The grandson of Daisy Granados and son of Herón Vega will be a baseball player

May 11, 2022

The young Cuban baseball player Xian Vega, 19 years old, has started his career in baseball with the Elefantes de Cienfuegos team.

The young man is the son of actor and film director Aarón Vega Granados, who plays the character of Manolo in the Cuban soap opera Tu.

"Since I was little, my dad always loved baseball and instilled in me that I should become a baseball player, and when I was five years old he took me to a baseball field and I started to like it and I've continued ever since," he told the Prensa Latina agency.

Xian is the grandson of two legends in Cuban cinema: the renowned actress Daisy Granados and director Pastor Vega.

According to his grandmother, she is super happy with the path he chose as a baseball player.

His maximum aspiration, he explains, is to represent Cuba in an international event.

Xian says that although at first he had some inclination toward music, baseball completely captured him.

The young man is 1.88 meters tall, bats over .260 average, and is fascinated by the movies Alice in Wonderland, The Prophecies of Amanda and others directed by his grandfather, who passed away in 2005.

"Sometimes people recognize me on the street as Xian, the baseball player, and other times as the son of Manolo, the handsome guy from the soap opera," joked Xian in reference to the popular character his father Aarón played in the soap opera Tu, directed by Léster Hamlet.

Manolo represents a handsome man from the streets who was imprisoned for stealing powdered milk from a store in Cuba. In the novel, his mother is played by actress Daisy Granados and he has a son who also dreams of baseball.

The novel received a very good reception from the Cuban public. It features a cast of well-known actors from the island such as Isabel Santos, Patricio Wood and his son Gabriel Wood, Luisa María Jiménez and her brother Néstor Jiménez, Fernando Echavarría and his daughter Alicia.

Daisy Granados and her husband Pastor Vega are among the most recognized figures in Cuban cinema.

They met in 1963 while preparations were being made for the filming of a movie by director José Massip. On August 14, 1965, they married and had three children.

"Aaron is more interested in directing. Hirán and Herón are interested in acting," Daisy said in an interview a few years ago for the ICAIC film portal. "I always wanted to have sons."

About his wife, Pastor Vega said: "when I direct her, it's the only time I have power over her."

"I really enjoy working with him. He knows me and exploits all my potential. He is a very gentle and respectful man with actors. He gives you the opportunity to be creative. But when you're working with your husband you can't let yourself be carried away by overconfidence, and if there is any discomfort, something to clarify, you have to be more careful than ever," she said.