Everyone has a favorite phrase that guides them through life. For Alfred Vargas, it’s the Latin saying carpe diem (which, in English, means to “seize the day”). It’s a command to make the most of each day; to fill it and make it count so you can look back without regret and tell yourself that you didn’t waste a single day.
True to the carpe diem spirit, actor and politician Alfred has tried to live his life to the fullest. Aside from a showbiz career, he took a detour into politics, winning a Congressional seat in the newly-created fifth district of Quezon City in 2013. He married and became a husband to wife Yasmine and father to two daughters, Alexandra and Aryana.
“Married life has tamed me; it gave me the most meaningful and joyful experiences in life and made me a happy man,” he says. He continues to juggle acting and politics; his latest acting project was a role in the Cinemalaya entry Separados, directed by GB Sampedro, and which Alfred himself co-produced.
As a rule, Alfred tries to give himself fully to each endeavor that he gets into. And he doesn’t consider each thing separate from the other; rather, each thing that he does benefits, enhances and complements the others — and at the same time, each one is a learning process on its own. “Filmmaking is one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling endeavors I’ve ever been into,” he says. “I didn’t realize it until I became a producer myself. What’s also interesting is that I gained more knowledge. It opened my eyes and made me see the realities and the ups and downs of the industry. It gave me a new understanding of what a professional actor really should be when I started producing films.”
Politics, however, is an entirely different field, and Alfred says that what’s important is that your heart is in the right place, and you are 100 percent committed to the idea of service. You can’t be in it for the wrong reasons. “If you really have a heart for public service, then go! It’s a very fulfilling endeavor,” he says. “However, you have to be completely sure when you decide whether to enter politics, because it entails a lot of hard work and sacrifice. You have to be 100 percent sure. If you’re only 99 percent sure, then better not to push through with it na lang. It has to be 100 percent.”
And yes, there’s a lot of dirt in politics. Alfred learned that quickly. “There’s just a lot more at stake in politics because the lives of the people depend on it a lot. If you do your job well, a lot of Filipinos will benefit from your actions. And if you do not perform well, many will suffer. It’s make or break.”
He wants to make it clear, though, that he enjoys both his jobs. “In acting, you make people happy by entertaining them. In public service, you make people happy by helping them solve their daily problems in life. Both jobs are very fulfilling. I have the two best jobs in the world!”
Once in a while, he steps out of his comfort zone to do things that are fun and rewarding in a different way, like accepting the offer of House of Obagi (HOO) to become one of its new celebrity endorsers.
But as an actor and politician, Alfred is very careful about the products and services he endorses. He spent years building up his name and isn’t going to put it on the line for something he doesn’t believe in. “Ever since my showbiz career started and even until now, I have always endorsed products I believed in. There was a time when I had to politely decline an endorsement offer in the past because it felt like the product did not suit me. HOO and Obagi are perfect for me. It’s hard to maintain healthy skin with the nature of my work, which is quite stressful and demands frequent sun exposure. The Obagi products and HOO treatments do the work for me effectively. If it’s good for me, I think it will be good for many other men, and women of course, who want to look and feel great.”