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Mario Bautista, has been with the entertainment industry for more than 4 decades. He writes regular columns for People's Journal and Malaya.

Nov 20, 2017

Fil-Japanese Teen Star Taki Saito Of 'Trops' & 'Eat Bulaga' Happy To Do Her First Movie, 'Trip Ubusan, Lolas Vs. Zombies'

FIL-JAPANESE TEEN STAR TAKI SAITO is happy to be one of the teen stars in “Trip Ubusan: The Lolas Vs. Zombies”, her first movie. She is paired with “Eat Bulaga” That’s My Bae winner Kenneth Medrano and they’re one of the three love teams in the movie. The other two couples are Shaira Mae de la Cruz-Miggy Tolentino, and Athur Solinap (as the driver of the bus attacked by zombies) and former “Wowowin” dancer Lovely Abella (the conductress of the bus).

Taki was born in Japan with a half-Pinay/half-Japanese mother. “My dad naman is half-Japanese/half-Brazilian,” she says. “I never saw my dad because he and my mom had a bad breakup. They were both just 20 when I was born. When I was five, my mom got a job in Paris and we stayed there for 8 years. When we returned here, 13 na ako and I don’t know how to speak Tagalog or English. French lang ang alam ko. My mom wanted me to go to an international school but I said I prefer a local school so pinasok niya ko sa Colegio San Agustin and that’s where I learned how to speak Tagalog and also English.”

Didn’t she try to communicate with her dad? “I did. Through social media, I met his parents and other members ng family nila. Okay naman ako sa kanila. But when I got in touch with my dad, who lives in Brazil, through Facebook, he was not excited at all. He acknowledged me, but parang cold siya sa’kin. Nagsisi nga ako kasi sinekreto ko pa yun sa mommy ko, na I’ll get in touch with him.”

So did she feel sad growing up without a dad? “Actually, no. I’m 17 now and I can say that my mom really raised me well and I never felt there’s something lacking sa buhay ko. I never met my dad so parang wala naman akong na-miss. I regretted it nga na kinontak ko pa siya. Sana he didn’t answer my message na lang para sa utak ko, may mystery pa rin na maybe he’s a perfect dad. My mom has remarried and I have a stepdad na okay naman. I also have a stepbrother who’s 5 years old.”

So how did she get into local showbiz? “A family friend introduced me to Direk Dominic Zapata of GMA-7 and he introduced me to TV5 where I became a regular in ‘ParangNormal Activity’. I’m now managed by Triple A and they got to cast me sa ‘Calle Siete’ and ‘Eat Bulaga’, and after that, in ‘Trops’. Right now, I want to be part of a GMA-7 teleserye. I heard they’ll have auditions for ‘Boys Over Flowers’ so I will surely try that. I think bagay naman sa’kin kasi Japanese ang original noon and may Japanese blood naman ako.”

So is she now playing beautiful music with her ka-love team, Kenneth Medrano? “Okay naman siya, but no, he’s more like a Kuya. Actually, he’s much older than me.”

Taki is 17 while Kenneth is now 26 years old and is rumored to have a wife and kid in Cebu.

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