Albie: Time to move on

MANILA, Philippines - Albie Casiño is back on the Kapamilya network as part of the cast in the upcoming light romantic drama On the Wings of Love under Dreamscape Entertainment Television. The young actor’s character will come between the love team of James Reid and Nadine Lustre in their first-ever series that debuts on Primetime Bida come Aug. 10.

“I’m excited for the show. The reception of the fans, that’s out of my control. But it’s a very nice story… I really like this role, you really see the character, you want to hate him, but you’ll understand him,” Albie said during a presscon last Monday.  

While the young actor has occasionally appeared on shows in other networks, it’s been four years since he was last seen in an ABS-CBN show. During the said gap, he got busy with school and is now about to graduate from De La Salle – College of St. Benilde with a degree in Export Management. “I received offers naman but I was focused on school,” said Albie, whose last ABS teleserye was Mara Clara.

Asked if he had made any work adjustments, he said he was more nervous and scared of the presscons than about returning to the taping grind.

In a post-presscon interview, Albie was asked how much has he changed since his absence. “Buong pagkatao ko,” he readily admitted. “I was a typical kid (then). I was only 17 years old. I’m now 22…. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the public eye, I’m now more equipped to handle everything, like of course, intrigues. I’m just a more mature person now.”

To recall, Albie found himself at the center of a controversy over speculations pointing to him as the teenaged father of Andi Eigenmann’s daughter. At the height of the issue that involved their respective families and played out in the press, Albie didn’t deny being very difficult with the media, revealing, “I don’t like being put on the spot. I really don’t. It’s very hard for me because I have a hard time answering... I have ADHD also, natataranta ako, like with the cameras and a lot of people.”

He shared that another stressor was the public perception. “That’s another thing (isa pa yun) as to why I was super stressed. The people’s perception of me di ganun ka ganda. Now that I’m older, I understand that there’s nothing I can do that will change people’s perceptions of me, until they actually meet me, so why stress about it? Ang dami ko na ngang iniisip dahil sa ADHD, (so) sinabi ko let’s just stop trying to please everyone and just be a good person nalang, di ba? Eventually, like now that I am more visible again, people will see that I’m not really a bad guy.”

With recent tabloid reports and online rumors saying that he isn’t the father, Albie would rather refrain from making comments. “Unless it’s my own first-hand knowledge, I don’t want to talk about it. I learned all of these from you guys (media). Like, I don’t want to make assumptions based on things that have just been said.”

The first time he heard of it though, he did feel “relief.”

“Now, I can close that book on my life. It’s over, time to move on. That’s why I’m not really scared to talk about it now or whatever, I just don’t like talking about it. I just rather not because it’s in the past. Personally, when I’m talking about it, it’s just bad memories, it’s a bad experience, I don’t want to think about it (issue) anymore. But I know you guys are just doing your job, I know that.”

Despite the controversy at so early on in his young showbiz career, Albie has not been traumatized to the point of quitting acting. His parents, for one, are very supportive of his acting comeback.

“My parents are very supportive of me. My mom, she loves it (laughs) to be honest, but I think naman with anything that I’ll ever do, they’ll be supportive of me. They’re just the type of parents who just want to see me succeed in whatever I do.”

Nevertheless, there are big lessons to be learned from that episode of his life. He said, “Listen to your parents. That’s the No. 1 thing. Especially (because) I was younger and I was earning a lot of money, so you think you know better than your parents. Di mo talaga maiiwasan kasi bata ka lang eh, sanay ka lang sa baon, then papasok ka dito sa industriya, mabubulag ka talaga and also attitude mo nag-iiba din, not only because of the money but also because of (fame), like in mall shows, you have bodyguards all around you, and you’re super young, you’re just a kid in high school, lalaki talaga ulo mo. At least now, I’m older, I understand things more, di na mauulit sa akin yun.”