The Young and the Restless fans have still not recovered from the death of fan-favorite Rey Rosales. However, the actor that portrayed him, Daytime Emmy winner Jordi Vilasuso, has kept himself busy.
Jordi Vilasuso: Giving Back And Staying Busy
The thespian, who played Dr. Griffin Castillo on All My Children, recently updated fans on his current status when he joined fellow AMC alums, Alicia Minshew (ex-Kendall), Jacob Young (ex-JR), and Melissa Claire Egan (ex-Annie; Chelsea, Y&R) for a very special fan event hosted by Coastal Entertainment.
Vilasuso gave fans a much-needed update on his latest projects since his character left the Genoa City canvas by way of a horrifying car crash with Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) and Ashland Locke (Robert Newman) in 2022. The actor has teamed up with his family to create The Code Red Foundation, which provides awareness and mental health assistance to schools in the wake of mass shootings.
“My family started a charity called The Code Red Foundation that was based on a documentary that they shot,” he shared during the Zoom event. “My father-in-law is in Nashville with everything that happened in The Covenant School. We’re going to have something very soon in Nashville for back to school and trying to integrate some of the things like trauma kits in schools and school safety and really implement a lot of those things.”
Vilasuso shared how much it means to him to lead a purposeful life and be involved in the community. “It really feeds my soul too.”
A Passion For Acting
He hasn’t given up the acting bug. Vilasuso is in the midst of working on several projects. “Unfortunately, there’s a writer strike in L.A. right now, and things have taken a little bit of a turn. Once this thing ends, this strike, I want to be ready with some really good stuff which I’m really excited about.”
Former AMC castmate, Minshew, asked about a project he had shared with her.
“That’s one of the things that I’m trying to put together. It is based on a short film,” he replied. “You know, I think some of the most exciting work is the independent work where people don’t really adhere to what the boundaries are or how it fits into Hollywood. Sometimes you can find people, young people who are still inspired into trying some risky stuff.”
He went on to talk about the project in more detail. “I did a short called The Architecture of Success, which is about a semi-successful motivational speaker. Like Tom Cruise in Magnolia,” Vilasuso added. “I don’t know if you all saw that movie, but it’s some of my favorite work that he’s ever done. It’s really based on that.”
The actor broke down the scene that inspired his project. “It’s about how this motivational speaker, before he goes on stage, he has a nervous breakdown, in a bathroom, where he manifests a wormlike monster, and he has to fend it off. His wife talks him off the deep end. It’s a very dark satirical comedy that’s been so much fun. We’re trying to pitch around town.”
“It’s something that I’ve never done before, and it’s so fun to kind of stretch,” he shared, explaining why the project was so appealing. “So that’s been very inspiring, very, very fun for me.”
Minshew encouraged fans to see it when it comes out. “I happened to see a little sneak peek of it, just a little bit, and you’re so good in it,” she enthused. “I want everyone to see this, but just like every independent thing, it takes a while to have this stuff happen.”