"My first casting and modeling campaign was for Swatch Skin, it took me to a billboard in the middle of Time Square, I can still feel the emotion of having my face first timeplastered 15 feet high in the city i've always dreamed to live at"

Namaste Edward, thank you, it is with great pleasure that i am part of this family! My shoes are off, let's ride!!* My name is Paulo Pascoal, I am 26 years old, born in Portugal yet Angolan decedent, where i lived most of my childhood, when i was 10 years old I wanted to be a Priest and my family believing i had vocation for it sent me to study in a Seminary in Spain, i lived there for 6 years studying Theology, then i changed my mind. At the age of 16 my family and i moved to NYC and i started exploring a whole new Era in my life, the one that brought us to this interview! After that, i lived 2 years in between Portugal and Angola being a pop star, and 2 years in Canada, studying jornalism! I feel like i lived many things too early and last year i felt sick, which has changed most of my perspective in Life. I am proudly a cancer survivor, I learned that life is not as much about the destination as how we choose to get there, no one is promised tomorrow, today, in all it's beauty is all we have, I'm enjoying the journey of a soul of a man in experience seeking to love and learn eternally... I love waking up at the crack of dawn to meditate and Thank GOD for another day, gratitude is powerful and easily accessible to all of us.

I am in love with world and interested in being the best i can be everyday, day by day, and have that same energy manifested in the ones among me. I always had passion for the arts in every form, i guess i've been doing this my whole life, for many years that was the only way I could express myself. But it wasn't until i moved to NYC and went to the Juilliard School that i began considering it the career i wanted to follow, to be an entertainer. I have always done it all at once, which unfortunately seems to have kept me from accomplishing the level of brilliance i seek in my work. I call myself an accidental model, because it is nothing i ever wanted to pursue but it just kept happening, so i took every single opportunity thrown at me. I dream big therefore i always worked hard to have those dreams be my reality, sometimes i've been too ambitious but nowadays i am trying to focus more in one thing, although it won't be until i make a little pause to figure myself out, because i keep being very busy in all areas.

2010, the Sabbatic Year

This year I want to take a sabbatic year to travel the world, I'll be visiting 30 countries in 16 months, soul searching, taking with me what I've learned so far to help less privileged children through courses of Art Therapy, volunteering to build schools, serving diverse communities with different needs in whichever way i can, hoping to leave them with a smile
and get some personal fulfillment, i aim for a better world so I want to contribute my life to achieving that. In the meantime, i am still working on some television projects here in Portugal, my new single "All Over" is now available everywhere, from the movie "Pure Beauty"by Anne Doron in which I am playing Daniel, i also have 2 other movies in post-production: "Dreamland" and "Hell's Angels", all while I'm working on finishing my to be released album "Heal", and heading to Angola-Africa where i'll be as of December 21st hosting a talent show.

Musical References, TV Experiences and the Show Business

I would say Michael Jackson (R.I.P.) has definitely been the one that inspired me the most ever since i was a child on the mainstream level, i had the privilege to work with him as a dancer on his 30th Musical Anniversary back in 2001, while i was still going to school, it was definitely a dream come true. I respect every single person that has made it in this industry, i like the music done by independent artists more than anything, seeing them grow and evolve gives me so much joy, that is why i like finding raw talent to collaborate with and write for, so i can be part of that growth. I could
be listening to Beyonce and Lady Gaga one day and to Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, the next day; right now i am obsessed with Fleetwood Mac. Music for me is like water, it satisfies me like no other liquid and as an artist i drink from different waterfalls, i am extremely thirsty all the time.

My first TV experience, I was about 13 years old, I won a talent contest imitating Michael Jackson in Spain and I was invited to be in a show called Top Disney to meet the Spice Girls. Shortly after I was invited to be part of the cast of the show followed by my first soap-opera called Al Salir de Clase (After School) in 1998! My first movie i was about 18 years old and I played a thief in the movie K-Pax with Kevin Spacey, it was an extra role, I had to run around Grand Central Station for like 16 hours, but I was extremely excited to be part of a Hollywood movie... Ha Ha...

