MANILA, Philippines - It wasn’t very difficult to find Greenwich even in a huge mall that I was unfamiliar with. I didn’t need to ask anyone to steer me to the right direction, because all I had to do was follow the crowd. As I shoved my way through the throng of people waiting outside with their cameras ready, I saw John Lloyd Cruz a few feet away from the entrance, looking every inch the sexy movie star I’ve always imagined him to be. I was right — where he was, the curious spectators followed. And why wouldn’t they? With 13 years of experience, countless awards, and box-office titles under his belt, this guy is bona fide dynamite.
John Lloyd doesn’t really have much trouble standing out. Even in a basic black polo and cropped pants (that’s becoming his signature wardrobe staple), he’s casual, yet there’s that ineffable charisma that can only come from a series of hit rom-coms, teleseryes, a string of successful love teams, dozens and dozens of endorsements, and of course, that inevitable heartthrob charm that’s bound to elicit slight palpitations from his massive female fan base.
There he was, a guy whose impact on his supporters I may not be able to completely fathom, saying hello to me and graciously shaking my hand — but judging from the dubious stares that I got from his fans (haggard-looking girl talking to a celebrity, I get it), I’d say I just made a pretty roaring collision. “Sorry,” he said, pausing his chat with another guy seconds before our interview.
He tested out my recorder, in that voice that is as recognized as his name, and went as far as putting it over his ear as a joke. The comic icebreaker not only earned him brownie points, but also a nervous (and overtly giddy) giggle from me. His smile was genuine, and even with evidently tired eyes, there was no semblance of the enormous stardom going to his head, of the fame transforming him to a man-diva of any degree, or of arrogance and too much self-love. He is what many celebrities claim to be (but have yet to be proven correct): incredibly down-to-earth. In his second year endorsing Greenwich, the bigatin actor said it strangely feels longer than that. “When I come to work for Greenwich, I look forward to fun, excitement and time to enjoy with the group. It’s really more like that than work.”
After all this time, you’d think that a press con would be standard procedure for him, but instead of giving off the vibe that he just wants to get it over with, he shares his excitement over the introduction of a shrimp and garlic pizza. “They didn’t have it before, I had to outsource it,” he laughed, adding: “We have one more TVC for this year. I’m looking forward to that.”
The local showbiz industry’s equivalent of a Vegas high roller, it’s a good thing he had to do much of the talking, or else this starstruck reporter would have been verbally crippled in his presence. After all, he isn’t only John Lloyd Cruz — he’s also Popoy, Palits, Rovic, Eli, and Yuri; only a few of the roles that skyrocketed him to highly bankable leading man stature. Though there is no definite confirmation yet on what his role is in the upcoming show Imortal — of whether he’s playing a cold-blooded, brooding vampire (of Edward Cullen/Bill/ Damon proportions, we don’t know), or if he’s going that Jacob Black route — all is up in the air right now, but the prospect of a role is a definite chalenge.
“The whole experience so far has been very interesting, because this is a new genre for me,” Cruz said. “When you get used to drama, to real life — your instinct is to always look for logic. Imortal has a different kind of dimension.”
His answers, though seemingly careful and cautious, are probably the cumulative effect of his tenure and thorough understanding of the business. He’s honest without really giving anything away, but not evasive or teasing. He’s just a guy who prefers to keep his personal life, well, personal. “I know the nature of this business that I entered,” he continued. “They would know and I would know if I’m giving them BS.” If the prodding continues, though, he’ll appeal for some public sphere patience. “When I’m not ready to answer a specific question, I ask for time,” he said. “Then I can give them a more specific, more straight and more definite answer. So everybody’s happy.”
John Lloyd Cruz cringed when I said he was a VIP — which, by all counts, was true, but his semi-uncomfortable laugh begged to differ. “If you allow the ‘VIP’ status to affect your lifestyle, and your personal relationships, it will happen,” he said. Even when he’s being submerged with constant gossip spirals, womanizer accusation tirades, and nonstop love life speculations, he manages to rise above it, keeping his cool and flashing that megawatt smile of his. You know exactly which one — the one that’s been guaranteed to launch a thousand fangirl shrieks.
If it isn’t clear to you yet, John Lloyd Cruz possesses a rare air of humility, conspicuously scattered around his matinee idol exterior. And he’s playing his cards right, too — surrounding himself with people whom he can trust. “It’s really the people around you, because if it was just me, I might not be able to handle all the fame, the success,” he said.
By the end of it all, I was sent into this sort of confounded state, and more questions followed suit. Is this guy for real? Can he even do wrong? He seems too good to be true. There’s a lot that we’ll never be able to find out, but judging from my brief encounter with this larger-than-life superstar, he just might be.