What Arjo learned from Mom Sylvia

Curtain-raisers:

• Bb. Pilipinas 2014 second runner-up Laura Lehmann (photo), 20, has been tapped as Ateneo’s UAAP courtside reporter for Studio 23 in the ongoing (starting July 12) 77th-season games. A Psychology major in Ateneo, Laura loves sports. Before joining the Bb. Pilipinas pageant, she played on the national team for fast-pitch softball. Yes, Laura had to pass an audition that covered the auditionees’ knowledge in sports history, background of coaches and players, and related topics.

• Could it be true that the ex-basketball-player boyfriend of a sexy actress is the current apple of the eye of a one-time politician? When he was going steady with the actress, he acted as father figure to the actress’ love child (sired by the cousin of an actor from a prominent showbiz clan). The player and his “papa” hail from the same place. Oh well, proximity breeds…

• Really now, is a TV host again involved in a sex video that is now circulating? Said somebody who has seen it, “He seems to be a better ‘performer’ than he is as host,” adding, “even in his birthday suit, he still looks as dignified as he does on TV.” The question is: Is the video a new one or an old one (a few years old) that has surfaced only now? Next time, even if he’s used to being before the camera, he should make sure that there’s no camera (hidden or in full view) when he’s “at it.”

*  *  *

“Be careful.”

With those two words, Sylvia Sanchez has been reminding her son Arjo Atayde as far as girls are concerned — you know, to avoid any unwanted “accidents.”

Arjo said that his mom had her first child when she was 19 and, even now that he’s 23, Arjo makes sure that he keeps in mind his mom’s reminder.

That and more are among the lessons that Arjo learned from Sylvia, a versatile actress who can turn even a small role (whether on TV or in film) into something memorable, with a few awards to show for it, a feat that Arjo finds formidable to duplicate.

Asked when he realized that his mom is a respected actress, Arjo said, “I grew up watching my mom on the set of Esperanza (the ABS-CBN drama),” said Arjo. “It’s kind of normal for my siblings and me to grow up in showbiz.”
His mom is also his No. 1 critic.

“For me, every project is a learning experience,” added Arjo who’s in the cast of the Kapamilya soap Pure Love (an adaptation of the 2011 Koreanovela 49 Days, directed by Veronica Velasco and Mikey del Rosario, with Alex Gonzaga and Yen Santos among Arjo’s co-stars). “My mom is honest with me. If my acting is not good, she tells me straight and gives me pointers on how to improve it. Even if she finds my acting good, she always finds a way how to make it better. She always reminds me, ‘Gamitin ang puso sa pag-arte.’”

Another reminder from his mom is to respect everyone, from his co-stars and directors to the crew.

A showbiz late-bloomer, Arjo (the eldest among five children) started acting when he was 21. “I could have started earlier but I waited until I was sure of myself.”

He’s 23, on leave from his Business studies.

“I’m an actor M-W-F,” insisted Arjo. “T-TH-S, I’m a private person.” 

Funfare’s interview with Arjo was done at the new Dong Juan restaurant (right across from St. Mary’s School in Quezon City). The house where Dong Juan is used to be the ancestral land owned by Severino Reyes who is, Ahwel Paz reminded us, “the Father of Tagalog Zarzuela,” one of whose classic works is Ang Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang. According to Ahwel, one of the five bedrooms on the second floor was Reyes’ bedroom, converted along with four other rooms into function rooms, each with a theme conceptualized by Reyes’ descendants. 

“After dining, if you want to relax you can do so in one of the function rooms, sipping wine while shooting the breeze with your friends,” said Ahwel (a nickname that stuck because as a kid he couldn’t pronounce his name, Ruel).

The place was where a pastry store used to be, run by Mrs. Howard.

Owning his own restaurant is a dream come true for Ahwel who, with his siblings, were trained by their mother to be street vendors. “I sold Rellenong Bangus, Embutido, Leche Flan and kakanin in Quiapo,” said Ahwel. “Every time I passed by the pastry shop, I would tell myself, ‘Someday when I have money, I will eat there.’ That’s where the children of rich families, studying in nearby schools, usually went.”

Ahwel finished college as a government scholar after passing a competitive exam for high school salutatorian graduates (batch 1989). He graduated from Ramon Magsaysay High School (España branch). At the same time, he was a personal scholar of Pres. Cory Aquino.

Today, not only can Ahwel eat anything in that place, now called Dong Juan; he co-owns it.

Pinoy docu makes it to San Diego Film Festival

Congratulations to Pepper Marcelo, son of my friend Emily Marcelo, whose full-length documentary titled Illustrated By has been selected to be screened during the San Diego Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival on July 25.  

This one-hour documentary traces the phenomenon of Filipino artists breaking into the US comics mainstream. It aims to pay tribute to many of these ignored, unacknowledged talents and showcase their gorgeous artwork. 

Not well known is the fact that for several decades, Filipinos have contributed significantly to the mythologies of the most popular characters and famous action heroes in the world like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the The X-Men series. 

The San Diego Comic-Con International is considered the biggest comics and genre entertainment festival in the world and will be held from July 24 to 27. The festival now includes a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres, such as horror, documentary, animation, animé, manga, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics and fantasy novels. 

Awards will be given out to the best film in each category on July 27, at the San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina Film Festival room.