Who’s Richard, who’s Raymond?

This time, they do look like twins. As kids, Gutierrez twins Richard and Raymond were identical (first seen in Takbo, Bilis, Takbo produced by Donna Villa and Carlo J. Caparas’ Golden Lions Films; and then in Regal Films’ Kambal-Tuko with their dad Eddie Gutierrez and Susan Roces).

However, as they grew older, the brothers became easily identifiable, with Richard retaining his matinee-idol build while Raymond, well, you know how healthy he developed.

In a recent “Body Talk” feature, Raymond triumphantly announced that he has shed more than 65 lbs., from 260 which was his weight in December last year.

“I was unhappy with my weight which made me unhappy with myself,” confessed Raymond.

Now, they could be mistaken for each other.

“Chard has always been supportive of my endeavors,” added Raymond. “He has stood beside me throughout and would give advice. He has always been the more athletic twin, and his hobbies include all sorts of sports and even underwater photography. Now I feel like we can do more things together and I wouldn’t be limited to what I can join.”

Breaking a five-year absence from the local circuit (although visible on E! Channel in the family-produced reality TV show It Takes Gutz To Be A Gutierrez/ITGTBAG which airs its new season in August), Richard looks as trim, and as fit and fabulous as he has always been. His comeback role is as King of Vampires in the Kapamilya series La Luna Sangre, the third installment of the hit fantasy franchise after Lobo and Imortal starring the KathNiel tandem of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla together with John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin, directed by Cathy Molina-Garcia.

Richard during his recent contract signing with the Kapamilya network with (from left) Cat Lopez (Finance head for Broadcast), Cory Vidanes (ABS-CBN COO for Broadcast), Malou Santos (Star Creatives COO) and Richard’s mom-cum-manager Annabelle Rama

Richard told the movie press that he didn’t mind playing “support;” what counts is that it’s a good role, “something I haven’t done before,” and is vital to the story. After doing the rounds of networks (from GMA to TV5 and now to ABS-CBN), Richard is happy that his beloved Sarah Lahbati is also now a Kapamilya (formerly with the Kapuso network, her discoverer).

His contract with Kapamilya includes a movie titled Wife, Husband, Wife with Angel (with whom he starred in six movies under GMA Films and Regal Films, the last having been The Promise in 2007), and Angelica Panganiban as co-star.

Playing a vampire has always been a dream, according to Richard who did a research about vampires and underwent an even more rigorous training than he did for his previous action roles (Mulawin at GMA where he also hosted physically challenging public-affairs shows including Survivor Philippines and Extra Challenge).

“Mond and I had the same trainer,” said Richard.

This was how the training was done: “In December, I started moving my body by doing spinning classes at Ride Revolution which is co-owned by my friend Isabelle Daza,” explained Raymond in a previous Funfare interview. “It got me hooked on working out again and I would go every night after work. Last January, I officially started the Century Tuna No Excuses 90-Day challenge. Arnold Aninion is my trainer and it was Nadine Tengco who helped me with my diet. Erwan Heussaff is my lifestyle coach.”

Now, can you tell who is Richard and who is Raymond?

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)