Talking Ryan with Ryan - CONVERSATIONS with Ricky Lo

The superstitious old folk back in the province said that if you want to grow taller, you should jump as high as you can on Easter Sunday as soon as the bells start ringing to herald the resurrection of Christ. No, Ryan Agoncillo doesn’t have to do that. At 21, Ryan stands 5’6" and he said he’s satisfied with his height and his looks, thank you.

He’s also at ease now with being a celebrity. Well, you see, when the length of your hair becomes a national issue and the public engages in a guessing game when you are having a haircut – and how short your hair will be – then that’s sufficient proof that you are a celebrity and your every move and every word, in fact every inch of your anatomy becomes interesting topic for tsismis.

Ryan faded out of GMA 7’s early-morning show, mornings@gma, and, after several weeks, resurfaced on "the other side" – rival station ABS-CBN, that is – as co-host of Tintin Bersola and Julius Babao and "debuting" TV hostess Janet McBride on the mid-morning show Talk TV which took the timeslot vacated by Today with Kris Aquino (Kris is now hosting the early-evening Balitang Kris which replaced Balitang K, hosted by Korina Sanchez who’s now hosting TV Patrol after Noli de Castro quit to run for the Senate).

Saturday nights, Ryan also co-hosts Keep On Dancing with, among others, Charlene Gonzalez and Troy Montero.

It was the Sprite TV commercial showing him trapped inside an elevator with Patricia Javier ("Are you, uh, in heat?") that catapulted Ryan to the spotlight, prompting his dear friend Paolo Bediones to recommend Ryan to GMA bigwigs as his mornings@gma replacement when Paolo left the show to co-host (first with Karen Davila, who has leaped ober da bakod to ABS-CBN, and now with Miriam Quiambao) GMA’s early-evening sizzler Extra! Extra!

On Talk TV, Ryan and Janet handle the "youth" segments (topics of particular interest to the young) and, judging from the feedback, he’s doing well, thank you.

Meanwhile, let’s talk Ryan with Ryan Agoncillo whose mobile face breaks into an Easter smile when he’s face to face with somebody, with anybody.

What’s your most memorable Easter experience?

"At our parish in BF Homes, Parañaque City, the Parish of the Resurrection, masaya talaga ang Easter Sunday. I remember when I was 12, my friends and I would wake up at 3 a.m. for the Salubong (the first meeting of the grieving Virgin Mary and the Risen Christ). At 4 a.m., we’d start hanging around na. At around 5 or 6, after the Salubong, we rushed to the groceries nearby for the Easter Egg Hunt. Sometimes, my birthday would fall during Holy Week and I’d even celebrate it on Easter Sunday."

Were you an "angel" (you know, the kid dressed like an angel who lifts the veil between the Virgin Mary and the Risen Christ)?

"Not on Easter Sunday, but in school where I played Angel Gabriel during the Annunciation of a school play."

Easter Sunday signals rebirth and renewal; it’s a time for thanksgiving, too. What is it that you’re thankful for?

"A lot. One, I’m thankful that I’m given this career because I’m able to make not only myself but my family happy – and my friends, too."

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

"I have only one brother; his name is Dondi, 30, nine years older than me. He has two kids."

Do you share your blessings with your loved ones?

"Of course, of course!"

How?

"Ang gustong-gusto ko is when I invite my parents out to dinner; I also contribute to the household expenses. Another thing I’m thankful for is having the kind of family that I have. They’re very supportive. I have a strong family foundation."

I saw your Dad guest on Talk TV and you two seemed to be barkada.

"You’re right. My Dad (Luis Chito Agoncillo) and I are more like friends, hindi mag-ama. When I get home from work, I share the tsismis with my Dad or my Mom (Rowena Gonzalez). Like when I went home after my first stint on Keep on Dancing, I was making tsismis to my Dad. ‘Alam mo, Dad, si Charlene, ang tangkad pala!’ You know, we’re a family of movie fans; we enjoy showbiz."

