Pop superstar Ricky Martin,
having settled down in New York with his partner and two children, has now
found a constancy in life that seemed to be missing when he first became a
superstar more than a dozen year ago. Despite a hectic life on a rigid
schedule, the singer is in many ways liberated, certainly from the closet in
which he hid his sexual orientation. Martin is now, as he described himself
when accepting an award from GLAAD, free. In his first Advocate interview, the superstar opens up
to the brand’s Arts & Entertainment editor, Jeremy Kinser, about his
boyfriend, fatherhood, and the role he was born to play.
Martin wasn’t looking for a relationship when a
mutual friend introduced him to Carlos Gonzalez Abella, a financial
analyst-stockbroker in 2008. “It was just one of those things that just
happened,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘You’re not
supposed to be here right now. Would you please allow me to just go on my
journey?’” Hesitant to talk about press-shy Abella in the past,
Martin opens up a little bit further. “I think he’s so sexy.
He’s very smart. That is such a turn-on. He laves the house every day in
a suit and tie and that is so sexy. It’s two different worlds—his
and mine. I know as much about his world as he knows about my world, which
makes it really cool.”
Martin and Abella are also equally dedicated to providing
stability for Martin’s twin sons, Matteo and Valentino. “There is a
lot of love and a lot of communication. He’s guided by the approach I
take with the kids, he imitates it perfectly,” Martin says. “Every
decision I make and everything I do is based on their needs,” he
continues. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but they teach me new
things every day.”
Even with his chaotic schedule, Martin decided to return
to acting. Martin had not acted in years before his appearance this season on Glee, in a role the show’s creator,
Ryan Murphy, had written specifically for Martin. “He has such star
power,” Murphy says. “Even the straight boys in the cast were just
gob-smacked by his confidence and said if they ever turned, it would be for
Ricky Martin.”
It took his Glee stint
to realize how much he had missed acting. And now Martin will bring that
passion to Broadway starring as Che, the rebellious voice of the people and
antagonist to Argentinean first lady Even Peron, in the revival of Evita. Che is someone Martin feels
he’s been preparing to play his entire life, and he relates to the
character’s conflicting emotions. “I can go from anger to love to
uncertainty within 30 minutes of the show,” Martin says.
“That’s amazing because that’s what my life has been about
for the last three years—feeling.
Not sabotaging any kind of emotions. Letting everything just come through me a
verbalize it. It’s a very spiritual exercise that I’ll do every
night.”
Martin recognizes and identifies with Che’s struggle
for human rights. And with his Ricky Martin Foundation, an organization
committed to ending human trafficking and the exploitation of children, Martin
too has been working for human rights. “And since I’ve come out,
I’ve been verbal about the importance of equality and what needs to be
said. That’s what Che is about too. That is going to be my inspiration,
my motivation every night.”
Read the full Ricky
Martin interview now at:
http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Cover_Stories/The_Interview_Oh_Ricky/
