Anderson Ballesteros

When Anderson was two years old his father placed him with his paternal grandmother in Medellin, the beautiful "City of Eternal Spring" then controlled by the notorious drug cartel of Pablo Escobar. Anderson ran away from home at the age of 14, joined a gang and disappeared into the dark world of crime and violence by which runaways survived on the streets of Medellin - a world so dehumanizing that within two years he severed his gang ties to pursue an honest "career" as a street vendor. Barbet Schroeder, after testing 100s of boys in Mexico and South America for the lead in Our Lady of the Assassins (2000), found his star by a stroke of luck worthy of Hollywood fantasy. The renown Colombian poet/director 'Victor Gaviria' had observed Anderson selling incense on a street corner and told Mr. Schroeder that he thought he knew a boy who might be perfect for the role of Alexis, but when they searched for Anderson he had completely disappeared. However, the REAL Alexis (from Fernando Vallejo's autobiographical novel upon which the movie was based) knew Anderson and personally led Mr. Schroeder to the guerrilla-controlled hillside ghetto where he lived in a tiny apartment with his little brother. Anderson had been ill, but after auditioning for "Assassins" was immediately cast in what was to become one of Mr. Schroeder's most profound, controversial and ground-breaking films (the first major motion picture shot digitally, and Mr. Schroeder's first foreign-language film in 16 years). Anderson, who was 17 when "Assassins" premiered, was thrilled, but overwhelmed by the enthusiastic international attention and adulation... He currently attends 'German Jaramillo''s Free Theatre School in Bogota under full scholarship, speaks fluent English, and is anxious to resume his film career.