Name: Juan Carlos Velis
Why’s he famous: Canadian actor who’s appeared in numerous TV shows including The Border, Relic Hunter and Blue Murder, as well as movies and more than 30 commercials. He’s currently starring in Death and the Maiden at The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, which opens today.
His drive: A green, four-door 2004 Oldsmobile Alero.
Why the Alero? I bought it in 2006 in Vancouver, where I was living at the time. In Vancouver, everybody wants to drive Japanese cars and the Alero was a lot cheaper and that’s the one I liked.
What’s the car’s best feature? I really like its traction in the winter. I don’t know what it’s called, but the car lowers and it really helps with driving in snow. We have a joke with our friends that our favourite feature is the manual windows. Everything in the car is automatic except for the windows, which you still have to roll down yourself. People are always looking for the button and we joke that we paid extra for the manual roll down because it’s environmentally friendly (laughs).
What kind of driver are you? I’m actually a very good driver. I consider myself a very safe driver. I love going on road trips. I drove the car across Canada to Toronto when we moved from Vancouver.
What would we find in your glove compartment right now? My GPS, there’s a Stewart McClean CD. For the last three years, we listen to it Christmas morning when we’re coming home from my parents — they live in London and we drive to my wife’s parents’ place in Bolton. So that CD just stays there all year round.
In your trunk? Right now, it’s full of baby things. My wife is expecting in June. But there are also my headshots and resumés, books, plays are in there as well. Then there’s also some safety stuff in case of a road emergency.
Heather Buchan is a Toronto-based journalist whohas worked at Homemakers,Canadian Living, Canadian House & Homeand, most recently,Hello! Canada, where she cut her teeth in the world of celebrities.
