Shaking off gay character a hurdle for Enzo

Enzo Pineda

Actor Enzo Pineda admitted he had so much difficulty shaking off his gay character in “Till I Met You” when he first started working on the ABS-CBN afternoon series, “Pusong Ligaw,” that he needed to sit down with an acting coach.

Enzo said playing Stephen in the defunct series headlined by Nadine Lustre and James Reid was still very fresh to him when he began playing Rafa Laurel in “Pusong Ligaw,” which stars Beauty Gonzalez, Joem Bascon and Albie Casiño. He recalled: “I was afraid that people would see Stephen in Rafa, so I had one-on-one sessions with an acting coach.”

In the series’ Book One, Rafa played third party to the relationship of Vida (Sofia Andres) and Potpot (Diego Loyzaga). However, he and Vida started dating when Book Two unfolded.

“Like Stephen, I find portraying Rafa challenging. The notion that it’s easy to make the audience feel kilig is not true at all. Looking at your costar sweetly in the eyes doesn’t guarantee that the audience will also fall in love. It takes a lot of preparation,” the actor explained.

Practice makes perfect, Enzo pointed out. “I sometimes look at myself in the mirror to check if what I’m doing is convincing. I do this when I feel like I lack emotion,” he added. “I also ask myself, ‘Do I need to change something in me physically? Do I need a different emotional approach? Everything is a challenge. Sometimes, doing the smallest of scenes is more difficult.”

Enzo then denied receiving mean comments from loyal supporters of Sofiego (the Sofia and Diego tandem). “They understand that this is just work, and that I’m not out to destroy the love team. It also helps that I say hello to them whenever they visit Sofia and Diego on the set,” Enzo added.

“I’m thankful that viewers appreciate my performance and that they make this known through social media,” the 27-year-old actor said, adding that he was also grateful to be given the chance to work with Bianca King who, like him, transferred to ABS-CBN from rival network GMA 7 last year.

“Bianca and I never had the chance to work together in soap operas in our previous home network, only in dance production numbers. Being with her in this series is exciting for me because she’s a good actress. I know this because I am now able to observe her at work,” said Enzo.