Paolo Ballesteros: 'I’m not hiding anything'

Most people, if not all, still remember that Paolo Ballesteros made headlines for his makeup transformations on Instagram. Through his artful makeup skills, Paolo was able to look like Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts and many other big-name stars. He all the more became popular with his portrayal of Trisha in Die Beautiful that earned for him a Best Supporting Actor Award at the Gawad Urian and Tokyo International Film Festival. 

With his many “different faces,” perhaps, only those close to him know about Paolo’s true persona. Apparently, the actor shared quite a mouthful of truths about himself without any hesitations for the first time on the hot seat of Tonight with Boy Abunda.

He initially shared that his interest in makeup transformations began when a friend sent him a message asking him to check makeup transformation videos on YouTube.

“Una kasi nag-draw-drawing drawing lang ako, but after watching that video of an Asian girl doing a makeup transformation, I said I can also do it so my first try was to get the look of Angelina Jolie but then it resulted to my looking more like Eula Valdez (laughs), naging kamukha ko bigla si Tita Eula,” began Paolo who also revealed that it took him three weeks to copy Beyoncé’s face perfectly.

Without makeup and away from the cameras, Paolo is back to his normal self. “Ako, I keep to myself. Sa bahay lang, tahimik. ‘Pagkatapos ng work, bahay.”

He was game to tell what he meant when he said before the press, “I am a lady” during a media gathering for Panti Sisters that he topbills with Martin del Rosario and Christian Bables. Paolo was forced to answer the question referring to his sexuality to finally silence his haters.

“Because I am a lady, hahaha,” he blurted out. “I mean, I am already 36 years old (and) I don’t care about mga gender-gender kasi kahit anong sabihin ko, ‘pag sinabi kong hindi, may mag-re-react. ‘Pag sinabi kong oo, s’yempre sasabihin naman hindi naman na isyu ‘yan (kasi) tagal na, di ba? So, I’d rather not answer that.”

He added that he’s been open about his life saying, “kung anuman ‘yung ginagawa ko di ko naman tinatago.”

Even his daughter understands him, “Walang tanung-tanong; gets na n’ya. Keira is 10 years old and we share the same birthday, Nov. 29. She’s studying in Baguio with her mom. She’s very smart at gusto din n’yang mag-artista.”

Paolo (center) topbills the comedy film Panti Sisters with Christian Bables (left) and Martin del Rosario. Below: The actor-TV host who made headlines for his makeup transformations, channels old Hollywood glam in this Instagram post.

On questions regarding his love life, Paolo admitted to falling in love so easily that he already lost count of the people he fell in love with in the past and he is often left heartbroken “because I easily get jealous. Seloso ako, loyal kasi ako when I’m in a relationship.”

Thus, he reminded that we should never expect too much from our partners for it will only cause pain in the end, although he denied having fallen in love with a fellow actor in the past.

Paolo said that he’s in a good state of mind, “I’m happy and I’m good.”

In Panti Sisters, Paolo plays one of the three gay brothers whose father asks them that whoever is able to give him a grandchild will receive millions of pesos. The movie is one of the entries to this year’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP).

“Tinatanong pa ba ‘yon?” he quipped when asked who among his co-stars is the most beautiful in real life and revealed that Martin is the kindest.

He went on to reveal more about himself in Fast Talk:

Tulak? Hila?

“Hila.”

Lipstick? Eye shadow?

“Eye shadow.”

Pimple? Dandruff?

“Dandruff.”

Maputi? Mabango?

“Mabango.”

Asin? Paminta?

“Durog, hahaha!”

Swimsuit or evening gown?

“Evening gown.”

Coco Martin, Jericho Rosales and Piolo Pascual?

“Piolo.”

Vic Sotto or Joey de Leon?

“Tito Sen.”

If you were a flower, which would you be?

“Champaca.”

Why do birds suddenly appear?

“Because you’re here, hahaha!”

Huling beses ka nahalikan?

“Matagal na.”

Your greatest achievement?

“My daughter.”

What scares you?

“To lose my family.”

What makes you laugh?

“My family.”

Funniest person in the Philippines?

“Dolphy.”

Money or love?

“Money.”

Lights on or lights off?

“Lights on.”

Sex or chocolates?

“Hindi ako mahilig sa chocolates.”

Best time for sex?

“Anytime.”

What’s better than sex?

“Sex ulit, hahaha.”