Daniel Padilla —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Daniel Padilla, who claimed to have experienced getting “burned out” recently, said he had to step back in order to reflect on where his career and personal life were headed. But in one of his first public appearances this year, the actor said he had been “reborn” and was feeling “refreshed and ready to go.”
“I retreated into my shell this 2023. I needed to take care of my personal life, my peace of mind. I went into Zen mode. I kept quiet. It’s not a secret that when it came to social media, I decided to detach myself. I have now found my drive. I’m excited to go back to work,” he told reporters at his launch as brand ambassador of RKitchen Foods Corporation on Oct. 30 in Taguig City.
“Now, I just think I have more wisdom. I’m reborn. I’m excited to learn new things, because as they say, once you stop learning that’s when you’ll start to drown in your own glass of water,” he pointed out.
In fact, Daniel is scheduled to do three movies and will begin shooting the first one this November. “Kamatayan,” which is “a story about life,” will be directed by Dan Villegas, he reported.
Three projects
Daniel is also set to work with Venice best actor John Arcilla. “The other project is still a secret,” he told Inquirer Entertainment.
“Of all the stories pitched to me recently, it was with ‘Kamatayan’ that I felt really excited. Hearing about it for the first time, I felt like my blood pressure shot up. I want to tell stories like this. It reminds me of ‘Shawshank Redemption.’ It’s an epic film and the character is very Tom Hanks.
“I was even more excited about it when I learned that the screenplay was by Sir Ricky (Lee, National Artist for Film). It took a while for us to start because I felt that I needed to take care of this project. The story is really sensitive, so it needs to be done right. I’ve long been preparing for it. I need to start working on it soon,” he shared with reporters.
The project with Arcilla—“a story that’s intense, almost a thriller film”—was something Daniel said he wished for. “Who wouldn’t want to work with Sir John? That’s what every young actor wishes for—to be able to collaborate with a really talented coactor and eventually learn from him. I imagine that our scenes together would be awesome. You can’t expect what will come out of them,” he said.
‘Move pieces correctly’
However, Daniel said supporters of “KathNiel” (his onscreen partnership with real-life girlfriend Kathryn Bernardo) will not be seeing them together in 2024. “I still have to finish all three movies. Allow us to work solo first, to find ourselves independently. We’ve decided to take a break so that when we return to working together, it will be really heartfelt.”
When asked to recall his reaction after watching Kathryn for the first time in Petersen Vargas’ dramatic project “A Very Good Girl,” Daniel said Kathryn was exactly how he imagined her in the movie. “We’ve been talking about the project even back when she was just creating the character. I’d rather not share what my suggestions to her were. The spotlight should be on her. I’d be happy to just stay in her shadow and watch over her,” said Daniel.
He then expressed how proud he is of his girlfriend. “Who else could do something like that than Kathryn? They said the ball was in her court. I would like to say she took that shot and made it. In her own way, she helped resurrect our movie industry,” the proud boyfriend said.
As to whether the couple already has plans to settle down, the 28-year-old said: “We want to take it easy. We want to move our chess pieces correctly. We plan to finish our commitments first, especially because we will be renewing our contracts with ABS-CBN soon. We will lay out our plans first, then go to that ‘next level.’ This is how we want it. We don’t want to still be distracted by other things when we’re already there. It’s hard to be doing things all at the same time. This is just my opinion—not everyone thinks the same, though.”
Christmas single
Daniel then pointed out the importance of hard work when it comes to achieving your goals. “Nothing is impossible if you do your work right. You can’t just wish for good things to happen to you. You have to believe and work hard for it,” he stressed. “Take singing and my music. I’m not really a singer, but I am able to pull off concerts. I work on my music and my performance. I always practice. That’s what I mean when I say nothing is impossible.”
Daniel said he plans to release a Christmas single before the holidays. “I know it’s kind of late now, but as they say, it’s never too late for Christmas. I want to feel Christmas through my songs. That’s really why we miss the songs of Jose Mari Chan. They help us feel the love during Christmas,” he said.
“Who doesn’t love Christmas songs? I love them, especially those by Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. As we get older, we constantly need to find reasons to celebrate Christmas. The music, the candles, even the smell of Christmas food, help a lot.”