Because he is so credible in his portrayal as Barbs, the happily gay friend of Best Actor awardee Paolo Ballesteros in Die Beautiful, those who have seen the movie were convinced that Christian Bables (pronounced Bab-Les) is one in real life. Christian is so beking-beki (very gay), from his nuances to his facial expressions to the fluid way he sways his hips that the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) board of judges validated his work with the Best Supporting Actor award.
Die Beautiful was the top grosser in the just-concluded MMFF. The final ranking (shown in boxed below) covered only the 14-day screening in Metro Manila and not the provincial run which some of the entries are still enjoying.
Thursday last week, we interviewed Christian at the lobby of the Imperial Palace Suites on Timog-Morato Rotunda, Quezon City. From where we were seated near the glass wall, contributor Celso de Guzman Caparas, STAR photographer Ver Paulino and I closely monitored Christian’s movements as soon as he and his mom, Bing Urbano, alighted from their car, walked across the door, greeted and made beso-beso, and took a seat. No tell-tale signs to confirm what most people have been suspecting.
But still, to be very sure, we asked Christian, “Are you gay?” Breaking into a what-a-nice-question smile, Christian said, “No, I’m not.” Relieved, we congratulated Christian for being such a good actor that he even “fooled” his own mom. “I didn’t recognize him in the movie,” admitted Bing. “He was really transformed. I didn’t see a trace of Christian, my son; all I saw was Barbs na beking-beki ang dating.”
Mother and son just came from the nearby ABS-CBN Studios where Christian shot his guesting stint on the network’s mid-morning show Magandang Buhay (hosted by the riot trio of Jolina Magdangal, Melai Cantiveros and Karla Estrada). Christian, whose spirit has been soaring since the awards night, still had make-up on but that didn’t feminize him at all unlike in Die Beautiful where he wore heavy make-up.
Said Christian, “Aside from the award, my very first ever, what makes me very happy is napasaya ko ang maraming tao, especially the members of the LGBT community. I really prepared for the movie. I observed the LGBT, I interviewed people, pinag-aralan ko talagang maigi.”
Christian is one of Bing’s two sons by her second (late) husband. The first husband of Bing (she hails from Escalante, Negros Oriental, also the hometown of James Yap) also died and she’s now on her third marriage. Christian, 24, finished grade school and first/second high school in Escalante, and third/fourth year in Cavite where the family now resides. Christian holds a ComArts degree from La Salle Dasmariñas. After graduation, Christian tried the corporate world to please his mom. “But I wasn’t happy because my passion was really for acting. Scriptwriter Rahyan Carlos (nephew of the late director Luciano “Chaning” Carlos), was my professor in Scriptwriting and he made us act out a screenplay that he had assigned us to write. Sir Rahyan told me, ‘Anak, mayroon ka.’ That’s how I felt that my heart was in acting. He brought me to Star Magic to attend an acting workshop.”
While at the workshop, Christian was tapped to play a gay role in the Kapamilya soap Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita. That was in 2015. After that, nothing. “Natengga ako. But I wasn’t discouraged. I kept on studying acting. I am the type who, when I want something, I go for it, I work for it, and nothing or nobody can stop me, not even my mom. I received harsh words, masasakit na salita, and I was rejected again and again but I persisted. I know deep inside me what I want. Kapag ginusto ko, talagang pinaninindigan ko.”