BENJAMIN Alves
Benjamin Alves isn’t entirely sure what the phrase “mutual understanding” means. Neither does he know what the different stages of dating are. But what the actor is certain of, he said, is that he and Julie Anne San Jose are currently seeing each other—“exclusively.”
“I really like her. We’re doing well,” the actor said in a recent interview, when asked for a reaction on Julie Anne confirming at an earlier press conference that she and Ben are starting to get to know each other better. “That was nice to hear, what she did. It’s nice to be dating someone who’s proud of you.”
Although he and Julie Anne are busy with their respective careers, Ben, 27, said they try to go out as much as their schedule permits. “We make sure to see each other, even if it’s only for a couple of moments. It’s the fact that we want to see each other that matters; it’s the effort,” pointed out the Kapuso talent, who described the 22-year-old singer-actress as a woman “who has her own mind. ”
“She speaks her mind. She’s not easily swayed by what other people think or say,” Ben said of Julie Anne. “She’s strong, down-to-earth and family-oriented. ”
Fans can be overprotective of the love teams they idolize, even if such pairings have already gone separate ways. Ben knows very well that some of Julie Anne and Elmo Magalona’s supporters aren’t too thrilled about him dating the young recording artist.
But Ben isn’t one to engage online detractors, unless Julie Anne gets the brunt of the bashing. “Usually, I don’t deal with petty stuff like that. If it’s me they’re bashing, I let it slide. But when the hate is aimed at the people I care about—and I see just how affected they are by it—then I have a problem with that,” he said.
Still on internet vitriol, Ben related that he found it annoying that some people would actually put malice on the now-viral picture showing his uncle Piolo Pascual being embraced by his son Iñigo.
“There are people who will always have something nasty to say just for the sake of it. We shouldn’t let their comments define who we are and what we do. The moment you start thinking that, you lose. Acknowledge the fact that it’s irritating, then let it go,” Ben said.
Meanwhile, after starring in the Cinemalaya drama, “Dagsin,” Ben said he’d love to do more challenging projects. “I don’t make movies for awards,” Ben stressed. “My goal is to turn in performances I can be proud of. ”
E-mail apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph