The tales of two VERY different guys named Mario...

If you pick up the newest issue of the Los Angeles-based Tu Cuidad magazine, you'll see a rather hot picture of Mario Lopez wearing a red silk shirt and black slacks making a dance move next to the headline "You Gotta Move!"
The interview inside with Lopez is about as fluffy as can be - just really empty calories. But one of the more interesting quotes is when Mario is asked what career decisions helped him to shed his image as A.C. Slater who he played on "Saved By the Bell" for six years or so - from junior high through college.
"It's very difficult to make the transition from being a child actor to an adult and be taken seriously. I feel blessed in a sense that I've been able to keep myself busy, whether it's hosting or doing different kinds of acting. I think doing stuff like "Nip/Tuck" or playing Greg Louganis ("Breaking the Surface: the Greg Louganis Story") helps people see you in a different light."
I'll say! In the Louganis bio-pic, he's wearing noting but a speedo most of the time and on "Nip/Tuck," his most memorable scene was when he was stark naked in the shower with Julian McMahon!
The interview spends way too much time on "Dancing With the Stars" rehash (yawn) which I know it had to since this is the magazine's dance issue. The good part about that is the pictorial of Lopez in different dancing outfits. We like when he's wearing next to nothing but the truth is, the man wears clothes quite well.
When Lopez was asked something the most people don't know about him, (no, he didn't say that he was in love with "Saved By the Bell" co-star Mark-Paul Gosselar!), Mario said: "I'd love to be the first Latino make Oprah."
Interestingly, the Lopez article was written by Daniel J. Vargas, the same guy who profiles Mario Lavandeira (Perez Hilton) in the issue. This profile is much more substantial and worthwhile and while Lavandeira says some of the same things verbatim that he has said in previous interviews (including one with me for The Advocate), what I found so interesting was when he talked about the dark time in his life less than three years ago when he was so far away from the gossip terror Perez persona he has since adopted.
He had filed for bankruptcy and was miserable working for Star Magazine where he says he "felt like a stalker."
"I wanted to kill myself. I hated my life. I hated myself. I'd think, 'Today, I'm going to slit my wrists. Today I'm going to shoot myself or take pills. Today I'm going to jump off a building.' All I could see is dark."
But as the article states, from the crash and burn ashes of Mario Lavandeira rose his evil twin Perez.
"Perez made my life better. Perez brought me opportunities. Perez got me out of depression. Perez made me happy."
I'll bet there a lot of celebs who wish he has just taken some Prozac!