You also draw strength from your friends?

"Oh, yes, I do. That’s another thing I’m thankful for – having the kind of friends that I have. My friends are very important to me, whether they be my high school friends or my college friends. My high school barkada at Benedictine Abbey (Alabang) is intact; we still get together every week. I have a few friends from showbiz, like Paolo (Bediones), and I have my motorcycling friends, and my modelling friends, too. I’m never too busy for my friends. Like the other day, I gave my all to work so I had to explain to my girlfriend that I wanted to go out with my friends. I went home, had dinner with my parents and visited my girlfriend. Afterwards, I told her, ‘I wanna go out with my friends.’ Look, I had an 18-hour day. She said, ‘Aren’t you tired?’ I told her, ‘I’m having a good day; I wanna see everyone’."

Who’s your girlfriend?

"Oh, she’s not from showbiz so I’d rather not identify her."

Aren’t you planning to declare your "independence" from your family especially now that you’re earning good money?

"Not really declare my independence but maybe get a pad of my own; for resting, you know, lalo na if I have to work at night. But I definitely won’t leave home yet. Until now nga, I still sleep in my parents’ room sometimes."

Living alone can lead to, well, "monkey business," you know.

"I can still do the things I want to do even if I’m not, as you say, ‘independent.’ The nice thing about staying with your mom and dad is that there’s discipline."

Are you contented with how you look?

"You know, if I weren’t, I would have died a long time ago because my brother, who used to be a model, is taller (5’9") than me (5’6"). And is good-looking. E, di sana noon pa ako nagpakamatay. I am happy with how I look, thank God."

If you were to change a part of your body, what would it be?

"If it’s possible for me to change any part of my body right now…well, I guess I just wanna work out; I wanna have a fit body. From Grade 5 up to fourth year high school I was an athlete, a point guard in the high school varsity (basketball) team. Right now, nasa condition ang katawan ko but I can’t say that I’m fit. I wanna get to a point where I can play ball the way I want to."

You disappeared from TV (GMA 7’s mornings@gma) for a while. What happened? Where did you go?

"I did my thesis (for his course, Organizational Communications, La Salle) from June 2000 until October 2000. I took a leave from work, from mornings@gma specifically, but I was still doing Campus Video once a week. Campus Video was a show produced by Alta for GMA, with the youth as target market/audience."

What was your thesis about?

"It’s about Ocean Heritage Foundation, a non-government organization which helps other groups dealing with environment. The OHF provides manpower for, let’s say, the Parks and Wildlife. My task at that time was to make a video for the OHF to be presented during conventions. You know, ‘This is OHF, this is what we do…’ The OHF people helped partly in the production of the movie Muro-Ami."

Was that also the time when you shaved your head? Was it some kind of a rebellion, perhaps a "protest"?

"I did it just for kicks, you know. I’ve never been bald, so I wanted to try it. No, I wasn’t trying to ‘rediscover’ myself; rather, I was ‘redefining’ myself. I was, in a way, trying to take stock of myself. You know, ‘What do I really want to be? Do I really want to be a TV host? Do I want to be a director?’ I was kind of, well, target-practising."

Very obviously, you come from a happy family. Are you in any way related to the historian Teodoro Agoncillo?

"From what I know, there are only a couple of Agoncillo families so we are all inter-related. All Agoncillos come from Batangas. We come from Rosario, Batangas, while the Teodoro Agoncillos are from Taal. We are all descendants of Marcelo Agoncillo. My lolo was a lawyer and his family was into old-school politics."

Don’t you have any showbiz in your genes?

"Well, Carina Afable (Famous singer, ex-wife of musician-composer Raul Silos, now based in the States. – RFL) is my tita; she’s the sister of my Dad."

What do you think you would have been today if you were not sidetracked into showbiz?

