Daniel Padilla on going solo, taking on action roles

Daniel Padilla —DANIEL PADILLA/INSTAGRAM

It’s about time that I do action,” said Daniel Padilla, who, at age 28, said that he is ready to follow in the footsteps of both his father Rommel and his more popular uncle, Robin.

Daniel, who is more identified with romantic film and TV projects, particularly those that he made with real-life partner Kathryn Bernardo, said he never avoided doing action projects in the past. “I just felt it wasn’t my time yet. I’ve tried doing it in ‘La Luna Sangre’ [in 2017] and I enjoyed it. Also, I think that if I ever go full blast in action, I want it for a film and not for TV,” he told reporters during his launch as brand ambassador of RKitchen Foods Corporation.

Richard Gutierrez, whom Daniel worked with in ‘La Luna Sangre,” recently made public his invitation for Daniel to collaborate on another action project. “That will happen soon, I just know. We would always discuss it whenever we would bump into each other. We had a fun time doing ‘La Luna,’ that’s why. I think working on something action-related with Chard would be exciting. I like working with him. As long as the project is good, the story is good, I don’t see why we can’t do it.”

Thankful for work

Daniel isn’t sure if this would happen in 2024, though. After all, he is scheduled to do three movie projects starting this month. There won’t be anything with Kathryn, either. “Going solo for a while is good for self-growth. Kathryn and I can’t be together all the time,” he explained.

Daniel added that neither of them refuse to feel pressured by the fact that some people prefer seeing them together in movie and TV projects. “If you feel pressured, then you’re coming from a place that’s negative. We’re both thankful for whatever work our bosses give us. What else have we got to prove in terms of our careers? At the end of the day, if you know that you gave every project your all, if you love what you do and you’re proud of it, whatever the outcome will be will depend on God and your audience,” he pointed out.

Daniel took a short break from work and social media during the early part of 2023. To mark his return, Daniel is now shooting the dramatic film, “Kamatayan,” with director Dan Villegas. Reporters tried to check on how he was by asking him to talk more about his mental health.“I agree that our mental health should be one of the top concerns these days. I think it’s because of social media that we’re all experiencing anxiety attacks. This is why we can’t blame our grandparents if they can’t understand us. They didn’t have too much ‘information’ growing up. Before the time of phones and social media, it’s like they didn’t have to worry over things they shouldn’t. Today, we concern ourselves with so many things, with stuff that we know we shouldn’t have known about to begin with, like personal problems of other people,” he began.

Nonsense noise

“Often, it’s no longer our business, but we would still post our comments about it. This is especially prevalent in show biz. Let’s be mindful of the feelings of other people,” he stressed.Daniel swore that he is doing OK. “I consider all these as noise, as nonsense. Whatever hurtful words you throw my way, I don’t mind. Galing lang silang lahat sa hangin. I’ve been like this ever since, so I’m no longer affected by negative comments. Of course, my family members would still get hurt, sometimes, but they’re slowly getting used to all the bashing, too. This social media world is not even real. If there’s no way for you to verify whether something is real or fake, then it should no longer have any impact on you,” he declared.

These days, everyone is trying to cope, including Daniel’s home company, ABS-CBN, particularly after it failed in its bid to get its franchise back. “The Kapamilya network has successfully turned itself into a content provider. It’s a good thing. We all have to adapt. The world is turning at an unbelievable speed. Often, we have no clue where we should go. We have to evolve, too. We have to learn as much knowledge as we can, but we also have to choose which ones we should absorb.” INQ