Ex-‘Child Wonder’ Niño didn’t expect to raise one

ALONZO Muhlach is more hyperactive than his father was, though.

From being a child star, Niño Muhlach is now raising one.

He knows it won’t be easy but, in the very least, Niño aims to give his five-year-old son, Alonzo, the same kind of upbringing that his own father secured for him.

“At the peak of my career, my dad made sure that fame didn’t go to my head,” Niño, now 43, related at a recent press conference. “He always told me that everything would be gone one day, and I should be prepared for that. It did happen. I wasn’t too hurt because I was ready.”

Dubbed “Child Wonder” of the 1970s and ’80s for being one the very few child actors to ever top-bill local movies, Niño, this early, has started instilling the same values in Alonzo. The boy was recently signed by Viva Artist Agency.

“I also make sure that his childhood is not compromised,” said Niño. “We go out, play games, watch movies, go on cruises when we get the chance.” Alonzo is now in the cast of the long-running gag show “Goin’ Bulilit,” and the coming small screen adaptation of “Inday Bote,” both on ABS-CBN.

Unplanned

Niño said his son entering show biz was not in his plans; it sort of just happened. “A lot of people had been remarking that Alonzo looked exactly like me when I was his age. Soon enough, I was getting asked if my son could do TV guestings.”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t too apprehensive about Alonzo pursuing acting. “I had nothing but good experiences in the industry… I wasn’t traumatized… nothing like that,” he said. Besides, he noted, the Department of Labor and Employment now employs stricter guidelines in favor of children in show biz.

“The networks and producers likewise make sure that the children are well-looked after. I actually envy them; they have their own air-conditioned tents and other conveniences on set—things we didn’t have back then,” said Niño.

Impressed

Niño sees a lot of himself in Alonzo, whom he described as instinctive and curious. He related, “I saw him tape an episode of ‘Inday’ and I was impressed. He was acting in front of a green screen, pretending that there were other actors. That’s tough, but he understood what he was doing and did his job.”

Niño conceded that Alonzo is more hyperactive than he ever was. He wasn’t kidding.

At the media gathering, the precocious boy sang and intermittently danced to “Gangnam Style.” He was very comfortable in front of the cameras, pretending to be a news anchor whenever he saw one pointed at him.

Alonzo displayed wit and quick thinking that had the show biz media in stitches. Asked if he loved Ryzza Mae Dizon, whom he worked with in the movie “My Big Bossing,” he said: “Yes… as a friend!” They always chat via FaceTime, he added. “I tell her that I miss her, and she says she misses me!”

Prodded to comment on who is the better actor between him and Bimby Aquino-Yap, Alonzo’s swift response was, “Bimby, because he’s older than me!”

Needless to say, Niño is proud of Alonzo and hopes that the boy achieves the level of success that he enjoyed. It would be a big deal, Niño said, if his son got to do remakes of his best-remembered films, such as Lino Brocka’s “Ang Tatay Kong Nanay,” which also starred the late Dolphy.

“I can imagine my son and Dolphy’s son, Epy Quizon, doing it as an indie movie,” Niño said. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

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