Sick dad is Ken Chan’s source of strength

Ken Chan plays a father in “My Special Tatay.”

Ken Chan admitted that working has been more difficult these days, knowing that a family member is battling a serious illness. But it’s also for this very reason he’s become determined to strive even harder.

“Of course, I can’t help but think about him,” the GMA 7 actor said of his father, who was diagnosed with stage 2 esophageal cancer. “I always tell him that he’s the one who gives me the strength to continue working. Because seeing him happy for me is something I hold on to.”

His father had just undergone an important surgery, and is set to start chemotherapy this month.

“He’s getting better,” added Ken who, quite fittingly, is playing a father in his upcoming afternoon drama series, “My Special Tatay.”

Despite his father’s current condition, Ken, who comes from a family of five, still feels blessed that he was given the opportunity to headline the said project.

“This show will be a big help to us,” he told reporters at a recent press conference.

God’s way

“Maybe this is God’s way of balancing things out a little,” surmised Ken, who’s dedicating the soap to his father. “My dad follows what I do. I recently did a television interview about him, and he was shocked to see a photo of us in the hospital… We were just laughing about it.”

In “My Special Tatay,” which airs daily starting tomorrow, the 25-year-old talent portrays Boyet, a kindhearted, young man with a “mild intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder.”

Boyet’s life takes a more drastic turn after he finds himself fathering a child.

It’s his hardest assignment yet, Ken said, because there’s immense pressure to get the character right.

As part of his preparation, Ken went on an immersion at the Independent Living Learning Centre in San Juan, where he was able to mingle with students with intellectual disabilities.

“They were all fun to talk to. They’re intelligent and creative, and I ended up learning a lot from them,” Ken related. “In fact, some of them are already my friends on social media!”

Ken, who’s no stranger to doing offbeat roles, also did his own research and watched films like “Forrest Gump” and “I Am Sam.”

For the actor, who had played a transgender woman in “Destiny Rose,” doing “My Special Tatay” is more than just work—it’s an advocacy.

“We should treat them as we do everyone else,” Ken stressed. “And I hope I can be an instrument to voice out what they can’t.”