Elmo swings back to TV acting

MANILA, Philippines - Not much has been seen or heard about Elmo Magalona the past months and this led many a showbiz watcher to speculate that he preferred to lay low instead of accepting TV projects being offered by his mother network GMA 7.

“I never thought that being away from TV acting would make people think that I decided to lay low, but I did not. It just so happened that there was no (regular) project lined up for me then,” Elmo told The STAR before the start of the presscon of GMA 7’s remake of Villa Quintana that he is topbilling with new screen partner Janine Gutierrez. It will premiere on Nov. 4 on the Kapuso Network’s Afternoon Prime block.

His one-year lull from regular TV acting, with Together Forever as his last, gave Elmo the much-needed time to attend to personal activities and close endorsement deals which, according to him, were too tough to squeeze into his then fully-loaded work schedule. He was last seen as a regular performer in Party Pilipinas which folded up months ago. It was replaced by Sunday All Stars sans Elmo in the list of celebrity mainstays that fanned some talks. According to rumors, Elmo became picky with roles; turning down offers from GMA. When asked about the rumors, Elmo laughed and said, “The truth is, I’m just waiting (for acting projects) at hindi ako nagtatampo sa network.”

He added, “For a while, I did the rounds of TV guestings for different shows. For me, my being inactive with regular work has become super helpful to me because for three years, I’ve been working non-stop — from Party Pilipinas to drama shows and out-of-town shows. My schedule didn’t allow me to improve myself. So when the break came, I took advantage to relax and focus on other things.”

Elmo went back to school as a freshman student of De La Salle College of St. Benilde taking up Culinary Arts. He finds the course beneficial to his dreams of getting into the restaurant business someday.

“I don’t have a specialty yet but I’ve started working in our kitchen to do mga basic lang muna like pasta and simple Filipino dishes. Sometimes, I try mixing ingredients to come up with something extraordinary. Di kasi ako mahilig sa sinigang, what I love is chicken adobo.”

He, too, made use of his spare time by attending acting workshops in GMA to hone his talent which actually resulted to his landing a role as Isagani Samonte in Villa Quintana.

“Initially, I thought it would be hard for me to act opposite a new partner but all my worries started to fade one by one when taping began. Medyo nasanay kasi ako sa dati (loveteam with Julie Ann San Jose) and I struggled adjusting to a new team-up but eventually I felt at ease with Janine, we now feel comfortable with each other,” shared Elmo who used to be the other half of the JuliElmo loveteam.

Villa Quintana director Gina Alajar, Elmo added, has been instrumental in making things a lot easier for him and Janine. During the presscon, direk Gina shared, “Kinilig pati ako when we shot their kissing scene, perfect ang chemistry nila.”

Elmo will play the role originally portrayed by Keempee de Leon in Villa Quintana that became a phenomenal hit series in the mid-‘90s. Elmo said his approach to the character is much different from that of Keempee’s. “I attack the role according to how I understand where Isagani is coming from. We share some similarities like sticking to something that I believe in. I can’t say that I’m hard-headed because I do listen to what others will have to say. Still, I try to weigh things first kung ako ba ang tama or sila.”

And how does he deal with intrigues? Elmo replied, “I just shrug them off because I don’t dwell on the negative. I only focus on the things that will make me a better person.”

(Villa Quintana also stars Raymart Santiago, Sunshine Dizon, Paolo Contis, Roy Alvarez, Kyla, Maricar de Mesa, Tanya Garcia, Marky Lopez, Juancho Trivino and Rita de Guzman.)