Local Husband And Wife Each Share Screen Time With CBS Stars

Date:Nov 25, 2003
From:TBO.com

T AMPA - Look closely at ``The Guardian'' tonight, and you might see Angela Romero of Tampa dressed as a homeless woman.

``I don't have any lines, but I got a lot of camera time,'' says Romero, an aspiring actress who works in advertising for the local Pax TV affiliate.

Romero and her husband, Desi, have performed in numerous Tampa Bay area stage productions, and on a recent trip to Los Angeles, both landed roles in TV series.

Desi Romero had a minor role on the Oct. 27 episode of the CBS comedy ``The King of Queens.''

``I played a catcher in a softball game,'' he says. ``I didn't have any lines.''

He was on camera with series star Kevin James.

At 9 tonight on CBS, Angela shares ``quality'' screen time with ``Guardian'' star Simon Baker. She says she stood really close to the hunky Australian actor in several scenes.

``I hope my scenes don't get cut,'' she says.

The episode is about a teenage boy who is staying with his grandfather in a homeless shelter. When the home is closed down, the displaced homeless people invade the office of Nick Fallin (Baker).

``I'm one of the homeless women, and I look pretty wild,'' Angela says.

The roles came earlier this year, when Desi took time off from his day job as a banker to try to find an agent in Los Angeles.

``That's were the work is, and I finally decided that if I'm going to get serious about acting, I've got to start going out there,'' Desi says.

Both Angela and Desi are from the Bronx in New York, but they didn't meet until they were living in Tampa and working in theater and television productions here.

``I got the acting bug when I was 4 years old and dressed as a bag of corn for a walk-on on a TV show, `The Arlene Francis Show,' '' Desi says.

He lived in Los Angeles for 14 years and worked in minor roles on TV series such as ``Marcus Welby M.D.'' and ``Starsky and Hutch.'' He came close a few times to getting major roles in series, but when work got slow he moved to Florida. He always planned to go back but settled into a life here. Now, 14 years later, he's thinking about returning.

Desi spent nearly three months looking for an agent. When Angela joined him for a couple of weeks, she went on some casting calls.

``We were actually headed back home when she got the call for `The Guardian,' '' Desi says. ``I was very happy for her.''

Angela and Desi have been married for six years. She is well-known in the Tampa theater community for her spirited performances with the Stageworks theater company in productions such as ``The Vagina Monologues.''

She won critical acclaim for ``In the Name of the Mother'' at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and for portraying blues singer Bessie Smith in a local musical.