New Amaya leading man Michael Diez inspired by Marian Rivera and Sid Lucero but does things his way
PEP.ph
Dressed casually in a red shirt, jeans, and a pair of sneakers, the tall good-looker discreetly entered the venue of the recent La Femme Awards. He found an empty table and helped himself to a cocktail.
He stood there for a minute enjoying his drink all by his lonesome. PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) then approached him to ask for his photo by the event wall.
He flashed a look of surprise and gestured that he didn't want to pose. Celebrities would normally and comfortably pose in front of the cameras. But he just smiled and said politely, "Later na lang po siguro, with some of my friends."
PEP then asked if we could just interview him instead. Surprised again, he said reluctantly, "Uhm, sige po."
WARMING UP. Those awkward moments, however, turned into a free-flowing conversation when we asked him about the upcoming GMA-7 epicserye Amaya in which he stars with Marian Rivera and Sid Lucero.
Marian's new leading man, Michael Diez, warmed up.
A few months in the industry and Michael says he is still learning the ropes. But he stressed that he doesn't make a big fuss about the sudden popularity brought about his new job.
"Well, hindi ko naman pinapansin. Kasi people would say, 'Hi,' I say, 'Hi,' too, they want a picture, okay lang. I mean, it doesn't really make much of a difference. I just go about my work and do whatever I want to do," he said.
He admits that being chosen as one of Marian Rivera's leading men in the epicserye surprised him a lot.
'"Oh, like wow!" Michael blurted out.
He continued, "Malamang, I think anybody would naman, e. At first I wouldn't believe it. Hindi ako makapaniwala. I was like, 'Seryoso ba 'yan? Partner ko ba talaga siya?' I finally believed it when we met na, I'm like, 'Totoo nga ito!'"
After a few weeks on the job, Michael learned a lot.
"I'm enjoying. I am learning so much. I love that the GMA is so supportive and all the other actors and actresses. They'll tell me do this, do that, and siyempre nakikinig lang ako. Beterano 'tong mga ito. Baguhan lang ako. I just try to absorb as much as I can," he told PEP.
READY FOR INTRIGUES. Coming from the world of modeling, Michael is no stranger to intrigues.
"Wherever you go naman, even in modeling laging may negative comments. It's in the system. Pero I think what is important is how you take it," he asserts.
He relates his first-hand experience of criticism in the industry where he came from.
"Back in modeling in my first fashion show, [I'd hear comments like,] 'Uy! pare bakit ganyan ka maglakad? Ganyan ka mag-pose?'
"Siyempre in acting in my first scene, [I expect to hear] 'Uy! Bakit ganun siya mag-acting. Pero the thing is, it happens talaga. I'm sure even the veterans, the old people they get criticisms. So take it in and try to learn na lang. Kasi wala, that is the only way you can do naman and just take it as something that can make you better na lang," the 23-year-old newbie said.
PROFESSIONALISM. Michael was a graduate of Business Management in Ateneo de Manila University when he first dipped his toes into modeling. He accepted a modeling job the summer right after college.
"Nung una para lang sa pera kasi wala nang allowance, e," he said.
