MANILA, Philippines - Imagine you are an entertainment journalist about to interview Dennis Trillo, the actor with kaleidoscope eyes. It’s no big deal, you tell yourself. After all, you’ve already interviewed a number of celebrities at this point and no one can throw you off; not even the DILF who stole the spotlight at last year’s Bench: The Naked Truth show. As you go through the questions in your head, he quietly slips into the dressing room, casual in shorts and a white t-shirt, rocking the most perfect five o’clock shadow. He sits down at the makeup chair across you, that gaze unwavering, and you are promptly reduced to a nervous, giggly interviewer (yuck!) — the person you promised yourself you would never be.
Friends, welcome to Dennis Trillo’s second Supreme cover shoot.
Prime Time
For his first Supreme feature in 2013, Dennis was photographed with co-star Tom Rodriguez, in light of their upcoming show My Husband’s Lover, which eventually became a TV phenomenon. Two years later, he’s back with another infidelity ’serye in the form of My Faithful Husband (showing August 10 on GMA 7). We couldn’t resist teasing him about a controversial tweet he once posted (and has since deleted), a valid rant about rehashed-to-death story concepts. “Totoo naman eh,” he says, standing by his opinion, but insists that this new show has a fresh spin on that ancient theme. In it, his alter ego is good guy Emman who falls in love with complicated Melanie (played by Jennylyn Mercado), a broad with more issues than Vogue. If, in MHL, he was the home wrecking gay third party, he’s the martyr in this scenario, willing to turn a blind eye towards his wife’s double-crossing ways. People cheat for a lot of reasons, and Dennis thinks “Hindi kontento sa mga bagay bagay. May kulang na hindi nila makita sa partner nila,” top the list. If you two-time faithful Dennis in real life, though, don’t expect the Emman treatment. “Hindi ko alam kung anong mangyayari,” he says, a warning note in his voice. “Pag niloko ako ng babae, ibig sabihin, meron siyang ibang gusto. Eh di dun ka na.” Translation: Have an affair and you’re good as dead to him.
Husband Material
It’s impossible to look at Dennis’ career trajectory without seeing the trail of broken hearts behind him. But age seems to have mellowed him down. These days, the 34-year-old prefers to spend his free time either bonding with his mini-me Calix or driving up to chilly Antipolo to personally oversee the construction of his dream house. They say never say never, but we’ll probably never catch a glimpse of this property. Home life is and will always be sacrosanct for him; he doesn’t see the need to have pictures of his swanky crib splashed all over magazines. “Yang fame, features, promo, kanila na yan,” he says magnanimously, referring to showbiz upstarts. “Kung pwede lang na trabaho na lang eh.”
They call his name, it’s time to resume shooting. And from this angle, fully-clothed Dennis Trillo looks sexy as hell: a man who has nothing to prove.
Photo by PATRICK DIOKNO
Produced by DAVID MILAN
Grooming by GERY PENASO
for MAC COSMETICS