Ejay proceeds with caution over big break

While it is probably the quickest route to showbiz these days, winning a reality talent search does not always guarantee immediate stardom. No one knows this better than Ejay Falcon who, despite having won the top plum in Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition a few years ago, didn’t see his career take off right away.

 Some nasty talk even surfaced, saying that he didn’t deserve to win, and the fact that his runner-up Robi Domingo got the breaks first proved this. Robi was the first to be given a small role in My Girl starring Kim Chiu, and from there, went on to several hosting jobs that just got bigger and better. He even joined and won the MYX VJ search. In the meantime, Ejay had to watch and listen to all the things being said about him. Despite this, he continued to wait. He knew his time would eventually come, although admittedly, the things people were saying about him hurt.

“Opo, nakakarinig naman po ako ng ganun, lalo na nu’ng bago ako, talagang medyo masakit,” he acknowledges. “Masakit kasi siyempre marami ang nangangarap na maging artista. Inisip ko tuloy, ‘Ano ba ang mali sa akin?’ Pero kumbaga, nasanay na ako na ganu’n talaga… ito ang pinasok kong trabaho. So, hinahayaan ko na lang po.”

At first, Ejay thought that it had something to do with his being a probinsyano (Ejay traces his roots to the town of Pola in Mindoro Oriental, which he describes as a rural area where people make their living by copra farming and fishing). The town is so far away from the city that it cannot even be reached by cellphone signals. They also only got electric power last year; up until then, they subsisted on a generator.

With his living conditions and background like this, Ejay felt he was at a disadvantage compared to the Ateneo-educated Robi and others like him who were also vying for a chance to make it in showbiz. The way he saw it, he was at a disadvantage compared to them.

“’Yun talaga ang inisip ko, na ang dahilan, kasi galing akong probinsya. Yun ang naisip ko, na probinsyano ako, hindi ko pa alam kung paano makipagsabayan sa mga tao sa showbiz.”

But he didn’t allow himself to think that way for long. Ejay was a quick learner. If there was one thing about himself that he was most proud of, it was that. Having grown up in a rural area and coming from a family where they had to work hard for everything they had, there was no choice but to fight to survive — and that helped Ejay get over that period when the breaks were slow in coming.

“Alam ko na, kung may ikaka-proud man ako sa sarili ko, masasabi ko po talaga na, yung mabilis akong matuto, yung kapag ginusto ko, ang bilis ko matutunan. Yun yung ugali ko na nakaka-proud sa sarili ko na kapag sinabi kong ‘Kailangan ko matutunan ito, kailangan kong aralin ito’ matututunan ko talaga siya kapag gusto ko.”

 So he waited, and he observed, and he learned. Then finally, in 2009, along came a breakout role as one of Erich Gonzales’ leading men in the television remake of Katorse. That started it. After that, the projects started coming. But the biggest one so far is the starring role he has bagged in another television remake, this time of the action-drama Dugong Buhay. The Carlo J. Caparas story was originally made into a movie starring Bong Revilla, but has been reworked for television.

He knows this is his biggest break, so he did everything he could to ensure that all goes well. Ejay agreed to grow his hair and learn martial arts just to get in shape for the role.

Things are finally starting to happen for him, but Ejay is still not allowing himself to get too overwhelmed. He knows that just as quickly as this was given to him, it could just as quickly disappear.

If that should happen, he says, he’ll go home and resume his old life in Mindoro. He is prepared for that eventuality because he knows how fickle show business is. But of course, he’s hoping his good fortune will continue not just for himself, but for all the people who depend on him and who look to him for inspiration.

“Sabi ko nga kaya kong bumalik sa dati kong buhay sa probinsya,” he says. “Nandun yung family ko, alam ko kung paano mabuhay doon, hindi ako magugutom doon, kaya alam kong kaya ko pero siyempre, ayoko na rin mawala ito. Kasi lahat nangangarap, at mahal ko itong trabaho ko tapos alam ko na dahil dito marami akong taong nabibigyan ng inspirasyon. Para sa kanila din ito.”