KC: Showbiz isn’t just passing fancy

When he stumbled into showbiz four years ago, KC Montero thought the glare of the limelight was just a phase in his life. Never in his wildest dreams did the rapper from Seattle, Washington imagine he’d settle in the land of his ancestors and make a living making girls swoon and sending many a fans’ hearts a-flutter.

KC is in one show after another, working seven days a week and enjoying it. One day, he’d be in Cebu, entertaining young people in an Independence Day MTV Party. The next day, he’d be back in Manila, shooting the movie Pakisabi Na Lang... Mahal Ko Siya, KC’s fourth film, where he gets to kiss Judy Ann Santos.

Next month, KC flies to Malaysia to launch a coffee-table book.

"After this presscon (for Pakisabi Na Lang), I have three shows to go to. I work twice a day on Sundays (he’s a regular of SOP and has appeared in many a sitcom like Beh Bote Nga and Hiwalay Kung Hiwalay Daw, and even a supernatural series, Sa Dako Pa Roon.

It has been a charmed life and KC is, as he describes it, so overwhelmed he doesn’t mind paying the price most celebrities pay: the absence of privacy.

Since he and former girlfriend Geneva Cruz have kept mum about what caused their separation, rumors have flown left and right.

"No," he says, "Geneva didn’t go to the US because she was pregnant. She was helping her sister settle down there and was attending to some recordings, too."

Yes, he still gets in touch with Geneva, seeing nothing wrong in maintaining the friendship after all the loving.

But to this day, KC still insists on silence where his doomed relationship with her is concerned. The silence, it turns out, has been misconstrued. Some have accused him of playing with Geneva’s feelings.

KC cries foul. "No one but Geneva and me know what really happened in the same way that only Troy (his brother) and Nikki Valdez know the real score between them," KC points out.

He was irritated, yes. But KC didn’t exactly rage for a protracted period of time over that.

"I guess that’s how it really is. You just have to roll with the punches and say, ‘okay’," KC resigns himself to the fate of a celebrity.

After all, there’s so much to be happy about. KC is slated to do two films with Regal, "my stepping stone in conquering the world."

With the film outfit’s reputation for doing sexy films, does it follow that KC will follow the bold route sooner than soon?

"I may be far from wholesome," he jokes, "but I don’t have the confidence for that."

Besides, he adds, who would want a boldie for a VJ? Not MTV, the music channel where he has been a VJ for the past three years now.

KC has even renewed his contract with them.

Between MTV, TV guestings and movies, KC has little time left for his first love: music. He has yet to sit down on his album, a labor of love where he plans to pack all his songwriting and composing skills in.

"I want the music and the beat to be mine, and it’s hard to do that," he admits.

You bet, especially when you’re delivering your lines in Filipino, an act KC admittedly needs getting used to. Having grown up in the US (his real family name is Miller), KC’s was not only an American upbringing, but an environment rich in slangs and the idioms of the west.

"I can speak Tagalog if I adlib, or think of the dialogue myself. But the lines are scripted, and that’s a different story," he goes on.

Still, Judy Ann gives her co-star a high mark when it comes to acting, KC’s protests notwithstanding.

"His acting is effortless!" she gushes.

KC was extra careful in his kissing scene with Judy Ann, which took all of five takes before getting a green light from director Boots Plata.

"Judy Ann knew all about angles and stuff. I didn’t. It was my first screen kiss and it had to be cinematic. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want her to think I was doing it on purpose," KC relates.

Such willingness to learn is the key to KC’s survival in a business that can be unkind to foreigners sometimes. Unlike other balikbayans who think they know it all, KC even cracks jokes at his expense. This way, he doesn’t come across as a cocky guy with a chip on his shoulders.

KC himself was surprised he didn’t turn people off with "my sarcastic brand of humor," the kind that made his classmates back in Seattle double up with laughter.

"They found me loud in school (where he took up Associate in Arts and Sciences). Up to now, my friends can’t believe I’m into acting. You see, I had first wanted to be a veterinarian," says this owner of two dogs, a Doberman and a boxer.

They’d better believe it. Because KC Montero will soon appear in one movie after another. Not bad for someone who loves to make fun of himself, only to end up pleasing not just his circle of friends, but others who swear by his talent as well.