Marco Masa, Ashley Sarmiento & Aya Domingo begin journey as Sparkle Teens

MANILA, Philippines — The GMA 7’s entertainment landscape will remain relevant and robust as Sparkle Artist Center carries on the tradition of talent discovery and development. Recently, it brought into its fold what the talent management arm calls Sparkle Teens. The latter are 19 new charmers, bound to soon grace the TV screen via shows that fit their personality and potential.

Among them are Marco Masa, 15, Ashley Sarmiento, 16, and Aya Domingo, 13. Marco and Ashley are no stranger to being in the limelight since they were kiddie mainstays of Goin’ Bulilit and starred in some teleseryes like Nathaniel and FlordeLiza.

The three young stars got the chance to answer questions sent in by The STAR and shared their thoughts on this latest development in their promising professional life.

“I’m happy when I act,” said Marco of pursuing a career in show business and added that his motivation, too, is his family. “I want to help my parents and return the support they have been giving me from the start, gusto ko silang mabigyan ng magandang buhay (I want to give them a good life).”

Ashley, for her part, shared that entertaining people is, first and foremost, a dream. That’s why she wanted to continue what she had started. What also motivates the Kapuso artist is her family who is behind her in fulfilling such personal aspiration.

“My dream is also their dream and my family is very supportive of the things I’m doing,” said she, who considers her fans another source of inspiration. “Napapasaya po nila ako and gusto ko po sila maging proud lahat (They all make me feel happy and I want them to be proud of me).”

Like Ashley and Marco, Aya also named her intentions to fulfill a childhood dream, which is acting, and help her family as reasons for foraying into this creative industry.

“Bata palang po ako, dream ko na po ito and habang nandito na po ako, ang inspiration ko po yung family ko because I want to help them so they will be stress-free,” said she. “They are supportive of my dream (and that makes me very happy).”

Asked what areas of entertainment they see themselves further doing, Marco said, “My forte is acting, a lot can be looked forward to from me in this (area). (But) I’m still improving (it).” Given his previous works, he thought that he can really excel in portraying characters. Marco is also into singing and dancing.

Ashley shared she and Marco both have the same interests in acting and singing. “Acting is really my passion and my craft,” said she. “I want to be known through it. I’ve also been into singing since I was young. Nag-pe-perform po ako mag-isa at mahilig po ako mag-karaoke (I would perform alone and sing with karaoke) and Taylor Swift is my idol, that’s why I seem to like her (kind of) performance.”

Aya, on other hand, would like to focus on skills she is not familiar with.

“Like singing, kasi ako po gusto ko po talagang kumanta pero yung boses ko minsan napapaos (I really like to sing but my voice sometimes gets hoarse),” said she. “I also want to study acting, pero mas maganda po ‘pag pinag-aralan ko pa ng pinag-aralan.”

The Sparkle Teens are also pursuing this career milestone with a mindset, which will hopefully yield projects that showcase their artistic gift as an actor, a performer or even both. “Mine is to enjoy everything (and the process) because God knows when I will shine and the support of my parents is always there,” said Marco. “I’ll focus on (aspects of myself) that I should improve, focus on how to unlock my full potential and be a better version of myself.”

With Ashley, hers is the never-give-up mindset. “Ipagpatuloy lang palagi kung ano yung mga gagawin (I will continue what I need to do) and every day, I should learn something and I should never be afraid of rejections because one will learn from the mistakes and rejections (one has made and encountered). Just be open and getting rejections is normal in this industry,” she said. “I believe every time there’s rejection that happens, there’s a better opportunity that will come your way.”

The value of perseverance also resonates with Aya because, as she put it, “I’ve encountered a lot of challenges, that’s why we have to face them (is what I’ve learned from it), huwag kang magagalit or magtatampo sa sarili mo ‘pag may nagawa kang mali (never feel bad about yourself if you make a mistake). So, my mindset when it comes to it is to go on and never give up because that’s how it is, especially when you’re just starting out (in the biz).”

With that, it’s safe to say that Sparkle Teens Marco, Ashley and Aya are prepared to make a name for themselves.