Kristian Alfonso
Kristian Alfonso has successfully made the transition from starring roles on television, in both the daytime and primetime arena, to feature films. In 1994, Alfonso returned to NBC-TV's Days of our Lives as a woman of mystery whose true identity was finally revealed to be Hope Brady. Hope is the character she created in 1983 on the popular daytime drama, endearing her to audiences the world over as half of one of daytime television's most romantic couples: Bo & Hope.
Kristian co-starred with Kate Jackson in the CBS movie-of-the-week Whatever Happened to Bobby Earl, portraying an evil, manipulative woman. She guest-starred in the 1997 Candid Camera Looks at Love Valentine special for CBS. During 1997, she hosted a segment of Extra from Maui, Hawaii and guest-starred on a segment of Steve Oederkerk.com, a comedy special that aired on NBC.
Alfonso grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, where, as a teenager, she was an above average student whose extra-curricular activities were divided between rigorous ice-skating and dance classes.
She won the gold medal at the Junior Olympics in figure skating when she was 13 years old. In fact, a combination of innate athletic ability and a fierce competitive spirit made her a natural to compete in the Olympics had it not been for an unfortunate bobsledding accident, which ended both her skating and dancing career. That tragedy quickly turned into opportunity for Alfonso when Wilhelmina, the world-famous model and agency owner persuaded Kristian to enter the glamorous world of cover girls.
All girls dream of becoming a model, but fantasy turned into reality for Alfonso who, by age 15, had graced the covers of 30 international magazines including Vogue and Bazaar. Her modeling assignments took her through five continents and led to her current career as an actress.
At age 16, then NBC casting director Vicki Rosenberg saw Alfonso's picture and cast her opposite Rock Hudson in the movie-of-the-week Starmaker, which eventually led to her role on Days. Following her departure from Days, Kristian starred for two years as Pilar Ortega on CBS-TV's nighttime soap, Falcon Crest. In 1991, Alfonso agreed to reprise her role on Days for a short period in order to wrap up her character's storyline.
Additionally, Alfonso hosted Love Stories, a half-hour syndicated reality show that focused on relationships in the '90s. She starred opposite Dolph Lundgren in the feature film Joshua Tree; co-starred with Shannen Doherty and Judd Nelson in the suspense-thriller Blindfold, a USA Network movie; and guest-starred in the recurring role of 'Lauren Etheridge' on FOX-TV's popular Melrose Place.
Alfonso currently makes her home in Los Angeles with her sons Gino and Jack and her husband Danny