
FAMILY EN FUEGO
Photo: Venturelli/WireImage; Telemundo/NBC; CARAS MÉXICO
② In the new Telemundo series "Tierra de Reyes," which debuted Tuesday, Aarón DÍaz plays cowboy Arturo Gallardo and performs most of his own horseback stunts.
③ The couple and their daughters (newborn Regina and toddler Erin) prove that the family who shaves together stays together in this photo from the November cover of Caras, a popular magazine in Mexico.
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