SAN JUAN – Former Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera has resumed her career as an actress in the Univision telenovela “Rosario” after a year off following the birth of the baby boy she had with NBA star JJ Barea.

Rivera, 24, told Efe in an interview Friday from Miami, where the telenovela will be in production over the next eight months, that she is very happy to be acting again.

“I feel super-happy and I thank God for the chance He is giving me. What I want is to keep growing as an actress and make more television series,” the winner of the 2006 Miss Universe contest said.

The Puerto Rican actress plays Sandra Diaz, a secretary who finds herself immersed in a love triangle when she begins an affair with attorney Esteban, played by Mexican actor Aaron Diaz.

Rivera said that she will be some time without Barea, since the basketball player is now in New York on business and must then go to Minnesota to join the Timberwolves.

“We’ll always try to find time for the three of us to be together. We respect each other’s careers and the mission we have,” Rivera said.

Before going to Miami to shoot “Rosario” she took part as an extra in the Hollywood movie “Runner, Runner,” filmed in her native Puerto Rico and starring U.S. actors Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck. EFE