Good kind of crazy year for JC de Vera

JC de Vera

It has been a pretty crazy 2016 all around. But luckily for JC de Vera, it has been the good kind of crazy.

The past year saw the actor continuing to enjoy a revitalized career, with plenty of work on television and an indie film that brought him his first acting trophy. “I have a lot to be thankful for. This year has been very fruitful for me, and it just feels good seeing all your hard work finally paying off,” he told the Inquirer in an interview.

He didn’t make any conscious or drastic changes about how he approaches his work, admitted JC, who won best actor at the recent QCinema film fest for the prison drama, “Best.Partee.Ever.” The best explanation he could muster was that, perhaps, “it was simply my time.”

“I’ve always been a hard worker. My attitude toward my job has stayed the same: When a good opportunity comes my way, I grab it,” he related. “The only difference is that, this time, everything seems to be falling into place.”

His acting award has given him a confidence boost about his skills, JC said, but with it comes the pressure to deliver. “I feel like there are more people now who expect me to consistently deliver high-level performances—that’s the challenge right now,” he said.

And what better way to end the year than having an entry in the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, with no less than Superstar Nora Aunor? Sharing the screen with a cinema legend—even only once—is something JC has always dreamed of. So, when he received the script for the family drama, “Kabisera,” and found out whom he’d be working with, JC didn’t think twice about accepting it.

JC de Vera in “Kabisera”

“I didn’t even bother reading the script anymore. Without thinking, I said ‘yes’ right away. That’s how huge a deal it was for me, because she’s someone our generation looks up to,” JC said, adding that, surprisingly, he didn’t feel particularly nervous while shooting his scenes with Nora.

“Maybe it’s because she always made us comfortable on the set. She doesn’t make her coworkers feel she’s an icon, so I enjoyed my time working with her,” said the 30-year-old actor. “The working environment was very light.”

If there was one thing he learned from that experience, it’s that work doesn’t always have to be so serious. “What amazes me about her is that she seems like she has a switch that she can turn on and off at will. She was always fun during our free time. But once she hears ‘action,’ she transforms into another person,” said JC, who described Nora as being like a nanay to him.

Meanwhile, asked what his goal was for 2017, JC said he’d love to do more indie films. “My first time doing one was such an eye-opener. You’re forced to step out of your comfort zone and do things you didn’t think you could,” he said.