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| Winning the Miss USA
beauty pageant in 2003 (above), health-conscious vegan
Susie
Castillo shines with inner beauty, as well. |
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MTV host Susie Castillo
interviewing Tom Cruise |
As an actress, Susie Castillo
portrayed Mercedes Hernandez on the hit TBS sitcom Tyler
Perry’s House of Payne, among other shows.
She also co-starred in the Hallmark Channel’s A Holiday
Engagement, and was featured in the independent film More
Than Stars and Disney’s feature film Underdog.
Ms. Castillo currently lives in Los Angeles and spends
time supporting her favorite non-profits for children and animals.
She lives a green, vegan lifestyle.
For Loving the Silent Tears,
media such as PopStop TV, Go Vegan Radio and Environmentally
Sound Radio interviewed Ms. Castillo about her career, her compassionate
lifestyle, and the musical. Let’s find out about what
she had to say.
Q:
As a daily host of MTV’s popular show, TRL (Total
Request Live), you’ve interviewed some of the biggest
celebrities in entertainment. Tell us about one of your most
memorable guests.
Susie Castillo:
I interviewed everyone from Jennifer Lopez, to Christina
Aguilera, Shakira, but I think one of my favorite people that
I ever interviewed while I worked at MTV was probably Tom Cruise.
He was just very gracious to everyone. He stayed for the entire
hour of the show and every commercial break, just stayed out
there and talked to the kids and it was just really nice.
Q:
You have so many young
teenaged fans who look up to you as a role model. In fact, they
inspired you to write your first book, Confidence
is Queen: The Four Keys to Ultimate Beauty through Positive
Thinking. Tell us about the message you wanted to share
through your book.
Susie Castillo:
The message basically is that beauty, true beauty,
starts within. When you wake up in the morning and look in
the mirror, are you following your dreams? Are you doing what
your spirit truly wants to be doing? And so I encourage the
readers to figure that out first, and the first key is
about spirituality, which I believe is the foundation of life.
And if you’re connected to that and enlightened, then
you’re able to build upon that and you have a strong foundation.
Q:
It’s fantastic of
you to encourage young people to lead meaningful lives. Speaking
of which, we learned that October 27 is not only the date of
the premiere of Loving the Silent Tears musical, but
it is also your birthday! So how do you feel about spending
your birthday in this way?
Susie Castillo:
I can’t think of a better way to spend my
birthday than by attending an event promoting peace for everyone.
And promoting veganism, I think it’s such an important
message. And to celebrate Supreme Master Ching Hai and
her fantastic poetry.
Q:
What influenced you to
develop a love and respect for animals?
Susie Castillo:
I remember as a child, my grandma instilling in us that
no matter how little you think you have, there are always people
and beings that are suffering on the planet and have even less
than us. As I’ve grown older, the love just continues
to grow for all living beings. It breaks my heart when I see
animals being mistreated. As we all know, in agriculture, that’s
like one of the biggest mistreatments that animals endure in
our country. The more I educated myself about the subject,
the more I was able to make wiser, more intelligent decisions
in my life.
Q:
Through your blog and
simply by being a good example of healthy living, you have helped
others to make beneficial changes in their lives. Why do you
spend the time to let others know about the vegan lifestyle?
Susie Castillo:
I just think it’s really important; you get
this one body in this lifetime, and we should treat it appropriately
and not trash it. And so many people trash it, myself included
before I educated myself. I’ve seen some tremendous positive
changes in my health in the last six years when I switched to
a plant-based diet and I wanted to share that with the world.
I don’t even get colds anymore and that alone is a gift.
So I try to just shout it from the rooftops.
Q:
Is there a motto
or principle that you live by?
Susie Castillo:
I live by the Golden Rule: treat others as you would
like to be treated. And to me, that includes animals as well.
They should be loved. They are souls on this planet just like
we are.
With a loving heart and positive
thinking as cornerstones in her life, it’s easy to see
how Ms. Castillo achieves her inner and outer beauty. 
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SPECIAL
REPORT
