The actor and entrepreneur reflects on personal growth and building a life beyond expectations.

PHOTOGRAPHY Joseph Bermúdez
CREATIVE DIRECTION Paolo Chua
STYLING Markarvin

What does your world look like creatively these days?
I would say these days, my world creatively looks like building. It’s very much tending to, as cheesy as it sounds, the saplings or seeds that I planted six years ago when I was 25. Now they’re starting to sprout around me as an independent creative and entrepreneur. Whether it’s running my food business, my pizza shop <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cityslicemanila/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">City Slice Pizza Lounge</a> or my very first Netflix show that I pitched and produced myself just two days ago, or even just managing my own career financially and operationally, it’s very much just building. I don’t think it’s a reaping era for me yet. I think it’s still a season of tending and staying consistent. But it’s been a very creative life so far.
How has your work changed compared to when you first started, especially as you’ve grown more comfortable with yourself over time?
I started when I was 18, and to answer how my work has changed, we first have to understand how I’ve changed as a person. When we’re younger, especially in show business, we’re subconsciously driven a lot by ego. We perform versions of ourselves that we think are the coolest or most socially accepted. That changed as I got older and realized that in this industry, you’re never going to be the hottest thing on the block forever. You’re never going to be the freshest talent forever. It’s very quick and fleeting.
Being released from that mental prison forced me to elevate my creative skills. Whether it was performing on stage, managing my business or producing a music festival in 2019, work now feels much more meaningful, intentional and grounded. I now know how to handle not just the creative side of my career, but also the financial, operational and technical aspects because I left management and decided to run my career like a business too.
It was definitely challenging, especially because it happened in the aftermath of being outed. That experience really forces you to look inward.
What kinds of stories, people or perspectives do you find yourself gravitating toward lately?
I definitely look for projects that allow me to hone technical and vocal excellence. Through Spring Awakening, I really learned how to sing and delve into much deeper and more emotionally drawn-out material. I like being challenged. I like finding new ways to express myself. I may not always look this way or be this fit forever, but if I can continue connecting truthfully to material and keep improving as an actor, then there will always be a place for me. With business, it honestly feels like a playground right now. All of this ADHD energy I have finally has an outlet.
As someone working in a creative industry, do you feel like there’s more space now for different perspectives and identities than before?
I think the true secret weapon of any creative is learning how to manage your own career and becoming the boss of yourself. Creatives have beautiful ideas, but sometimes they stay floating in the air because people don’t know how to take that first practical step. Once you learn how to do that, you become untouchable. You stop needing other people’s approval to fully be who you are. You just start doing it.

Have you ever felt pressure to present yourself a certain way in your industry?
Definitely. All the time. When I was in the closet, or before I publicly expressed my sexuality, I felt pressure to be masculine. Then, when I came out, I suddenly felt pressure to be feminine. People wanted to put me in skirts and makeup and all these things. Then I realized that regardless of my sexuality, I’m still my father’s and mother’s son.
As an actor, there’s always pressure because certain projects require certain mindsets or presentations, but now it’s a pressure I can switch on and off depending on the work. Show business really acts like a mirror. You look at yourself or at the roles being offered to you and ask: Is there a part of me that can represent what this project needs?
For me, it’s also about asking whether a role aligns with the kind of body of work I want my future children to see one day. I’d love for them to say, “Oh, my dad was a superhero” or “My dad was an adventurer”. I don’t think I always want to go down the most avant-garde or sexually daring route.
What kind of conversations do you hope your work opens up?
I hope to spark more conversations around bicultural and multicultural people, and just more diversity in general, locally and internationally. Sometimes I feel like I’m part of two cultures while also not fully belonging to either, and I know there are probably so many people who feel the same way. I hope my work inspires people who maybe don’t fit neatly into one box or one mold, and reminds them that hard work and grit can still get you where you want to go.
What parts of yourself naturally find their way into your work, even unintentionally?
I think my sexuality somehow always finds its way into my work. Though honestly, I’m happy with how diverse my projects have been. Bar Boys: The Musical felt very different from Spring Awakening. A lot of the characters I tend to play are headstrong and resolute, and I’m happy if that’s what people see in me, too. I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’ve become a little more prudish about being overly daring or sexual onscreen. I remember auditioning for Heated Rivalry and then later watching it and thinking, “I don’t know if I could do that.”
At this point in your career, what excites you most about where your work could still go?
The fact that I haven’t run out of cards to play yet. I still have so many tricks up my sleeve. Business excites me. It also excites me seeing millennials continue to thrive creatively. The Jonas Brothers are still putting things out, a lot of our childhood heroes are still releasing new work, and it reminds me that there’s still so much time. A lot of us spent our twenties just figuring life out, and now it feels like we’re finally ready to really create. Everyone also feels like they’re aging more slowly now, so there’s more time to build and experiment and evolve. That’s what excites me most: the fact that I get to wake up and do this every single day. It’s such a blessing.

MAKEUP Luis Buñag
HAIR Charlotte Justiniani
LIGHTING DIRECTOR Rojan Maguyon
PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT Ruby Pedregosa
STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Amer Jheck Afghan R. Franco

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