Dingdong Dantes: Being busy is good

MANILA, Philippines — Dingdong Dantes views his Amazing Earth host persona as a storyteller of tales about our planet and the animal kingdom, plus inspiring narratives about individuals. Before the audience gets hold of the awe-inspiring, informative and entertaining features, the actor sees them first-hand.

“I’m really the first one (or one of the first persons) who gets to witness or becomes the witness to all these stories,” said Dingdong when The STAR asked him about such unique position of him as the face and voice of the weekend show in a recent virtual media conference.

Since Amazing Earth always offers new stories, it excites him no end in sharing them to viewers and makes him anticipate every working day.

“Gusto ko ma-excite ako dahil gusto ko ma-excite din parati ang manonood (I want to feel excited, so that the viewers will always have that feeling of excitement),” added he.

Among the featured amazing stories this week is the story of a kababayan, who has toured the country extensively and seen the beauty of 1,634 Philippine cities and municipalities. This is part of the Amazing Earth’s three-part fifth-anniversary special, which airs July 14, tonight at 9:35. Yes, Dingdong’s infotainment show will now be seen Friday nights. It serves as the jumping-off point for viewers to watch other GMA 7 weekend programs and signals them to enjoy adventure-filled weekends.

Almost same time last year, Dingdong was seen hosting the game show, Family Feud, aside from Amazing Earth, and acting with wife Marian Rivera in the sitcom, Jose & Maria’s Bonggang Villa.

Fast forward to now, he has Amazing Earth, and plays the loving single dad and illegitimate son of a business tycoon role in the primetime weeknight murder mystery drama Royal Blood. He and Marian have been tapped to star in the romance-drama, Rewind, announced recently as one of the first four official entries in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

“Yes, I think I’m busier now (as compared to last year),” said he, “busiest ever sa buong buhay ko. For me, being busy is good. Ang pinaka-mahalaga dyan ay hindi ako nawawalan ng oras para sa pamilya, yan naman ang pinaka-mahalaga dyan (What’s most important is I have time for my family). I fulfill my responsibilities properly na walang naaapektuhan. At siyempre, nagagawa ko ang lahat nang yun na masaya ako. I really love what I do, I love my job here in the network.”

That speaks of how passionate Dingdong is about hosting and acting. He considers this surge of blessings as coincidental. “Feeling ko nagkataon lang na nagkasabay-sabay talaga (I feel it just happened that they presented themselves almost at the same time).”

As a creative, Dingdong indeed offers different forms of entertainment to diverse audiences.

“Yes, sa mismong proseso kasi na ginagawa ko sa trabaho ko, eh gusto ko siya kaya kahit na busy, kahit na, siyempre aminin mo na kahit papaano napapagod ka rin, eh na-e-enjoy ko yung ginagawa ko (With the work process that I do, I enjoy it even if I’m busy and admittedly, I get tired sometimes),” shared he. “And importantly, it helps me grow as an artist, like what I’ve mentioned, you know being part of Amazing Earth as a storyteller also helps me grow as a citizen of this world because of the many things I’ve learned every week.”

Again, Dingdong is excited about his MMFF movie with Marian. A quick rewind tells one that he won the Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actor awards for two years in a row, in 2011 and 2012 for his sterling performances in Segunda Mano and One More Try, respectively.

Given such feat in the annual filmfest, is scoring another acting award crossing his mind this early?

“Isa lang talaga ang nasa objective namin nung nag-decide kaming mag-asawa na gawin ito and that is really to celebrate cinema (There’s one objective we had in mind when me and my wife decided to do the movie, that is really to celebrate cinema),” answered Dingdong.

“Sana bumalik ang ating mga manonood sa loob ng mga theaters dahil, you know, ito yung oras para makita natin ulit at ma-showcase yung kagalingan ng Pinoy sa pagkwento dito naman sa larangan ng pelikula (I hope many moviegoers will go to the theater since this is the time to see again and showcase the Pinoy creativity and greatness in the field of filmmaking). We’re very happy for this story that we’re going to do and show to everyone, yun na muna. Yun ang pinaka-mahalaga sa lahat, makwento namin ng maayos ito at maibalik ang mga tao sa sinehan (What’s most important is to tell the film narrative well and encourage people to watch films in cinemas).”

Dingdong was elated to learn that MMFF received a lot of script submissions, in fact 26 total entries, this year. From this number, Rewind; A Mother and Son’s Story, a family-drama with Sharon Cuneta and Alden Richards in the leading roles; (K)AMPON, a horror-thriller that features Beauty Gonzales and Derek Ramsay; and Penduko, an action-fantasy with Cristine Reyes and Matteo Guidicelli, were selected.

“For me, that’s a very, very good indicator, especially sa mga producers na willing talagang tumaya di ba? Para mabigyan tayo ng maraming, maraming magagandang kwento (that there are producers who are willing to take a chance and take a risk in giving us many well-crafted stories to watch).”

Aside from TV and movie work, Dingdong, along with Marian, will also join fellow Kapuso artists Alden, Christian Bautista and Lani Misalucha for a show in Dubai. This is another way for DongYan to touch base with fans and fellow Pinoys abroad.