Actually, he has plenty of reasons to celebrate as he’s also turning 21 on March 26 and his career is really on a roll. Now a regular in “ASAP” and “Happy Yippe Yehey”, he’ll be paired with Kim Chiu in “Binondo Girl”, a new soap, and after supporting Sarah Geronimo, he now plays leading man to Maja Salvador in “Busted”, the directorial debut of writer Enrico Santos. “I’m glad my first film is with Sarah as I’m really a big fan of her as she’s an amazing performer,” he says. “I like her simplicity, sweetness and innocence. Then I’m working with Maja and Kim pa, it’s really a big blessing and sometimes I can’t believe it. Everything that’s happening to my career is a dream come true for me, including my hosting job in ‘Happy Yippe’ kasi we really get the chance to make a lot of people happy with the big prizes we’re giving away.”
Is he courting any of his leading ladies? “No, I admire them, they’re all beautiful and talented, but it’s all work between us.” It could be he has a non-showbiz GF? “Wala. I’m single. And happy.”
It was Tita Virgie who also urged him to take voice lessons in UP and he discovered he loves singing. He went to Columbia College in Chicago to major in Musical Theatre and starred in a production of “Pippin”. After two years, he missed home and ABS gave him his first big break in “Agua Bendita” with Andi Eigenmann, a big hit. It’s obvious ABS is now grooming him to be a top leading man since he’s paired with their top stars. His dad is Italian while his mom belongs to the respected Fernan clan of Cebu. How do they regard his joining showbiz? “They’re all very supportive. They watch my TV shows and now, I’m sure they’ll also watch my first movie that’s a big challenge for me as a play a kanto boy-rapper, which is so far from me in real life.”
