Loving & living according to Aga

"There must be a way of graduating from this stuff," says Aga Muhlach when asked how come he is always a most sought-after lover boy in one love story after another.

To wit, he was the misunderstood and loving Carlitos in May Minamahal (1993) with Aiko Melendez.

Wasn’t he the patient lover waiting for his loved one (Lea Salonga) to come home to the country in Sana’y Maulit Muli (1994) and variations of the same theme with Dayanara Torres in Basta Kasama Kita (1994), with Claudine Barretto in Kailangan Kita (2002) and finally with Sharon Cuneta in Kung Ako Na Lang Sana (2003)?

He is facing media men for the presscon of All My Life which pairs him for the first time with Kristine Hermosa who – in real life–is 12 years younger than him.

In matters of looks, there is no way the question of age can get into the picture.

Aga who is in his early 30s, has hardly aged and can easily pass for a young man about Kristine’s age.

No, he has no formula for keeping young nor does he keep a book on How To Remain A Leading Man Forever.

He lives a simple, uncomplicated life with a stable income. A loving wife and two kids are his main anchors.

But how come he can still pass for a late teener and still be fit for the likes of Claudine Barretto and Joyce Jimenez, on one hand and Sharon Cuneta and Vilma Santos, on the other?

His first concern when offered the role is to live the real emotion involved and making it look perfectly natural on screen.

"Yes," he admits. "Experience makes a better actor and I try to find something from the past when I first fell in love and experienced the first joy and pain. But on screen, you can’t portray something from the past. You have to look real for the part and the feeling should be real as well."

One bets he is not the type who would internalize the part but focus and get the real feel of things on the set.

He begins to get into the part when he is on the set and surrounded by people he will interact with.

Looking at Kristine Hermosa, his leading lady, he could see that that it is not difficult to fall in love with the young lady even in real life. "I basically love playing this part because in a way, it makes you feel so young. For another, it is always a nice feeling to be in love and you don’t have to act this out because this emotion is so real and so natural. I always think about my audience and how they reacted to my last role. I want them to react the same way or relive the same feeling they found so real in my previous film. Yon ang gusto kong makuha sa pelikula."

The process actually begins with rapport with co-actors and he didn’t have a hard time having one with Kristine.

He saw her excitement on the set on the first shooting day and it helped. It was the first time they worked together and first time to work with director Laurenti Dyogi who is new in the field.

How did he try to find the same wave length with his leading lady?

First, he imagined how she’d work with other leading men. He wondered what Kristine’s world was besides Jericho Rosales and Diether Ocampo. And then, he also wondered what direction the actress would take and what would make her happy in the end.

He discovered a lot about the young talent. She works hard but the real Kristine was the woman in between breaks who was just herself outside her film role. She is maasikaso, mabait, malambing.

"When there is just the two of you, she makes you feel ikaw lang ang mundo niya," Aga adds. " But once she is back in the city after the shooting, she’s different. It’s back to other work. I can see why she is oftentimes misunderstood."

What does the leading lady say of Aga?

Kristine sports a serious mien when talking about the guy she was throwing jokes at in the beginning of the presscon.

"Apart from his utter simplicity, Aga is full of heart as well," she says. "He is also very sensitive with a lot of things and on top of that, he’s very sincere and very real. He is also very supportive and everything you’d look for in a gentleman. He is also very thoughtful and is the type who would listen to everything you want to take up with him."

And with a pause, she states the obvious, "And he is very guwapo."

The two easily related to direk Dyogi who was working for them for the first time.

Kristine realized early in the shooting how much the director trusted her all the way with the part. Did she feel the pressure?

"Hindi naman. Nakakadagdag lang ng kaba. But it is a nice feeling to know that the director trusts you without reservation."

In general, Aga likes directors who are open to suggestions and new ideas. "Direk Dyogi is basically like that and everything went smoothly. I also like directors who love what they are doing and would do things not just for the sake of money. There are directors na sarado ang utak at wala ng magaling kundi siya na lang."

The actor has logged 20 years in showbiz and is full of lessons learned in the business.

He has learned how to handle money, he has outgrown the paporma phase, he is happy with his wife (beauty queen and TV host Charlene Gonzalez) and two children and he has taken the path to a simple and happy life.

He reflects: "There was a time early in my career when I couldn’t cope with material things. I used to splurge, buy this and that and in the end, it didn’t make you happy. Nabaon ka lang sa utang. I was into watches for a while but at the end of the day, I realized that I can be happy with just one watch. But you did it just for kicks. Pang-porma, so they say. But with my life now and with my wife, I learned how to be happy with what I have. I don’t need billions and a private chopper to be happy. I only need a thousand pesos in the bank for as long as you don’t owe anyone anything."

So what is his key to a happy life thus far?

"Find time to pause and reflect on what you have. Count your blessings, so they say. Don’t go too fast. Don’t join the rat race. Love your family and drop thoughts of acquiring billions. You can be doubly happy with the basic things," Aga ends.