Enrique puts lovelife on hold

Curtain-raisers:

Here are interesting text messages I got from friends over the weekend:

• From STAR lawyer-singer/contributor Dot Ramos Balasbas-Gancayco (congratulating the newly-appointed Chief Justice who is, according to DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima, “an excellent choice”): I’m in Hong Kong. Heard about the appointment of Ma. Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Meilou was my classmate in Kamuning Elementary School, Class of ’72. She was class salutatorian. Your writer, Dot Ramos Balasbas-Gancayco, graduated class valedictorian.

• From designer Efren Ocampo (on some people’s reaction to Bourne Legacy director Tony Gilroy’s description [taken out of context] of Manila as “ugly and dirty,” etc.): They always shoot the messenger, don’t they? Why don’t we look at the message? ‘Yon bang sinasabi totoo o hindi? Paris, arguably the most beautiful city in the world, has some dirty and ugly areas. Instead of getting hot and bothered, why don’t we find ways to improve Manila? After all, in everything and everyone, there’s always room for improvement. (Additional comment from somebody who requested anonymity): The trouble with us Filipinos is that kapag may dumi tayo sa mukha at pinansin ng foreigner, sa halip na linisin natin ay nagagalit pa tayo. Hayyy, naku…!)

• From Bob Zozobrado (reacting to my Conversation piece with Julio Iglesias last Sunday): Hala, my friend. Mali ang Spanish quote mo; baka magalit si Julio, hehehe! Should have been “Muy bien, gracias!” [“Very well, thank you!”] and not “Muy tambien, gracias!” Can’t say “tambien” because it means “also.” The other error: It should have been “Estoy hablando Tagalog correctamente” [“I am speaking Tagalog correctly”]. Or, “Hablo Tagalog correctamente [“I speak Tagalog correctly”]. “Perfectly” in Spanish would have been “perfectamente.” Perdon, hermano, solamente quiero compartir mi conocimiento, aunque muy poco, del idioma de Cervantes. Te quiero mucho, amigo! (Dear Bob, I stand corrected. I could blame the deadline rush-rush but I wouldn’t. Perdoneme. Muchisimas gracias for that crash course in Spanish. By the way, I got flat ones in Spanish in college but that was ages ago. Senior moment kaya? Hehehe!)

*   *   *

Two years ago when Funfare did a “body talk” feature on him (with Sam Concepcion, his then co-star in the ABS-CBN show Good Vibes), Enrique Gil (also with Sam) took a step “bolder” by wearing trunks in a shot showing them emerging from the pool a little wet (but not really wild).

At that time, Enrique (no relation to the other Gils in showbiz) said that he was 5’10” tall; weighed 150 lbs.; and wore small/medium-sized shirt, medium-sized briefs and size-10 shoes. The part-Spanish, part-German and part-Filipino heartthrob said that he had put his studies (Information Technology at San Beda College, Parañaque City) on hold and was then also doing Mula Sa Puso, another ABS-CBN teleserye (a revival), playing the role Diether Ocampo did in the original.

More revelations: His favorite sleepwear was Boxers and T-shirt; he slept with three pillows (one under his head, a hotdog pillow that he hugged and a third one close beside him); he snored only when he was “super-pagod;” wanted to improve his butt because it was “very, very curvy; I need to trim it;” frowned on girls who were not “totoo sa sarili. Plastic!”; and relaxed by having home-service massage and hieing off to Pandanan Island in Cebu (he’s Cebuano).

How time flies! A lot has changed in Enrique’s life since then.

His father, also named Enrique (like his father), a PAL flight attendant (like Gerry Perez, father of AJ Perez who prematurely died in a car accident last year), is gone. Asked what his father died (at 48) of, Enrique said, “Katulad ng sakit ni Francis; he died before Francis.” (The most lethal type of leukemia.) His mother, Barbara Ann Bacay Gil, also a flight attendant, was among those retrenched by PAL years back. “She was pregnant with my youngest (the third child in the family) sister at that time, so she decided to work somewhere else.”

After his stint in Budoy (with Gerald Anderson), Enrique now plays the son of Gretchen Barretto in Princess & I and one of the two sons (the other is Martin del Rosario) of Angel Aquino in the indie Amorosa: The Revenge, produced by Star Cinema’s “maindie” arm Skylight Films (first project was Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang with Erich Gonzales and Derek Ramsay), showing nationwide starting tomorrow, Aug. 29. It’s his second indie starrer (the first was Pieta). Directed by Topel Lee, Amorosa is described as a psychological horror inside a family drama. In case you haven’t noticed, local producers are currently on “horror mode.” It’s scary season again!

Asked jokingly who’s more beautiful, his reel mother or his real mother, Enrique said, “Mas maganda naman siempre ang real mom ko; sa kanya ako nagmana, eh!” He gushed how “naturally beautiful” his mom is (read: untouched by science). “I saw her high school photo and we really look alike.” Asked what he sees in Gretchen that reminds him of his mom, Enrique said, “Pareho silang cool.” Very much like his Amorosa mom Angel who is the paradigm of cool and composure even in the face of intrigues (like when her former TV-host/boyfriend made a big thing out of their break-up).

His dream was to be a basketball player but he was injured during a dance routine on the Sunday show ASAP. Goodbye, hard court! A blessing in disguise. He’s turning out to be one of the Kapamilya actors predicted to take over (sooner than later) from the likes of Piolo Pascual and company. So far, he said, he has had only one girlfriend (Coleen Garcia, who’s in It’s  Showtime) and puts his love life on hold (like school) because he wants to focus on his career.

“My dad is gone so I’m helping my mom take care of our family,” said the dutiful son.

Asked by the writer beside me if he’s still, uhm, “innocent,” Enrique (who turned 20 last March 30, Aries) blushed, “Well, lahat naman ng tao mayroong kalokohan while growing up, di ba?,” adding that he’s clean-living (no smoking, regular workout, healthy diet and, if he can get it, enough sleep). No wonder he’s flawless.

He idolizes (among foreign actors) Denzel Washington and Johnny Depp, and (among local actors) John Lloyd Cruz “because he can easily touch the audience with his convincing acting.”

Hasn’t he, like most young actors, let popularity gone to his head?

“Nakatapak pa rin ako sa lupa,” said Enrique.

Hopefully, he would keep his feet firmly planted there.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)