For nearly 10 years, Rudy Lopez has lived a double life of sorts. In his hometown of Hanford he's the friend, brother and son who's worked as a personal trainer and physical education teacher.

But when he's working as a model in the Bay Area he gets pampered on the sets of photo shoots and television commercials.

"I'd drive up to San Francisco and they'd treat me like gold up there," Lopez said. "Then I'd drive three hours back home and it'd be like 'Dang, back to reality.'"

The now-29-year-old got his start in modeling when he was 19 and was prompted by his family to give it a try.

"I had never really heard of anyone doing it before so I just wasn't really sure," Lopez said.

But when he met a talent agency representative at the Kings Fair, he began what's turned into a lucrative career that gets him occasionally recognized by strangers.

"It's really strange when I go to Fresno and I see all these girls whispering and then one of them will come up and say 'Hey you're that guy from the commercial,'" he said. "It's pretty funny, my friends get a bigger kick out of it than I do."

His first job was modeling clothing for the now-defunct retailer, Gottschalks, but soon he got an agent in San Francisco and landed national campaigns for Pepsi and Macy's.

"To me that's when I felt like I'd finally made it," he said. "When I saw myself in The New York Times in a Macy's ad."

He remembers modeling during that photo shoot with a Jamaican girl who the company had flown out from New York to San Francisco.

On that set he remembers being pampered by an entire crew who were there just to see that he was prepared to work, but he also has some less pleasant memories.

When he first began modeling a makeup artist plucked his eyebrows for the first time.

"I was shocked and I had no idea they were gonna do that to me, but I guess it just comes with the territory," Lopez said.

He also remembers modeling for a promotional event for a cosmetic company, which entailed him standing nearly naked in the middle of a department store while his body was painted by makeup artists.

But one of his most embarrassing moments came on the set of his first national television commercial, which only aired out of California.

He was dressed as a cowboy promoting Pepsi and since he'd never worn cowboy boots before, he tripped while walking on set.

What he gets recognized for most is a Michaels Chevrolet commercial that touts "your job is your credit," which has been playing on stations throughout the Valley for nearly five years.

He's also popular among his 15-year-old sister, Kelsey's, friends who've seen him appear on an episode of the MTV reality show, "My Super Sweet 16."

In the episode he escorts out the birthday girl, Nicole, to her Cirque du Soleil-themed party, which he said cost her father more than $300,000.

Lopez said he made $1,000 that day and for all of his jobs he is paid a minimum of $600 per day.

Many of his family members, including his mother, Sharon Lopez, began modeling after seeing how successful he was. Lopez's mother says she thinks her son was so successful because of his personality.

"He's just a friendly guy and that helps," she said. "Looks can only take you so far, then you have to be easy to work with and a good guy."

These days he spends more time at VQ Fitness training his clients then he does modeling, but it's something he's glad he experienced.

"It was just something different and it got me out of Hanford to see something new," Lopez said. "I always felt like I was living a different life in the Bay Area."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2427.

(Oct. 24, 2009)