Christopher Roxas (right) and Gladys Reyes
“[Before] … I would always feel pressured to work so I could provide for my kids. That’s not the case anymore. I’m happy where I am now [in terms of financial stability],” said actor Christopher Roxas.
This is because Christopher, along with his wife, actress Gladys Reyes, took risks and invested in several business ventures. Chris got involved in vintage car dealing, while Gladys had her skincare line. In 2018, they put up Estella, a restobar in Cainta, Rizal.
Just this month, the couple announced that they also ventured into the catering service business with Sommereux (pronounced as “so-me-ru”), which is also Christopher’s surname in real life.
“We did this because we have goals,” said Christopher during the launch of Sommereux at 38 Valencia Place in Quezon City on Feb. 20.
“I will forever be grateful to this industry because it’s where I became known. It’s also where I met my wife. But now, I already have the luxury to just choose the projects I want to do. I don’t just work for the money, since the salary of actors like me aren’t that high, anyway. Usually, it’s just enough to pay for monthly bills,” he pointed out, adding that 2019 had been one of his busiest in the biz with two TV shows (“Toda One I Love” and “The Killer Bride”) and film projects, including Xian Lim’s “Tabon” where he was lead actor.
Christopher, who has a degree in culinary arts from the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management in Quezon City, is head of operations of Sommereux.
Christopher also said he and Gladys, whom he was first paired with in the 1992 soap series “Mara Clara,” make a good tandem, even outside show biz. “I would first present a project to Gladys. We would then discuss if it is feasible and then do market research. If she’d say it’s doable, I’d turn it over to her and then move on to another project.”
But like most partners, they don’t always see eye-to-eye. “Sometimes, she’d thumb down a project as if she doesn’t trust me,” he said.
Since he joined show biz when he was 14, people who followed Christopher’s career saw him grow up. The 41-year-old actor claimed the industry is so different now compared to when he was just starting.
“I seldom see the respect and professionalism that celebrities had when I was a young actor. We would always listen to our elders. We were disciplined so we come to work well-prepared,” he pointed out.
Christopher said there was a time when he had to call out the attention of a young coactor because the latter would horse around with friends on the set. “I told him that he has to take acting seriously. I said, ‘you don’t go to work with just a gun, you also have to have ammunitions. Don’t study your lines only when you get to work. Memorize them beforehand.’ An actor who is my batchmate told me to just let the kid be because he is still young. I shot back by saying, ‘when we were his age, we couldn’t just arrive on the set and tell (the late actress) Charito Solis to wait while we memorize our lines.’”
Christopher said this was also partly the network’s fault, especially since they would often give their stars the kid-glove treatment. “Since our conversation, I saw that he would often come up with great work. That impressed me. We’re good friends now. This kid is Joshua Garcia,” he declared.