All child stars need focus, direction

Many kids try to make their mark as performers on TV these days, but only a few manage to stand out. Several years ago, Zaijian Jaranilla was given his ticket to stardom by way of the hit inspirational drama “May Bukas Pa.” He later followed up with another teleserye, in which he co-starred with Piolo Pascual, but the impact he made there was noticeably reduced.

The young actor’s current predicament is the onset of his adolescent years—a time for child stars to slow down a bit and wait for their bodies and psyche to make the sometimes awkward transition into pre-teen, tween and teen modes.

Expectedly, their careers slow down, before they perk up again some years later, as the young performers’ new screen personas emerge in tentative teen romances.

To be sure, Zaijian still looks relatively cherubic, but it really is only a matter of time before he perforce must pause to take stock of his future career options. Not to worry, it happened to the young Aga Mulach, too, but he soon went on to become even more popular as a teen actor starting with “Bagets.”

Jay Ilagan was another former child star who bounced back big time as a teen actor, and went on to become one of local filmdom’s most acclaimed young-adult actors.

As for Aiza Seguerra, her big transition came by her way of her relaunch as a musical artist, and she remains popular in that mode to this day.

On the other hand, child superstar Niño Mulach, who began performing as a 3-year-old whiz kid delighting viewers with his sassy ad libs, continued acting well into his adolescent years. Eventually, however, he too had to slow down, as viewers got tired of his TV-movie portrayals, which had become too sassy and “knowing” to be refreshingly diverting.

Despite everything, however, we believe that, with the right role and material, Niño can still bounce back—this time as an adult performer.

Indeed, that’s the future that we hope for all of our former child stars—for them to join the likes of Vilma Santos as stars of all seasons.

That’s what we surely need in local entertainment: performers who last beyond a few seasons and can thus gift us with insights that come only from age and the concomitant wisdom of the sage.

We trust that, after his transition period, Zaijian will turn out to be another “for all seasons” performer. His main assets that augur well for his staying in the biz for keeps are his large and luminous eyes, the simplicity and innate goodness of his spirit, and his good work ethic.

Unlike many of his lesser contemporaries who have quickly turned too sassy, porma and gimmicky, he and his handlers have wisely opted not to play that cynical show-biz game, with its ever-diminishing returns.

Zaijian may not be as busy on TV and in the movies as some of them, but his career should last much longer, because it’s built of sterner stuff. Would that all child starlets, and stars, could be as focused and well directed.