1998–2003 De la Fuente was spotted by a talent scout during his sophomore year as a civil engineering major at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and won a contest as Chile's next "Super Teen". Beginning with small network roles in prime time, he quickly went on to star in four prime time dramas including
Eclipse de Luna and the highly acclaimed televised theatrical production of
La Tía de Carlos. He starred in Chile's number-one rated variety program
Venga Conmigo, the comedy
Mi Tío y Yo alongside
Gonzalo Robles, and the MTV-style music and dance program
Generación 2000. In 1998, de la Fuente was contracted by
Sony and
Telemundo for a drama series remake of
Starsky and Hutch called
Reyes y Rey. The weekly hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers and it was soon cancelled. He was a guest star on
Pensacola: Wings of Gold. He has also appeared regularly on
CSI: Miami and
Family Law. He has starred opposite
Sylvester Stallone in
Driven, in
John Carpenter's
Vampires: Los Muertos with
Jon Bon Jovi, as well as the independent thriller
Minimal Knowledge. For his starring role in the independent thriller
Minimal Knowledge, de la Fuente won the Individual Achievement Award for Best Male Actor at the Ajijic International Film Festival. De la Fuente's hosting credits include
MGM's
Road to the Academy Awards for
Latin America and the
Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade. He has also presented the
Billboard Latin Music Awards,
The World Music Awards, and the
Alma Awards. De la Fuente also turned up in
John McTiernan's military thriller
Basic opposite
John Travolta, and enjoyed several appearances on
CSI: Miami as lab tech Sam Belmontes between 2003 and 2004.
2004–2007 In 2004, De la Fuente hosted alongside
Kate del Castillo the first annual
Premios Juventud on the
Univision television network. In 2005, he starred in the
Venevisión's
Miami-made telenovela
Soñar No Cuesta Nada, starring alongside Mexican actresses
Karyme Lozano and
Laura Zapata. It was a huge hit in the daytime slot on Univision. It ran for 191 episodes. On Univisión there were talks for him to host a night time
talk show, but nothing came of it. He also had a recurring role as Aaron in the
CBS sitcom
The Class. In 2005, Cristián was seen in supporting roles in the indie romantic drama
Sueño with
John Leguizamo and the Latin-themed comedy
Once Upon a Wedding. He was a popular host for Spanish-language specials and series during this period, including the
2005 Latin Grammy Awards, the
2006 Premios Juventud, and the Chilean reality series
Golpe Bajo, for which he also served as executive producer and writer. In 2005, he starred in the popular
Venezuelan
telenovela Soñar no Cuesta Nada, which filmed in
Miami,
Florida. De la Fuente also guest starred in three episodes of
UPN's
One on One, and in an episode of the wildly popular
ABC show
Ugly Betty. Amidst all the acting gigs, he continued to maintain his status with the
Chilean Air Force, for which he occasionally performed as part of the aerial acrobatic troupe, Halcones. In the fall of 2007, he participated in the mini-series directed by
Jennifer Lopez,
Como Ama Una Mujer with the actress
Leonor Varela.
2008–present De la Fuente appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of ABC's
Dancing with the Stars with dance partner
Cheryl Burke. They trained at Palm Beach, Florida's Paramount Ballroom, which is owned by former U.S. Nine-Dance Champion
Alec Lazo. De la Fuente suffered a ruptured tendon in his left arm biceps on the April 28, 2008 episode of
Dancing with the Stars. The following week, performing with his injured arm, he and Burke led the field. He was eliminated on May 20, 2008, in 3rd place. De la Fuente hosted the
Latin Grammy Awards of 2008 on November 13, 2008, in
Houston,
Texas. In 2009, de la Fuente guest starred in the telenovelas
Fuego en la sangre as Demian Ferrer, and
Corazón salvaje as Renato. From 2008 to 2010, de la Fuente played Raphael "Raph" Ramírez, a
minor league baseball player and semi-boyfriend of Mary Shannon on
In Plain Sight. De la Fuente returned to
Chile to film the season 2 of his TV show
Golpe Bajo, similar to
MTV's series ''
Punk'd''. De la Fuente also had a recurring role on
Brothers & Sisters from 2009 to 2010. De la Fuente had recurring roles on ABC's
Private Practice during its fourth season and on ABC Family's
The Nine Lives of Chloe King during its first and only season. De la Fuente starred as Maximiliano Montesinos, the protagonist in the Mexican telenovela
Quiero amarte. De la Fuente has been tapped to play Ricardo De La Cruz in the romantic comedy film
Switch Up, helmed by Tara Pirnia in her directing debut.
Dancing with the Stars performances == Filmography ==