Fatherhood becomes Matthew

His is the choir boy looks of someone who can’t even seem to hurt a fly. Matthew Mendoza has played almost all the goody-goody roles there is: lawyer, doctor, architect, the dashing hero who gets the girl in the end.

His sparkling clean track record remains untainted by ugly scandal. He hasn’t gotten a girl pregnant out of wedlock. Nor has he dated several girls at a time (despite his killer looks). He doesn’t mess around in discos and night spots. Nothing can seem to go wrong in his rose-colored world.

Or can it? This misconception – fed by his movie roles, from Charlene Gonzales’ Dyesebel, to Ina Raymundo’s Sabado Nights and Sharon Cuneta’s Nang Iniwan Mo Ako, makes Matthew want to howl in protest.

After all, he’s as human as you and me. He’s had his share of boyhood truancy in school, nights out with the guys and all.

Still, he gets raised eyebrows when Matthew tells members of the movie production crew that yes, he can go out for a drink or two with them after a draining shooting day.

It’s the gargantuan challenge for this former commercial model’s acting career. And Matthew is as excited about it as a child handed a chocolate-flavored lollipop.

As the eternally-angry Dante in the Judy Ann Santos soap Sa Puso Ko, Iingatan Ka, Matthew plays a character miles away from his previous roles. It is a dark, brooding role where Matthew must show his personality disturbance, not through his looks, but through something as subtle as character flaw or an oddity in behavior.

Remember the well-respected Dr. Jekyll who can turn into the murderous Mr. Hyde? That’s the kind of effect Matthew wants to achieve in his villain roles. Hard yes, but far more artistically self-fulfilling.

The result, so far, is encouraging. Matthew is tickled pink when people approach him in a mall and say, "Dante, why did you slap Piolo (Pascual, lead actor in Sa Puso Ko…)?"

It’s the kind of reaction that makes Matthew hope he can someday liberate himself from the matinee idol image that sticks like glue to him.

After eight lead roles in assorted movies, Matthew admits he has been typecast far too long in good boy roles. It makes him want to bury his head in sand.

"I’m ready for mature roles (not the bold variety, but those that call for more than just staring into the leading lady’s eyes). After all, I already have a two-year-old daughter (Bea Angela, by his nonshowbiz wife)," Matthew says at the office of Regal Films, for which he is set to do several projects, courtesy of his managers, Dondon Monteverde (Regal Matriarch Lily Monteverde’s son) and Jeffrey Lim.

As a father, his responsibilities have doubled. And he is not taking this lightly at all.

Matthew is aiming at – and getting – two TV exposures a week (through Sa Puso Ko… and the youth-oriented Click, where he plays James Blanco’s older brother).

"Offers are still coming and I gladly took the opportunity to act again even on TV," he says.

"Times are hard and we need jobs like these to help us survive," Matthew says. That’s the dedicated family man in him.

Besides, he adds, being away from the kleig lights for a year (after Nag-aapoy na Laman with Ara Mina and Zoren Legaspi, which was shown February 2000) made him miss acting.

"I miss the late working hours, the fast pace of it all," Matthew explains.

And this time, he wants to earn at least an acting nomination.

Matthew is not in a hurry, though. He won’t bite just any offer just for the sake of being seen on the big screen. One good movie a year is enough for him.

"I’d rather take it slow but sure. You see, I want to stay in showbiz for a long time. I’m in no hurry to reach the top. Once there, you have no other way to go but down," he adds.

Like a habit that refuses to leave him, Matthew actually feels amused over the intrigues that hound him, thinking of them as added spice to an interesting showbiz career.

"I always find it amusing when they write things about me and this girl," he flashes that winsome smile.

He can afford to amuse himself no end. After all, those talks don’t hold water.

Matthew, in real life is an ideal husband and father who runs Yakan Enterprises, a family-owned jeep manufacturing business in Makati. He’s in charge of dealing with clients (making sure their specifications are followed to the letter), while Matthew’s wife handles the financial side of the business.

His day was full that Friday afternoon this interview was held. Matthew had to head straight for the office to fix the workers’ salaries.

"It’s easier to deal with clients when you’re in showbiz," Matthew repeats an oft-repeated line.

"Customers trust you more." But, like all entrepreneurs, Matthew is feeling the crunch.

"Our workload went down 50 percent. Before, we used to come up with three units in two months. Now, it’s less than that," he admits.

Matthew might as well be speaking for most of today’s financially-strapped entrepreneurs.