Richard Gutierrez Says Being A Dad Has Changed His Life

RICHARD GUTTIEREZ is a changed man. The truth has really set him free. He can now talk freely about being a dad to his son Zion. He says he now stays home most of the time to be with his baby boy. “Ang hirap nga, minsan, isinama ko sa presscon, tapos, ayaw akong pababain ng kotse,” he says. "But I enjoy being a father. It's one of the best things that happened to me. It changed my life for the better. Marunong na ko magpalit ng diapers and prepare his feeding bottle."


He takes his hat off to Zion's mom, Sarah Lahbati. “When she was pregnant with Zion, she was in Switzerland and I was stuck in Manila doing a teleserye so I just couldn’t leave. Nakapagpaalam lang ako sa taping when she delivered the baby. I was with them for five days lang kasi kailangan ko agad bumalik dito. She had a normal delivery in Geneva. I was there by her side when she gave birth and I was even the one who cut off the baby’s umbilical cord. Then he was brought to L.A. and Sarah’s mom was there to help us take care of him, also my dad (Eddie Gutierrez.)”

He’s glad to be back to work with “Overtime”, an action suspense-thriller where he plays a computer hacker who wants to take revenge on a pharmaceutical company who sent him to prison. He kidnaps Lauren Young’s brother, Renz Valerio, and sends her on a deadly mission wearing a bomb to a press conference to blast his enemies to kingdom come.

“Compared to my past movie roles where I played a romantic lead, I play a totally different character in ‘Overtime’, named Dom Garcia. May pagka-dark siya, may pagka-bad guy, but for a reason. May twist in the story to reveal the reason for what I did.”

Under the direction of Earl Ignacio and Wincy Ong, GMA Films’ “Overtime” opens in theatres on July 2.