Busy James Reid finds time for music

THE ACTOR says he and Nadine Lustre are “happy,” but admits he is “not dating anyone.”

“On the Wings of Love” lead actor James Reid is one hardworking young star. From his daily soap to variety show appearances and product endorsements, James’ plate is always full.

Despite his busy schedule, however, James said he finds time for the things that give him joy.

“Music, my family, doing whatever I want at the moment…bring me joy,” James told the Inquirer during an event for Cadbury at Eastwood, Quezon City.

James, together with fellow endorsers, singer Yeng Constantino and band Up Dharma Down, staged a concert at the mall on Oct. 4 to promote the chocolate brand.

The ABS-CBN star credited his “Pinoy Big Brother” stint for jump-starting his musical career. “I started singing on PBB,” he recalled.

He doesn’t only sing, he also writes songs. For his first album, the self-titled “James Reid,” he penned two tracks: “Game Changer” and “You Make My Body Move.”

Musical duo

Apart from that, he and fellow Viva talent Bret Jackson has formed a musical duo called WAW.

“It means We Are Whatever, because we don’t have a specific genre,” James explained, adding he enjoys singing R&B and hip hop “because it’s fun to sing, and I sing every day.”

According to James, he likes performing songs by Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, Sam Concepcion and Gary Valenciano.

He, however, has not received any formal training in singing. “Never. I’ve taken maybe five voice lessons, but I don’t like it because it makes me sound like (the coaches), when I want to sing the way I do.”

James added: “I feel like if someone teaches me, I’ll end up singing like them. I [would] like to keep my own unique voice.”

AlDub songs

His duets with onscreen partner Nadine Lustre, which have been getting major airplay and raves from fans, recently crossed over to television, even figuring prominently in the “AlDub” segment of rival network GMA 7’s “Eat Bulaga.”

James said he wasn’t aware of it, but thinks it’s cool. “Siguro gusto rin nila ’yung songs (Maybe they also like the songs).”

How about Nadine, does she make him happy? “When I’m with her, we have a good time, so I guess I’m happy,” James admitted.

Are they in love?

“I’m not dating anyone,” he said.

The popular love team has been the subject of controversies, mostly about their true relationship.

The actor recently addressed the issue in an Instagram post, saying he didn’t expect people to understand him and people “want (him) to just live (their) fantasy.”

“On the Wings of Love,” however, gets him talking.

US trip

“We were [in the United States] for nine days,” he recalled. “We shot eight days nonstop, from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. [the following day]. We barely slept for those nine days. We taped as many scenes as we could.”

Due to some changes in the story, however, James said some of the footage wouldn’t be used anymore. “We didn’t get to use all of it because the story changed as it was being aired. It’s unfortunate; we didn’t get to use all the scenes. There are some scenes we took but people will never get to see [them].”

In the series, James plays Clark Medina, a US resident who is the son of a Filipino woman, who has since died, and an American who doesn’t want anything to do with him.

James is very much like Clark, he said. “Clark is very family-oriented, there is nothing he won’t do for his family. I’m like that, too. I work so hard; that’s all for my family, to bring them here, to give them a better life.”

One of his realizations working on the series is about making decisions in life.

“Biggest [realization] would probably be [about] choosing love or work, career or falling in love,” he said. “Clark, obviously, chooses love. Me, it’s work.”

James added, “I love what I do, that’s why it’s not so hard.”

Choosing love

Told his statement could also mean he was choosing love, his face lit up. “I did! I chose love. Yes, I chose love—for career.”

He loves his work so much that he doesn’t mind the things it makes him do, such as taking his shirt off in some scenes for “On the Wings of Love.”

“I’ve always been comfortable with my body,” he said.

He and Nadine are set to costar with Vice Ganda and Coco Martin in “Beauty and the Bestie,” a Metro Manila Film Festival entry, which he said would feature more “cute” and “kilig scenes” from their tandem.

“There’s a lot I would love to do; it’s just right now I’m focused 100 percent on the show,” James said. “But I’m planning to do an album…a concert, I’m planning to make music, maybe after I’m finished with the show. There are also two or three movies coming up.”