Dingdong Dantes gets ready to take the plunge

Dingdong Dantes. FILE PHOTO

has always sounded like he has everything about his life figured out. If he is nervous about tying the knot with Marian Rivera on Dec. 30, it doesn’t show. When did he realize that Marian was the right woman to take to the altar?

He shares, “I knew it when I realized how special my family was to her, and vice versa. She comes from a broken family kasi, so she’s eager to have something to call her own.”

The actor is the eldest of five kids. How many children does he want? “Size doesn’t matter,” he quips. “Whatever comes will be a blessing.”

With that personal milestone barely four months away, you’d think the actor would take a break from his show biz commitments. But, Dingdong has never been busier: He will topbill Erik Matti and Michiko Yamamoto’s “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2” for the Metro Manila Film Festival in December.

Taping for “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real” also takes up a lot of his time. The controversial drama series has been in the news lately because of its truthful depiction of marital infidelity. For this interview, we zeroed in on the show’s very “physical” confrontation scenes.

It isn’t every day that we get to discuss the momentum, mass and velocity of a punch or face slap with Dingdong—who has to endure some “artistic” assaults from Maricel Soriano in his role as philandering husband Anthony Real on GMA 7’s top-rating primetime soap.

Realistic slaps 

Truth is, realistic slaps can get contentious, because there are actors who refuse to be on the receiving end of something that can potentially disfigure (or reconfigure) their photogenic mugs. What was going through the heartthrob’s mind during the scene? Didn’t he get offended by his costar’s realistic, no-holds-barred hits?

Shaking his head, he replies, “In fairness to Maricel, she told me before the take that she was really going to do it—and I was aware that it was needed to make the scene work. So, when she hit me, I thought, ‘Ano’ng nangyari?! —I truly felt I was Anthony!’”

“Let’s put it this way: It may have looked like the slap went overboard—but, in reality, because of what he did to his wife, Anthony got what he deserved. He had to be punished! I was OK—I just put ice on my face after the scene. That is how Maricel works: She gets carried away with her emotions, so even after the take ends, hindi s’ya agad bumibitaw sa character!”

What makes his character “relatable” to viewers? Dingdong answers, “We all make mistakes. But, I thought it was stupid of him to marry Sheila (Lovi Poe)—because he had enough time to think about his actions. As a result, his error in judgment resulted in more mistakes. Now, he’s trapped in the repercussions of those actions, even if he didn’t deliberately do them to hurt his loved ones.”

The matinee idol won acting awards for his performances in Star Cinema’s “One More Try” and “Segunda Mano.” Did those accolades change his perception about acting? He admits, “Initially, I didn’t think awards were that important. But, the validation you feel when your hard work pays off is something else!

“Acting is a hit-and-miss endeavor, and that’s what makes it exciting—but, when you start winning awards, you realize you can no longer take a step back, because people expect even more from you!”