Joey de Leon, one of the country’s iconic comedians, has always been known for his funny antics and multiple talent. His incomparable longevity in show business from the late 1960’s to the present gave him the opportunity to be well-travelled not only around the world; but in different local stations as well. Recently, Joey paid a visit to one of his first home stations that gave him his first break in the industry—ABS-CBN.
Fondly recalling his early years in ABS-CBN was Joey, sitting comfortably on a couch before Kris Aquino last November 25. And although he admitted that there was a time that he felt uncomfortable going near the fences of ABS-CBN because of the network wars, Joey felt the timing was right that time for a “homecoming.”
Joey, who just turned 65 last October 14, recalled how proud he was working as a radio disc jockey during his early days on ABS-CBN’s seven different radio stations in Bohol. He also shared that during the late 1960’s, his monthly wage was P200 and his boss was still Mr. Jake Lopez, Gabby Lopez’s grandfather.
It was after his radio stint that Joey started to appear on television. From his first big break on TV, Ok Lang, Joey engaged into different hosting jobs and eventually became a part of the phenomenal comedy trio Tito, Vic, and Joey. Iskul Bukol was the show that gave the trio immense popularity as comedians. Along with the many opportunities and offers that came after was the chance for the three to host a noontime show called Eat Bulaga! True enough, the unbeatable combination of Tito, Vic, and Joey has made Eat Bulaga! the longest-running show in Philippine television.
As if staying in show business for three decades wasn’t an achievement enough, people got to know more interesting things about Joey during the interview.
As a family man
The actor shared that he likes to travel around the world with his wife of 30 years, Eileen Macapagal, and his children Joseph Joachim (Keempee), Jacinta Myrtle, Jocas Eightria, Jako, and Jio.
Having travelled more than 30 countries, Hong Kong, Macau, America, London, and Greece were only some of the many places Joey and his family have visited. The comedian also revealed that he makes it a point to travel at least five to six times a year with his family. Joey said he doesn’t mind paying a hefty price as long as his family is complete and he doesn’t have to worry that somebody being left behind.
“Hindi ako nagtitipid basta byahe. Eh kasi, kailan pa? Kapag nanghina ka na?”
As a person, Joey does not pressure himself to be “techy” and revealed that until now he still does not know how to send a text message. He divulged that all he knows about using a mobile phone is pressing the “call” and “drop” button and reading text messages.
He still writes in the old fashion way using pen and paper. In fact, this is all he does when he gets in a plane. If ever he gets to watch movies on board, he shared he would watch Star Cinema especially if her favorite Sarah Geronimo is on.
It was Sarah Geronimo that made Joey accept the offer to do a movie, Won’t Last A Day Without You with Star Cinema and Viva in the first place. Joey shared that when he was offered the role of being the father of Sarah, he accepted. He also liked the fact that he will be playing the role of a rocker dad in the film.
As a perfomer
Going by the mantra: “masarap matulog ‘pag pagod,” Joey identified himself as an industrious person, always working and never stopping. The never stopping part is literally true for he shared that he used to work up to 42 hours without having a rest.
As a host to different shows like Eat Bulaga! and Star Talk, Joey admits that despite his age, he is still privy to the current events in the industry because it is part of his job.
He takes his job by heart, saying in another interview with former Eat Bulaga! co-host,Toni Gonzaga, last November 27 on The Buzz that as a host, he feels closest to the show. So close in fact that he is confident he can run the show by himself in case his colleagues were all absent.
Being ready for impromptus was one of the most important things that young actors learned from Joey. Toni attested to this when she said that she felt bad when she wasn’t able to respond accordingly to Joey’s inside jokes back when she was in Eat Bulaga!
Gerald Anderson, one of Joey’s co-star in Won’t Last A Day Without You, admitted that he was star struck when he saw Joey on the set. He also saw how spontaneous Joey was at work.
“Sobra akong na-star struck no’ng nakita ko siya. Tapos nung nag eksena kami, kahit wala sa script ang dami niyang adlib na talagang nakakatawa, kaya yung mga reactions po namin ni Sarah sa ano, sobrang tunay talaga. Totoo talaga,” he mused.
Like Toni and Gerald, many actors of this generation are privileged to have worked with Joey de Leon. But the latter dismisses any high regard of him and says that what he does is a job like everything else.
“Ito isang ano [pananaw] ko sa buhay ko. Ang tingin ko hindi ako sikat, ganun. Hindi, hindi, ang iniisip ko lagi sa trabaho ko, trabaho. So huwag mong iisipin na tartits (slang for artista) ako.”
When asked by Kris if he still considers doing another project with ABS-CBN again, Joey said he might consider doing another film with Star Cinema again if the opportunity comes.
Won’t Last A Day Without You premiered last November 30 in the Philippines.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(OCIE Fec 2-8, 2011 RedCarpet pg.2)
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