“Bumabakat po (it’s bulging)…’yung muscles!”
Derrick Monasterio had everyone laughing at a recent press conference after giving that impish reply, when asked how he felt the first time he tried on his form-fitting costume for GMA 7’s coming fantasy-comedy show, “Tsuperhero,” in which he plays the eponymous jeepney driver-turned-superhero.
GMA 7 talent
“The fit wasn’t so good at first… But we tweaked it as we went along, until it finally clung snugly to my body,” added the GMA 7 talent.
He arrived at the event in full garb, which inevitably sparked good-natured ribbing and questions about his—for the lack of euphemism—bulge.
The young actor was in a joking mood, playing along to the riotous line of questioning.
Distraction
At one point, he insisted that he had to make some “adjustments” to make his crotch area less noticeable.
“The fight scenes we shot would be put to waste if the viewers were looking there,” he pointed out, jestingly adding that his leading lady, Bea Binene, couldn’t look at him straight when wearing the costume.
“Her eyes were wandering…
She was giggling—and I knew why!” he said.
To prepare for the role, the 21-year-old celeb who goes to the gym together with Bea, said he took up boxing and lifted weights to maintain his physique.
Not so blessed
“I also wanted to improve my butt—I’m not so blessed!” Derrick said, laughing.
Derrick Monasterio
“Bea even calls my mom (former actress Tina Monasterio), so she could wake me up.”
Are they really that close?
He described his relationship with Bea as, “like a couple, but not really.” “We’re comfortable with each other… I can sleep on her lap. We send each other text messages, saying ‘take care,’” he related. “I can even wear briefs in front of her, and she wouldn’t mind.”
Derrick admitted that he did court Bea, who plays a barker named Eva in “Tsuperhero” (Sundays, starting November), but the latter, he surmised, got turned off, because he used to be a bit of a playboy.
“I easily develop crushes on pretty girls, so maybe she thought I wasn’t serious,” he surmised.
Girlfriend material
Still, Derrick thinks Bea is “girlfriend material”; he admires the actress’ “strong character.”
“She’s smart and feisty,” he said. “I prefer girls who are that way.”