What I think about show business? That can be a tricky question, I think the show business it's a world you need to have preparation and a solid protection before you step in, you need to either have a really strong base, family support, honest guidance to start of with or you'll rise and fall. Unfortunately many people in it live a nightmare chasing the dream, I have suffered from that, so I'm talking about my self-experience!. When you do things successfully in this industry, fame comes as a consequence of it, if you live out of the image the world portrays of you, things can sometimes get out of hand! My experience with fame wasn't as good as i would like it to be, I love doing what I do, but I am not a conventional person by all means, and when one has people constantly expecting more, the pressure of it may originate major personal issues, some of, I am still trying to figure out and work on.

The 5 most important things for his life

1. Health (because with that one can do anything)
2. Family (because i love my family)
3. Friendship (because i have the best friends in the world)
4. Love (because the world looks better in love)
5. Remain Talented (because I love to create)

Modeling career: The billboard in the middle of Time Square

When I was 15 years old, I was hanging around downtown Lisbon and a french photographer Pierre Gonnord asked me to pose for him, he picks weird looking people to be part of his art, which is amazing, I suited because I was going through my awkward stage, he photographed me and all my pimples HaHa... shirtless with a military red hat, I wasn't very comfortable I was
very shy, then he introduced me to a scouter that took me to a modeling agency, DXL, and they decided to represent me. My first casting and modeling campaign was for Swatch Skin, it took me to a billboard in the middle of Time Square, I can still feel the emotion of having my face first time plastered 15 feet high in the city I've always dreamed to live at. The best "things", I couldn't do it in singular, about modeling I must say it's the fact that it helped me know how to carry myself, how to take care of my body, it has opened me many doors and through modeling I've met some of my greatest friends.

Intimate photo shoots, protein shake, some pushups and crossing boundaries!

The best photos I have are the ones that there's very little production, the intimate photo shoots, the ones that there's no more than me and the photographer, I like getting to know their stories, I like them upbeat, creatively crazy, the ones that make you comfortable enough to create that magical shot. Before a photo shoot, I eat fruit, I need natural sugar and itamins,sometimes i just have a protein shake, and I do 20 to 30 pushups, it's true, most people think I am a gym freak, but I am not, I rarely go to the gym, that is what i do right before being photographed to get all pumped up and ready to go.

I've had some photographers try to cross boundaries, which might be common to many of us, but most of times I am very diplomatic with that kind of situations. I also once drunk too much wine with the whole crew before a shoot, make up artist, stylist, photographer, models, we all ended up the night wasted and not finishing the shoot in a hotel room using the outfits
and putting pink lipstick on.It was a memorable night! Ha Ha... We all just hung out!

Catwalks

I'm shorter than what I should to do catwalks, they normally pick me for runways when they're looking for diversity or familiar faces, I remember once during fashion week i had a scarf so long i was about to trip in it a couple of times so I kept praying "please don't get in between my legs" Ha Ha. And other time my pants and my shoes were a little too big! By the time i finished the walk i had my pants around my knees Ha Ha.. not so much, but it felt like it! Phew..I did runways, for Diesel, Benetton, D&G,Maria Gambina, Helmut Lang, Yves Saint Laurent, Replay and a couple of others, mostly commercial brands.

Paulo, the fashionista?

No I'm not, O don't follow fashion at all. I like vintage, which for me is a form of recycling, i like the idea of wearing something that has already been liked and worn, clothes with history, in fact when i do buy new clothes I rip them or bleach them until threadbare, a cap, I love hats, my friends call me "vagabundchic" I assume it's a form of a sophisticated tramp, I enjoy neutrals and earth colors in platter shirts and jeans, so that's for now, I do play with my image a lot.

