Growing Up In The Saddle Was ‘Awesome’ For La Rue

CSI: Miami‘s Eva La Rue (Natalia Boa Vista) grew up in Norco, California, also known as “Horsetown USA”—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

As a child, La Rue would spend her weekends riding around on horseback, and sometimes she would come home with some minor injuries to show for her adventures. “We’d be gone all day Saturday and Sunday,” the actress said. “We didn’t have cell phones. There were plenty of times we came back without our ponies after getting bounced off. We’d come back all banged up and bloodied.” Looking back, she added, “It was an awesome way to grow up.”

La Rue now has a daughter of her own. Kaya is eight years old, and while she isn’t growing up in “Horsetown USA”, she does enjoy taking horseback riding lessons. “I wish we had them in the backyard,” La Rue said. “It’s different when you can just jump on bareback anytime.”

Although Kaya has inherited her mother’s love for horses, the same cannot be said for her love of acting. “She doesn’t like being on my side of the camera,” La Rue said. “She loves going to work with me because they let her call action and shoot. But she likes being behind the scenes.”

With the show now in its eighth season, La Rue still has a great time playing Natalia on Miami. “She’s far smarter than I,” the actress said of her character. “I love the show, it’s a blast. The cast is awesome. It’s really fun to go to work.” There are several more months of filming before the hiatus begins, but La Rue already knows how she’ll be spending her time off: “I’ll be getting married. So I’ll be pretty busy.”

CSI Files previously reported that La Rue and former ex-fiancé Joe Cappuccio reunited and got re-engaged recently. Now they just need to decide on a venue. “Every day we talk about a new idea,” she said. “We really want to do it in an elephant tent camp in Thailand. We’re super intrepid travelers. But it’s not really ideal to drag 30 people there. So we’re just thinking we’ll go there for our honeymoon.”