Gabby Concepcion surely reminded (or at least enlightened those who were too young then to remember) how much of a heartthrob the comebacking actor was and still is.
The actor was in town recently to grace the Mother's Day celebration of SM City Cebu. While I missed his "meet-and-greet" at the Entertainment Plaza, the crowd that trailed him and lingered outside Bigby's at The Northwing, where we had a brief chat over dinner, and the diners who squealed in surprise as he entered the restaurant were telling enough of the actor's drawing power. (And to those who had asked me if his much-written - about rosy cheeks and pink lips were just media hype - no, they really are true!)
Gabby tells us that his stay in the country is indefinite. He has not quit his real-estate work and has retained his house in the US, where he lived for 13 years and got introduced to the "real world." One thing is certain: he has no regrets of coming back. The timing, as he now recognizes, has just been right.
"I hadn't felt then if it was time to return or not, but it was Mommy Rose Flaminiano (his manager), whom I met accidentally in Hawaii, who saw that it was time. This is not planned. Timing lang ang lahat. God has his mysterious ways talaga," he says. (Mommy Rose chimes in, "I didn't think about the timing. I just wanted him to come back.)
Lest people forget, Gabby stresses that he really came home for his father. "I really came here for him. He's doing well, but physically… My father wants to show us that he's strong. But what have been keeping him alive are his medicines. I want to be with him till his last days. Actually, mahirap pag-usapan ang bagay na 'yan."
Since his last visit to Cebu was some 20 years ago, he admits to feeling overwhelmed by the crowd turnout at the Entertainment Plaza, "I'm surprised I'm still well accepted here."
In the course of our casual conversation, he gladly gave in to requests for photo ops and profusely thanked those who got close to our table for their "I-watched-all-your-films-with-Sharon Cuneta" declarations. And so we had to ask him, despite Sharon's stated unwillingness to work again with her ex-husband out of fear of being feasted on by intrigue-mongers, would he ever consider if such an offer arises? "Hindi naman sa gustong-gusto… pero sa fans, sila naman ang naglagay sa amin dito, so I will perform according to what the fans want. Intrigues aside, it would be nice [to have a movie with Sharon]. I want to give fans what they want."
What if fans want him to bare some skin like in his previous movie roles? He says, "There's nothing wrong with my body pero nakakahiya naman kay KC." KC is, of course, his daughter with the megastar and is showbiz's current "It Girl." "I'm very happy for KC. I never expected that she'll turn out this way. To me, she's just a little girl I played with, when she was 9 or 10 years old, until I left for the US. Somehow, my memories of her up to now are those times when she was 9 or 10. I'm like stuck in a bubble, kasi nga bigla akong nawala."
KC is set to do her first film with GMA 7's resident heartthrob Richard Gutierrez, and there's a lot of anticipation going into that, especially over the idea of their onscreen team-up leading to something romantic off-screen. "That remains to be seen. Pero gusto kung makita ang magic ng kanilang tandem. Yung movie magic, totoo yun."
Well, Gabby's magic apparently has not been tempered with age as well as his time away from the limelight going by the line-up of projects he's set to do. He's already ironed out the kinks with GMA Films, where he reportedly agreed to do a movie first before the "controversial" signing of a two-year contract with ABS-CBN. He will do the movie as soon as the schedule of the GMA 7 star to be paired with him (reportedly Iza Calzado) will allow it.
Meantime, he's now busy shooting the teleserye "Iisa Pa Lamang" (he plays a defender) with Claudine Barretto, Diether Ocampo, and Eddie Gutierrez, Laurice Guillen, etc., following his well-received TV acting comeback via "Maalaala Mo Kaya." For this May, he has been invited to tour SM malls all over the country. There are some endorsement deals in the pipeline; one of which will have his billboards coming out this June. There are also talks of an album and a concert, which his manager plans on bringing to Cebu.