“May bago rin daw soap si Dennis, says our manager (Popoy Caritativo),” says Tom. “In ‘Nino’, I’m just playing a guest role. Hindi ka mag-aabot ng magiging anak ko, si Miguel Tanfelix, who plays the title role. But Popoy says I’ll have a new soap in May.”
In “So It’s You”, Tom plays a shoemaker with a funny name, Gorio Acuyong. He has just been dumped by his partner, Bangs Garcia, for another man, Manuel Chua. They’re not married but they have a love child, Mark Justin Alvarez, who happens to be mute. Then he meets Carla, who’s been jilted by her groom, JC De Vera, right on their wedding day. Carla then tries to use him to get JC back.
“Carla and I enjoyed shooting this movie kasi it’s very light,” he says. “Tawanan lang kami nang tawanan. Unlike sa ‘My Husband’s Lover’ na puro conflict at iyakan. Masaya ang movie, talagang feel good siya, and it helps na dati ng maganda ang rapport namin ni Carla.”
His swimming pool scene in the trailer where he’s shown in trunks is getting positive feedback. “Actually, nahihiya akong gawin yun noong una kasi I just got back then from my vacation in the States after we had our ‘My Husband’s Lover’ concert there. Habang nandun ako, I ate a lot, pati chocolates, so I gained weight and I felt ang laki ng tiyan ko. E, pinag-trunks ako ni Direk Jun Lana, so sige, di ginawa ko. But I’ve trimmed down since then kasi nagpe-prepare ako ngayon for the Bench fashion show in September na us models, rarampa kami in our underwear.”
Is it true he and GF K-la Rivera, a theatre actress he met when they were paired in ‘Aladdin’ at Meralco Theatre, have broken up? “Yes. It’s our mutual decision. She has signed up with GMA-7 and we’re both so busy, lalo na ako, ang dami ko talagang trabaho and obligations na very time consuming. So we decided to focus muna on our work.”
It was reported that Carla got drunk in a bar when she broke up with Geoff Eigenmann and she called him up to fetch her. “It’s not true. No such thing ever happened. I think may effort to link Carla and I kasi pareho kaming unattached ngayon to help promote our movie. But ayaw naming pilitin. It’s possible na maging kami, but not now. We don’t want to be accused na gumigimik lang kami for the sake of ‘So It’s You’. The movie can stand on its own merits kasi maganda talaga ang pagkakasulat at pagkakadirek sa kanya ni Direk Jun Lana. First time ko to work with him and I had fun. Magaling siya and we’re all proud of our movie.”
