I heart JLC

When I think about being a fan, I think of the long stretch of time I’ve dedicated to loving Pierce Brosnan, Paul McCartney, and Robert Downey, Jr. from afar since I was a child. I think of crushing on Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey. Of finding Bradley Cooper sexy and dreaming of Jason Mraz singing for me. What I often don’t think of, for the same reason that National Bookstore has a separate shelf for Filipino novels even they still fall under fiction, is that there is one guy who’s also high up on my list: John Lloyd Cruz.

This fact became ever so clear to me when my sister handed me an autographed photograph of dearest Lloydie last Saturday, from his stint at the Alabang Town Center, where she works. I don’t think my niece Keona has recovered from my candid squeal—no, screech—of delight.

There’s a running joke among the girls in my family. My mom, who once followed Tabing Ilog, says she saw John Lloyd first, and that she was always a fan of the Rovic and “Ebs” team up. To this day, she still calls her “Ebs.”

Of course, my sister and I insist we saw John Lloyd first, since it was the two of us who got her hooked on the show. The truth, however, is that my sister did see him first, as when Gimik was being shown, he was still a bit too young for my taste. But not anymore, especially now that cougars rule.

I first really took notice of John Lloyd when Tabing Ilog became more “mature,” pitting him against vixens like Mylene Dizon. Rovic’s long-suffering girlfriend, Eds (Kaye Abad), had to deal with the many girls who were bent on seducing the dear, silly, always repentant boy.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow his TV career closely, although from time to time, I heard good reviews and got the impression that he was being groomed to follow Aga Muhlach’s trajectory. I did get to watch a lot of his films, though. I watched him in Jose Javier Reyes’ Nagbibinata (1998), Gimik: The Reunion (1999), My First Romance (2003), and Now That I Have You (2004).

Having loved the last, I pledged to watch the rest of his films without fail. And I have: Dubai (2005), Close to You (2006), All About Love (2006), One More Chance (2007), A Very Special Love (2008), You Changed My Life (2009), In My Life (2009), and Miss You Like Crazy (2010). This may sound like the cheesy, yet quotable lines in one of his movies, but I may not have loved all of them, but I loved all of him—er, all of his performances.

My top favorite remains to be One More Chance (but you already know this), with You Changed My Life a very, very close second. I’m still waiting for him to come up with a film to top those. I’m sure it won’t be that difficult, considering how many great projects have been going his way.

The beauty of John Lloyd is that he’s not just all about looks. His characters are all about depth, about vulnerability. He works well seemingly broken, ready to be saved by the girl who can break through his wall. He’s not a threat; he won’t break your heart—unless you are, as my mom calls her, Ebs.

My best friend Sherwil is also crazy about John Lloyd, beginning after she saw One More Chance. Last Saturday night, I also gave her the autographed photograph my sister scored for her. And I haven’t recovered from her squeal of delight.

There’s a running joke between us too. “He’s mine,” she tells me. “You loved him at his best, I love him at his worst,” I reply. “I already love him at his worst,” she says. “Well, I will love him at his very worst,” I say, “At the point where you’re already fed up, because nobody’s got the messianic complex as much as I do.”

And that sums up JLC’s appeal for me: you just want to take him into your arms and tell him everything’s going to be alright—especially when he’s sobbing, and, yes, even when he doesn’t need saving.

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