Paulo by himself

The fans: how you handle with them?: IFunny you mention because, just recently I was riding the subway in Lisbon and I totally fell asleep, I haven't been there for the last 4 years, so I felt anonymous, when i woke up after passing the station where I should had left at, I noticed a group of girls staring at me with a slight giggle in their faces, I found my way out of the station until one of them approached me and asked if I was Paulo Pascoal, I said yes, the rest came right along asking for autographs, I was embarrassed but it felt good to know that they liked my work. How would I handle it? I think I would get wild with them Ha Ha.I am always a fan of my fans, sometimes I can't, when they are too many, but most of times I take my time to also make questions, and show interest in knowing who they are, because the type of followers I have might reflect the type of person I am, therefore I do,therefore I am, and think it is important for one to know! The fans make our careers, I love them for that.
Human Rights, Free of Speech and Sexual Behavior: I try not to focus so much on the negations of the world, but in ways of making it a better place. I think everyone should have the right to do whatever they please as long as they don't invade foreign space. I dislike when people have their actions regulated by others, and how an abundance of unneeded extraneous wills cause men to self-destruct, I am victim of war, I lost my father at the age of 6, and lived in civil war ambient till the age of 10, there are too many different people in the world for things to be perfect for everyone at all times, but I'm all for freedom and making love peacefully, and anytime a group of people is taking a stand and raising their voices for a good cause, I am game!

Dating X Love: Ouch, I've been single for over an year now, I've had the most intensively beautiful relationship but my heart is wide open, it just hasn't happened yet!

Sports: I would like to exercise more, but I still can't do much as it's only been 7 months since I finished Chemotherapy and Radiation, I can't wait for the summer to surf though, anything that involves water and boards is the sport I want to do.

His way to atract someone´s attention: I look in the eye, I am an romantic idealist, some would say naive, I
can't helped it, I go for it, flowers, candle light dinners and gifts, the way it should be.

Having fun, places he goes and enjoys the best of life: I have a lot of fun at home, my house has always a lot of people, some stay for days, I like that, but I also like going out and party with my friends, I love going to see shows, book releases, concerts, art exhibits, art art art.Yes! I enjoy nature, I think we all should set a time apart during the week to go see a landscape, to a park, look at the stars, barefoot in the sand in the grass, it makes me feel like I am in this
organic movement with the Universe and all it provides. I also travel a lot.

The craziest (nastiest?) thing he´s ever done in a summer time season: Uh Oh, so many, front row watching "Dark Knight" and I had my fingers somewhere so that we needed to leave the movie and finish it at home, once I was caught by my landlord that was hosting the building to possible new tenants having sex in the rooftop, and another time i had sex on a inter-city bus filled with people. I could go on! HaHa.I once was in Toronto, sharing a room with my Grandfather and I had sex in the bed close to him while he was asleep. That was just wrong!

Favorite body part and why: My hands they give me a lot of pleasure HaHa.I reiki and do spiritual healing, and with it I've learned that your hands are smarter than your head, everything, all around us is built with hands, i think hands are
beautiful, they're my favorite instrument.

Favorite singer and which music he hears in his IPOD: Right now I am listening to Fleetwood Mac, if I had to choose a vocalist it would be, Freddy Mercury, George Michael or Prince, I am torn, if I had to pick music that always makes me dance regardless, it would be Sneaky Sound System, and if I want something I can always listen to without getting tired it would be Sade, it's proper to any occasion and you always add points.

Fav food: I'm vegetarian, I'd say - spring rolls mustard roasted eel sushi with zucchini enchiladas and salmon.

Fav underwear for his daily activities and for those coooool sexy moments (lol!): Short Briefs always, it accentuates my body parts in any occasion, a good pair of Emporio Armani.*

Projects

I intend to keep living healthy and wealthy of spirit, to continue acting, I still haven't gotten the role of my life, regarding singing, uhm... I don't know i want to keep writing for other musicians, but I have a deal I can't break just yet, modeling not as much, I have other priorities I must conquer, so let's take it each day at the time, I can't take anything
for granted. I keep a Diary and a Video-Journal online so I'll keep everyone posted with my endeavors and adventures.

Thank you so much for the opportunity, I enjoyed it very much so and I hope the same is true for you.

Namaste

In love,

Paulo Pascoal
info contact: http://www.modelmayhem.com/469798