With 13 awards to his credit, Miggs Cuaderno evolves from child to teen actor

Miggs Cuaderno

Former child actor Miggs Cuaderno muses about growing up “different.” The teenager is actually spending less time with people his own age, he discloses, because he’s been home-schooled since third grade. But, he adds, it’s been educational in its own way.

“It was an advantage because I grew up with older persons and coactors,” he tells the Inquirer. “I learned a lot about life, how to be a good person and how to respect your elders.”

And, he wasn’t alone, anyway. “At the same time, I was with actors my age—we played on the set while waiting, just like the kids in school.”

Miggs, who started acting as a 6-year-old in 2010, recalls regularly starring in “Munting Heredera,” directed by the late Maryo J. delos Reyes, who became his mentor.

But it wasn’t an immediate bond, he says: “Direk Maryo was shouting at me, telling me to act normal because I was so stiff just saying my lines, and my eyes couldn’t focus on my coactor. I was nervous when I was younger.” Since then, Miggs diligently studied the craft. He eventually won acting awards for his work on films such as “Quick Change” (Chéries-Chéris festival in France), “Children’s Show” (Cinemalaya) and “Asintado” (Famas), to name a few.

Now that he’s 15, he says, he arrives on the set well-prepared and moves more naturally. He feels “blessed” and credits Maryo for the nearly yearlong training on the “Heredera” set.

He fondly recalls spending time with his teacher, off set: “When he asked me to join him in Bohol one time for Christmas gift-giving for kids, it was so much fun to see them happy, receiving gifts.”

The director, who died early last year, had plans for his career, he elaborates: “He called me to his office and told me his next project for me. He was going to launch me as a teen actor … he gave me advice on what course I should take in college, and in which school.”

Among the GMA 7 shows he was in, he has his favorites: “‘Munting Heredera’ was fun; my fellow child actors had the same interests, especially in gadgets. ‘Poor Señorita,’ too, because we were like family, and Ate Regine Velasquez took good care of us like her own children. And ‘Tropang Potchi,’ my regular show that explored different places, adventures, etc.—I’ve done things that I was afraid to do, like zipline, and I overcame my fear of heights.”

While not currently an exclusive Kapuso talent, he recently appeared in the shows, “Tadhana” and “iBilib.”
Miggs is slated to finish three thematically different films this year: Neal Tan’s “OFW: The Movie,” Joel Lamangan’s “In the Name of the Mother,” and Christian Acuña’s “Magikland.”

The young actor, who counts John Lloyd Cruz, Dennis Trillo, Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio among his acting heroes, is a fan of Korean music, especially BTS.

On proving himself now as a teen actor, the incoming Grade 9 student explains, “I got a total of 13 major [local and international] awards. Direk Maryo told me that I was the only one who has done that. So my awards are the inspiration to do my best in every teleserye or movie I get to do. I make sure that all my coactors and directors are satisfied and happy with my work.”