JERIC GONZALES was the grand winner of “Protege” in 2012 and he confesses that his goal is to be one of the Kapuso Network’s top leading men, like Dingdong Dantes and Dennis Trillo. But stardom seems to be slow in coming. His runnerup in “Protege” Ruru Madrid, has already been given solo starring roles like in “Sherlock Jr” and “TODA One I Love”, but Jeric is not as lucky.
Well,hopefully, fate will smile on him soon since GMA-7 has lined up a new solo project for him, tentatively titled “Magkaagaw”, where he’s paired with Klea Pineda, female winner of Startstruck whose career has also not taken off. They are supported by more senior stars Sunshine Dizon and Sheryl Cruz.
Jeric feels he’s now more prepared to tackle demanding roles after taking up the acting workshop of coach Anthony Bova. “It’s really very helpful kasi it hones you not only in acting, but yung total personality mo, lalo na yung attitude mo sa work at sa ibang tao which is part of you who are on or behind the camera. Isang bagay na natutuhan ko is being humble, admitting na marami ka pang kailangang matutuhan to improve your craft at maging maganda ang pakikisama mo lagi sa mga tao sa paligid mo dahil it reflects on you as a person.”
Jeric was last linked to new Kapuso actress Pauline Mendoza when they did “Kambal Karibal”. “Naging very good friends po kami but now, wala kaming masyadong communication kasi naging busy na rin ako sa bago kong show. As of now, ayoko munang makipagrelasyon. I have to know my priorities and as of now, mas gusto ko talagang tutukan ang career ko. I really want to succeed and be recognized as a good actor. Yun ang main goal ko talaga as of now.”
He’s loveless and Klea Pineda is also loveless. What if something develops between them while they’re doing “Magkaagaw”? “Nagkatrabaho na kami before in ‘Ika-5 Utos’ so kilala na namin ang isa’t isa, comfortable na kami with each other. We never know kung ano puedeng mangyari, so hindi natin masasabi.”
He says it’s important for viewers to see they really have a good connection. “Kailangan talagang makita ng viewers na maganda ang chemistry namin on screen. We are both playing more mature role in our new show, may love scenes daw kami, so we have to show na kaya naming i-portray nang maayos ang roles namin. Sa workshop, we really work hard and are very committed para mas maging maganda ang connection, ang rapport namin sa isa’t isa to make sure maging credible ang characters namin sa story.”
