35 going on 18

Juggling showbiz work and spending time with family are two of the hardest things to do.

Luckily for me, I only have my brother to worry about, while the rest of my relatives are basically scattered around the world.

In Cherry Pie Picache’s case, she started building her family at the older-than-usual age of 31.

She’s been in the business for 15 years now, and loving it. When I first found out that I would be working with her along with Tito Johnny (Delgado) and other big artists, I got a bit scared.

I felt so much pressure on me specially that Cherry Pie would play one of my sisters.

After a few weeks of scattered shooting days, we all learned to somewhat warm up to each other.

Even as Pie can be as serious as can be, she’s as kikay as can be, too. She’s actually really fun to chat with.

When I approached her the other day and said, "Ah... Ms. Pie, would you mind giving me a few minutes of your time for an interview for my Sunday column in The STAR?"

We both kind of paused, looked at each other and started laughing. She laughed and said, "Hindi bagay..."

I guess she didn’t expect me to approach her so seriously. And so we started the interview.

I learned that Pie is a very dedicated actress. She’s been acting ever since she was nine. She started appearing in TV shows and commercials at 13.

Pie told me she didn’t really take show business all that seriously until she turned 20. That was when she decided to focus on her craft and become a serious actress.

Basically, she has always wanted to be an actress ever since. "Dumaan talaga ako sa butas ng karayom. I didn’t have it easy, unlike the new actors these days. Kung maganda ka at marunong ka umarte, pwede na," she says.

"In my case, I had to work hard... I had to always prove myself," she goes on.

Pie told me about this director who yelled at her and said, "Cherry Pie! From the scale of one to 10, you’re only giving me three!"

It was one of her unforgettable moments in the business and one of the things that motivated and challenged her to do better each time.

While her career was doing well around age 28, and even though she thought about having a child, she decided not to because she wanted to focus more on her craft.

But a couple of years after, Pie started questioning herself. "I was so used to just taking care of myself and taking care of my career... carefree lang. There must be something more to just living for yourself," she told herself.

Pie felt empty. Some say fame and fortune don’t always mean happiness. She asked God to give her a reason for all the things she’s working so hard for.

When she turned 31, God blessed her with a little angel – Jose Antonio, or Boody.

He is her first child, named after her two favorite saints – St. Joseph and St. Anthony.

He’s now three and Pie is really excited that he just recently started school. Despite her super-hectic schedule, she still makes it a point to prepare Boody’s things for school and cook food for her family.

"If I don’t have work, I give him a bath, feed him, and fix his clothes," she says.

Pie treasures all the time she spends with her other half, Gary, and Boody. She and her partner originally planned to have a second child by next year, but Pie said she’ll just leave it all up to God as to how things turn out by next year.

"I think I was made to be a mom... I love being a mom," she says.

Pie is as focused with her craft as she is as dedicated to her job as a mother. Although she seems to have achieved a lot in this business, she still has dreams she would want to fulfill.

"I really want to be able to reach a point where I can pick my projects so that I can focus more. I want to be able to do something na talagang mag-i-immerse ka, at hindi ka mangangarag. I want to be able to focus in one project lang," she reveals.

"I wanna play a two-to-three-character role someday and really focus on it."

Another dream she still has yet to fulfill is securing her child’s education and maybe having a farm.

I wish her all the luck in making that dream come true, and I’m sure it’s not too far from now. When the time comes, Pie wishes to simply be remembered as a good mother and good actress.

I learned so much about her after having that short conversation. Pie is a proud 35-year-old woman with the heart of an 18-year-old. She’s really fun to be with.

(You can e-mail me at [email protected]