Why Migo Adecer's musician dreams had to take a backseat

CEBU, Philippines — Migo Adecer’s career goal is simple: He just wants to stay relevant.

“It doesn’t matter what job I get as long as there is work,” the “Starstruck” Season 6 Ultimate Male Survivor tells the Cebu press.

“Right now, I’m on this streak where I don’t have a long break from [doing] TV series. I’ll wait maybe four months then I’ll have new work. I hope as the years go by, it’s going to stay like that so that I don’t become idle.”

After playing third wheel to the Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali love team in last year’s GMA Network primetime series “Sahaya,” Migo is back on weeknight television via “Anak ni Waray vs Anak ni Biday” as the guy that will be romantically entangled with Barbie Forteza and Kate Valdez’s characters. The adaptation to the 1984 film starring Maricel Soriano and Snooky Serna premiered Monday, replacing “Beautiful Justice.”

Migo says he intends to stay on the public radar by “always achieving the goals that are required by my employer. So if they want me to keep a certain standard, I’ll try to keep that [standard], or if I can, do more.”

If, say, his “employers” tell him to go daring, the 20-year-old Fil-Australian says he’s game so long as the price is right.

“If they pay me more for the sexy stuff, why not? But if they pay me close to nothing for a sexy shot…no. It’s all about, you know, it’s a business exchange.”

The actor has no qualms whatsoever in making it known that he’s in the industry foremost for the money. He doesn’t give a direct reply when asked if he has come to enjoy acting, although he says his experience in “Sahaya” made him discover his untapped abilities.

“I mean I enjoy getting paid. But then at the same time…I even surprise myself sometimes. I didn’t really give thought to the craft until ‘Sahaya.’ It really opened my eyes to seeing that there are things I can do na hindi ko pa alam. I thought my limitations were just up to here, pero kaya ko pala to go above and beyond.”

When he joined “Starstruck” in 2015, Migo thought it was mainly a singing competition, which was right up his alley.

“When I learned about the acting challenges, patay! Englisero ako dati eh,” says Migo, who was born in Bacolod but was raised in Sydney, Australia. “I actually didn’t want to join. Halfway, I wanted to quit pero sabi ng manager ko, ‘Huwag, saying, andiyan ka na.’

Admitting he really wanted to be a musician and didn’t care for acting, Migo cites two reasons why his real passion had to take a backseat. First, he soon found out that acting paid more (“Of course, I’m gonna go with my bread and butter…”). Second, his music – the genre of which he declines to reveal – supposedly doesn’t fall under a genre that Filipinos typically latch onto.

“The reason why I had to drop the music was, the sound is what the Philippines just does not support or embrace. Because here, it’s more OPM, ballads…I mean, I still make music to this day but it’s more for therapeutic purposes.”

He adds, “My music is personal. I don’t talk about it. It keeps the mystery.”

Migo, a fan of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Johnny Depp, names Dennis Trillo as the Filipino actor he particularly admires and hopes to emulate.

“On camera, he’s loud. But you meet him in person, he’s very different from the characters he portrays,” he says. “I think Dennis is a great example of how one really separates his showbiz life to his personal life. You don’t really hear much about him other than his accomplishments on screen. His personal life is personal.”

In “Anak ni Waray vs Anak ni Biday,” Migo is Eric/Cocoy, a Manileño who dated Caitlyn (Kate) during his childhood, but had to break up with her when he pursues his studies in America. Years later, he comes home to take care of his mother’s travel agency business. As Caitlyn catches wind of his return, Eric crosses paths with Ginalyn (Barbie) through the travel agency.

Migo says it is his first time to portray a playboy, and he’s stumped how to act it out. “Believe it or not, I have to figure out how to be babaero. I really cannot relate.” VAB