Richard: I cannot please everybody

MANILA, Philippines - When Richard Yap recently won the Best Actor trophy at the 27th PMPC Star Awards for TV for his performance as Richard “Ser Chief” Lim in the ABS-CBN daytime teleserye Be Careful With My Heart (which he topbills with Jodi Sta. Maria), he was aware about how some quarters frowned on him for receiving the acting plum. There were even some who bashed him on social networking sites in protest. But Richard kept his cool and chose not to dwell on the negative comments of people who obviously do not favor him. His Best Actor win was a tie with Coco Martin.

“I guess all celebrities have that,” Richard told The STAR regarding showbiz issues and online bashers after the presscon for Krem-Top Change for the Better Pilipinas campaign of which he is one of the brand ambassadors. The other is radio jock Papa Jack of 90.7 Love Radio. “When I won the Best Actor award from PMPC, there were a lot of people who said that I don’t deserve it. Well, ang sabi ko nga, I wasn’t the one who asked for it. In fact, when I was nominated I was just surprised. Sabi ko, ‘Paano ako manalo n’yan tignan mo naman kung sino yung mga kalaban ko?’ And I wasn’t even here because I didn’t expect to win. I was out of the country when I learned that I won.

“There are a lot of people who said na dapat si ganito ang nanalo. Well, that’s their opinion. I didn’t ask for it. The PMPC and the judges gave it to me. I think they had reason to do that so if our teleserye is the No. 1 daytime teleserye then that’s just goes to prove something. I don’t have to justify that award.”

Besides, Richard doesn’t claim that he already knows everything when it comes to acting. “I still have a lot to learn, I guess,” as he assessed his being an actor. “But I’m proud of the fact that people have accepted it and a lot of people keep on telling me to keep on doing what I’m doing. A lot of the veteran actors have been telling me that I’m doing the right thing so I take it from them. I take that positively.”

Some people, Richard added, may not understand his acting style because most people are used to watching actors who cry buckets in most of the scenes. His approach is to affect the audience sans tears but with heartfelt emotion. “If you look at the Koreanovelas, you do not see them cry but still they are able to convey the emotion. People think that you have to cry to be a Best Actor but it’s not. It’s how you affect the audience. I think acting is a learning process and I’m striving to get better.”

Dubbed as the Accidental Idol, Richard embraces the changes that have been happening in his life since he entered showbiz in 2011. He was more of a businessman and commercial model prior to auditioning and bagging the Papa Chen role in the Kim Chiu drama starrer My Binondo Girl. It was followed by Be Careful With My Heart that opened many doors of opportunities for him. So from handling his businesses, Richard also takes care of his acting career.

“The change has done a lot of wonders for me and my family. It has opened a lot of doors and so these are all positive and syempre everything is a challenge so we try to accept each and every challenge.”

Asked if there’s a pressure to maintain his wholesome image and avoid getting involved in any controversy, he replied, “Of course, there’s pressure that you have to maintain this image kasi parang di ako pwedeng magalit but of course, we are all human beings and those issues, you have to accept that they will come. Even though we are public personalities, we all have our weaknesses and there are times that we are not in our best (condition) so you can’t fault us for being human. As much as possible we try to act as responsibly as we can.”

Richard is also aware that there are some who easily get slighted whenever celebrities like him fail to respond warmly. He was even called suplado in one instance for giving a wan smile due to lack of sleep “because I just came from a taping. I think people should understand that we’re also human (beings) and not just the people (characters) on TV.”

Does he think celebrities need to please everyone all the time?

“Whatever you do as long as you’re doing it right, it shouldn’t matter if you please other people or not because there are some instances that you do have to please them like when you’re doing the show; you have to cater what the audience wants. For me, you don’t have to please everyone because you cannot as there will always be people who will put you down.”

In his case, it seems his supporters outnumber his bashers as he often hears comments that are music to his ears. He feels fulfilled whenever he served as an inspiration to people. He shared that one comment that touched his heart was that he was able to help save a life. “I don’t even know what happened pero ganun yun comment. Parang you are given the chance to help other people even though you don’t know that you’re doing it.”

Thus, it makes him more fitting to be one of the brand ambassadors of Krem-Top Change for the Better Pilipinas campaign which aims about making small changes to make a big impact. Richard believes that each of us can push for a better Philippines just by doing simple acts like abiding traffic rules and refraining from carelessly throwing our garbage.

If memory serves him right, Richard said that he already has a total of 20 product endorsements. Well, that only proves that he is doing things right.