“He is the most down-to-earth gentleman I’ve ever seen.”
This is what film director Jose Javier “Joey” Reyes said of actor Alden Richards, who he is currently working with on the upcoming movie “My Bebe Love (#KiligPaMore),” an entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
“I’ve been in this business for 30 years and, believe me, that’s rare. That’s really, really rare!” said the director, also known as “Direk Joey,” in an exclusive interview Thursday with INQUIRER.net on the set of the movie at Pontevia, Daang Hari Road, Las Piñas City.
“I have been yearning to work with Alden since he started. The first time I saw him on television, I even told the executives of his network that he is going to be the next big thing. Although he’s an actor, it took him a hosting job for Filipinos to discover that this guy is the next big thing,” he said.
Alden is one-half of the phenomenal “AlDub” couple, the other being Dubsmash queen Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza. They two started to have a strong following when they got involved in a whirlwind of split-screen romance through the “Kalyeserye” segment of long-running noontime show “Eat Bulaga.”
Since then, Alden’s and Maine’s celebrity status darted upwards, skyrocketing to even greater heights. They are now the stars of a movie alongside MMFF veterans Vic Sotto and Ai Ai de las Alas.
READ: ‘Maine Mendoza a natural comic, not fully aware of her popularity’
Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza eat fast food on the set of their upcoming MMFF movie, “My Bebe Love.” DON LEJANO/INQUIRER.net
Direk Joey likened Alden to two of the most successful stars today, Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz, when it came to having a great personality and right attitude in the show biz industry.
“There are two other people who I find to be as nice and as giving as Alden. These are Piolo and John Lloyd,” he said. “I think he will be of that stature in due time. Because he is such a giving, unpretentious, down-to-earth and grateful person.”
He added: “Alden is very conscious not to let (fame) get to his head. That’s rare among young people.”
For Direk Joey, the fact that Alden had been around as an actor since 2010 yet his rise to stardom began only a few months ago was incredible.
“It’s all about being rewarded for your hard work. It’s all about the right time and the right place,” the director said. DL
Email arvin.mendoza@inquirer.net
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