His last movie was “My Valentine Girls” in February 2011. How come he didn’t do a movie for so long? No doubt his acting career suffered because of this, what with him doing more hosting in shows like “Survivor”, “Extra Challenge” and the environmental shows he did.
“It’s not my choice,” he says. “I also don’t know why it happened. I really miss making movies and I’m proud I now did ‘Seduction’. I gave my all in this movie. This is my most daring film so far. I got out of my comfort zone and went to the edge of the cliff. Minaximized ko na sa ikagaganda ng pelikula. Most of my films are romantic-comedies, so ibang-iba ang isang ito. It came at a time when I’m prepared to do more mature scenes. It helped that I trust Direk Peque Gallaga and I’m very comfortable with both Solenn and Sarah as we have intense love scenes. It’s my best experience in making films. I learned a lot from Direk Peque. He’s very organized, explains the objective of each scene and how he’ll treat it. I just go to the set to focus on my role. Ang sarap ng feeling. May stand ins pa kaming students niya from Bacolod with whom he blocks the scene so we’ll see what we’re supposed to do. I’m proud of ‘Seduction’. After this, I want to make more movies of this kind.”
We really wish Richard could regain lost ground with “Seduction” to make him catch up with the likes of John Lloyd Cruz and Dingdong Dantes. But honestly, we’re afraid for the movie. If you’d follow the reactions of the public about Sarah L’s conflict with GMA-7, Richard is negatively being dragged into it. Some folks say Sarah became a problem for GMA only after she became Richard’s girlfriend. Someone even said he seems to be a bad influence on her, which is unfair. It’s just too bad that right at the very start of the presscon, we writers were immediately warned that we can’t ask any questions about Sarah and the controversy she’s in now, which got worse when Sarah accused Annette Gozon Abrogar, daughter of GMA top honcho Atty. Felipe Gozon, of doing under the table deals with a management agency.
It would have been the perfect time for Richard to explain his side and clear his name, but his handlers were too cautious for his own good. If he won’t be able to extricate himself from the Sarah brouhaha, it’ll definitely have a negative side effect on the box office take of “Seduction”.
