For the past five years or so, the vibrant beautiful and talented, Daytime Emmy Award nominee, Camila Banus, has lit up the stage in daytime television with her sultry presence. Playing the disturbed and youthful role of Gabi Hernandez on the well-known soap opera Day's of Our Lives. Her role as Gabriella "Gabi" Josephine  Hernandez; Camila states is a physical vehicle for her to create milestones and open more doors for all Latinas across the world. She says in an interview with Janet Di Lauro of About.com, " I am really proud to represent for all Latinas out there, especially the young Latina women. It's important for them to have a role model."

 

Born on July 22nd 1990 in Miami Beach, FL to Carmen and Jaime Banus, Camila says ever since the age of 7 she always had a real knack for tapping into her imagination. She would play pretend with her parents around the house. Being influenced by actors such as Jim Carey. She said, " I can remember me loving to watch Jim Carey on TV. I remember him making all these funny faces that I would love to often times make myself and asking my mom like, 'mom, why is it that I make the exact same funny faces that he makes but he gets to make the same funny faces and be on TV?' I loved the fact that he could allow his self to let his guard down and be like a child."

 

The Cubana Starlet got her start in Hollywood earlier on by doing a few gigs like voiceovers and printwork ads as a child along with her sister Gabriella Banus. She says they were known as "The Banus Sisters."  

Camila literally got her feet wet in acting when she did a cameo on season one second episode of the infamous Showtime TV series, Dexter. She gained more experience in acting by not giving up and actively pursuing her career taking on other roles and making appearances in films such as, Wishin and Hopin and Counterpunch. Her first debut on daytime television was when she played on One Life to Live as Lola.

 

Camila is known for the brightness of her smile and her gorgeous shiny hair. She says she loves eating lots of veggies and enjoys drinking plenty of water and as a result of doing so she keeps her skin, hair and nails feeling and looking wonderfully healthy. When asked her thoughts on staying fit and maintaining her camera-ready physique she said, "it's all about portion control. Being an actress you kind of sell yourself, your vessel. So that other characters can kind of come in and take shape in that body. Therefore my body has to be presentable at all times, from head to toe. So I try to stay dedicated and maintain a sort of lean figure and I do that by going to the gym atleast three times a week and logging everything I eat." When I asked if she had a trainer she told me no but that she has been Zumba certified for 10 years now and for 5 years has also been a Zumba instructor. So it may be safe to say she knows her way in and around the gym.

 

Her advice to young ladies when they are feeling a bit self conscious to their bodies is to work real hard at the problem first before deciding to do anything that will change them completely. Things like plastic surgery should be well thought out before deciding. Vigorously researched and planned and that it's also a better idea to wait and try all options first before going through with such a thing so serious. Also to be of a decent age before having any modifications done.

 

She said everyone is beautiful the way they were born but we also all have a choice and if you're not happy then you owe it to yourself to make yourself happy. "You cannot lie to yourself." When Camila was 15 years old instead of having a traditional quinceanera, she pleaded with her mom to have surgery and opted to having her ears pinned back. 
 

We also talked about the more discouraging times in her career and how she would go about handling those times of rejections for roles she had really wanted. She said she just kept on going. There were many roles that she had tried out for but was unsuccessful at acquiring. She had even been originally turned down for her current role as Gabi but she stayed hopeful with determination and the will to succeed.

 

This past summer of 2015 she was offered a supporting role in a new movie pilot entitled Snowfall directed by John Singleton and although it has yet to be "picked up" by the network  she reveals that after 16 years of being in the acting industry that, "for once in my life I felt that a role was created for me. I felt truly needed. It was almost like I was created to play this role. It felt so natural to me." These are the kinds of roles that all her life she wanted to embody.

 

When she isn't on the set acting modeling, traveling or spending time with her family, friends, and loved ones she relaxes and reboots her conscious by using a technique recognized amongst many people including celebrities known as, Transcendental Meditation.

 

I asked Camila who were some of the female influences who had inspired her career and she told me that Charlize Theron was one. She said, "I love the crazy intense pieces that she does and how she juggles her private life and always handles business. Keeping it all separate and always holds it together.
She also claimed that there were many others but if she could only name one more she would have to say Mila Jovovich who she refers to as a "powerhouse" She said, "She is extremely talented. She does so many things. She sings, models, acts. She does it all and she makes me feel like no matter who you are, what you look like or where you are from, that you can do it all too."

 

Her advice to the young girls out there aspiring to pursue an acting career was, "It's a crazy yet wonderful business. I will say with this buisness and like with any other business there is an ugly side and there is a good side. People are going to tell you things to get you excited and promise you things that they can do. Be careful." She said one of the few things that undoubtedly makes her happy and sets her mind free is being in front of the lens and she is her best self when she is doing what she loves falling in love with the camera.