CHRISTIAN BABLES signed up a 4-picture contract with Regal Entertainment and Mother Lily and daughter Roselle hosted a solo presscon for him. He thanked us for writing about him even before he won as Metro filmfest best supporting actor in his breakout role as the transgender best friend Barbs in “Die Beautiful”. We tell him some people say he was just acting when he became so emotional and cried copiously when he delivered his acceptance speech at the filmfest awards night.
“Hindi po acting yun,” he says. “Nararamdaman ko po talaga yun kasi nakaupo sa harapan ang mother ko and, for the first time, naramdaman kong she’s proud of me. Kasi, ayaw niya talaga akong mag-artista. Alam niya lahat ng struggles ko. 2011 pa lang when I started taking acting workshops sa Star Magic. Parang walang patutunguhan ang kaka-workshop ko kasi lagi akong naga-audition, lagi ring rejected. But now, finally, nagkaroon ng confirmation lahat ng paghihirap ko with the award, kaya di ko napigilang mapaiyak. My mentor in acting, Rahyan Carlos, told me before the awards night, nakikita niyang pasasalamatan ko siya sa acceptance speech ko and so I did. Hollywood acting coach Ivanna Chubbuck, na naging mentor ko rin, also sent me a message congratulating me.”
Will he still accept gay roles? “Okay lang as it quenches my thirst in acting. Ang dami ngang nagpo-propose, ‘Die Beautiful Part 2’ daw, na kay Barbs naman naka-focus ang story. But I really want to do other roles naman para maipakita ang other sides ko as an actor and I’m glad that in the yet untitled movie I will do for Direk Chito Rono, lalaki ang role ko. It will be shot on location in Samar, province ni Direk Chito, and I will play an island boy who will do everything for his family, with Tita Daria Ramirez as my mom at kasama rin si Mara Lopez. Excited na nga akong mag-shoot.”
We heard that he has offers from both GMA-7 and ABS-CBN and he turned down the offer to be one of Janine Gutierrez’ leading men in “Legally Blind”, to be directed by Ricky Davao. “Pinag-aaralan pa po kasi naman ng managers ko kung kanino ako magso-soap. But I accepted naman po the offer of GMA to do an episode in their drama show, ‘Magpakailanman’, as someone who got typhoid fever, with Gina Alajar as my mother.”
He is currently loveless and he prefers it that way. “Sa dami ng good opportunities coming my way now, mas mabuti na yung career lang muna ang focus ko. I’ve had six girlfriends before, laging ako ang iniiwan. The last one was just before ‘Die Beautiful’ was shown. But in fairness, nagagamit ko naman sa pag-arte ko ang experiences ko in being heartbroken.”
Who would he like to work with in the future? “Unang-una, si Maricel Soriano, kasi bilib na bilib ako sa husay niya. Dream kong masampal niya ako sa eksena. Dream ko ring maka-act with Joel Torre and napagbigyan na ito sa ‘Die Beautiful’. I also want to work with Marian Rivera.”
Mother Lily said she cried while watching Christian’s scenes with Paolo Ballesteros in “Die Beautiful”. “Magaling siya, so sabi ko kunin namin. We’re now trying to find the right project for him,” says Mother Lily.
“He’s a very natural actor,” says Roselle. “He first did ‘I Love You to Death’ with us and you can see even then that he’s very passionate with his craft. May potential siya and I think destiny niya to play Barbs in ‘Die Beautiful’.”
“Naiyak din ako when Mother Lily hugged me,” says Christian. “Parang I melted and I’m happy and thankful to her and Ms. Roselle for making me a part of the Regal family and be a Regal baby. Sila ang unang nagtiwala sa akin along with Direk Jun Lana and Perci Intalan. Wala akong inkling na doing ‘I Love You to Death’ and ‘Die Beautiful’ will open new doors for my career kaya salamat po, talaga. Thanks din pati kay Paolo Ballesteros at lahat ng mga nakasama namin sa ‘Die Beautiful’ na naging napakabuti sa akin while we’re making the movie.”