‘What We Could Be’ a ‘turning point’ in Miguel Tanfelix’s acting career

Miguel Tanfelix

One of Miguel Tanfelix’s “what-ifs” in life is pursuing a college education.

“Sometimes, I wonder how my life would have turned out if I had continued my studies. What if I didn’t join show biz?” he said at a virtual conference for his new GMA 7 prime-time drama series “What We Could Be.”

“Honestly, I still crave college life because I didn’t experience it,” he added. “But that’s something I plan to do in the future.”

For now, acting remains his priority. And things are looking bright for the former child star. “What We Could Be,” he said, marks a crucial shift in the type of roles he typically gets. “I feel like this is a transition period—from young to more mature roles. This is a turning point,” he said.

Miguel, who topbills the teleserye with new screen partner Ysabel Ortega, hopes to continue down the leading-man route. “Mahirap naman kung mid-20s, late 20s na and you’re still doing tween roles,” said the 23-year-old actor, who finished first runner-up in the 2004 reality search “StarStruck Kids.”

“The project is more mature … different from what I have done in the past,” said Miguel, who plays Steve Armstrong in the upcoming action-fantasy series, “Voltes V: Legacy,” which is based on the popular 1970s Japanese anime “Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.” Ysabel is also part of the cast as Jamie Robinson.

Potential

After working with Ysabel in “What We Could Be” and “Voltes V,” Miguel can say that he and the actress have grown “very close.” “I must admit that all the traits I look for in a girl, I see in Ysabel. She’s funny in her own way. I can’t really explain it—she can be corny, but she makes me laugh,” he said.

In terms of acting, Ysabel has a lot of potential, Miguel said. “She’s talented and humble. And I feel like she’s someone who will stay down to earth, no matter how famous she becomes.”

While they’re a love team, Miguel said the good thing about their setup is that they’re also free to pursue other collaborations. “It’s exciting to work with new artists or friends. We started out having careers of our own before our team-up, and I like that. We’re not holed in. There’s the love team, but we also have our respective paths,” he said.

“And we’re very open about what we want to pursue in our career,” Miguel added. “Mature ang pag-uusap namin.”