"I never really thought about it. Kasi I started modelling at 14, although I was actually aiming to be a doctor. As a matter of fact, in my later years in high school, my career path was veering towards medicine. We did some career-tracking kasi in school. My first commercial was for Penshoppe; I would do as many as three to four commercials a year."

Of course, the most popular one was the Sprite commercial you did with Patricia Javier in 1999, showing you trapped by a brownout inside an elevator. Come to think of it, what would you do if you find yourself in a similar situation in real life?

"I definitely would start a conversation kasi I wouldn’t want her to panic. I don’t want her to think, 1) that I’m a bad man and 2) that I’m going to take advantage of the situation."

What if she’s the one who starts making advances?

"Maybe I’ll play along and see how things will go."

Who would you want to be stranded with not inside an elevator but on an island?

"With the exception of my family and my girlfriend. . . yes, Catherine Heigl, the girl who played Gerard Depardieu’s daughter in My Father The Hero. She used to be skinny but she has put on some weight so she’s a full woman now. I’d love to spend time on an island with her."

What would you do together?

"Well, a lot of things. I shudder at the possibilities."

Who’s your favorite actor?

"Brad Pitt. He’s so talented and he has such a beautiful body. Some people can’t understand why Brad Pitt chooses roles that ‘uglify’ him (such as in Fight Club where his face is battered black and blue, and in Seven where he looks ‘dirty’). I don’t know if it’s reverse narcissism on his part but he’s the only actor I know who can turn ‘ugly’ for a role and still come out beautiful. You know what I mean? Kahit pangit na siya at mukhang marumi, guwapo pa rin."

Away from the limelight, what are you like? What kind of books do you read?

"I enjoyed reading Trainspotting, the book. I saw the movie so I looked for the book. I still have to get a copy of The Beach. Sold-out na, e. Right now, I’m halfway through with Conversations with God, volume 1. You can’t read that book hastily. You must have religious experience. . . you digest everything as you read on."

Are you religious?

"I’d rather call myself spiritual than religious. My eyes haven’t been opened to a lot of things yet; there are still many things that I want to see and experience."

But you believe in saints, I presume.

"Oh, yes, I do."

Who’s your favorite saint?

"St. Christopher and St. Matthew (patron saint of bikers)."

If you were a movie character, who would you be?

"The Crow, the one played by Brandon Lee in the movie."

If you were somebody or something else, who or what would you be?

"I want to be a motorbike, a big motorbike, so I can go places. I’d go to the desert and park right there and commune with nature."

What kind of girls do you find attractive?

"Sweet girls who are driven, smart and charming."

Are you an action man? You know, one who takes the initiative when he likes a girl.

"I am an action man in the sense that I do something and I expect a quick response. I’m good at reading people, especially girls. Other people would look away, para hindi mahalata na may gusto sila sa girl. But I’m different. Ako, I’d observe little nuances."

Who’s the girl in your fantasies?

"Charlize Theron. In fact, she looks like Catherine Heigl. They also both look like Ashley Judd."

What’s the craziest thing that you’ve done so far?

"Two years ago, I would have said climbing my ex-girlfriend’s balcony, parang eksena sa Romeo and Juliet. You know why? Pinaghiwalay kasi kaming dalawa. So I had to climb her balcony at night just to see her. I was 18 that time."

You have a girlfriend now. Are you faithful?

"Very. Very!"

Faithful to one. . . at a time?

"Faithful to only one. . .at a time." (Laughs)

If you were to do a crazy thing today, what would it be?

"I do a couple of willys on my bike every now and then. Crazy enough? I guess what would be more crazy is if I just drop everything and not care about the future. That’s not crazy, that’s sira ang ulo already."

What part of your body is your favorite?

"My eyes. When I wake up in the morning, I ask myself, ‘Am I gloomy today? Am I happy?’ To find the clue and the answers, I look at my eyes in the mirror. I talk to myself through my eyes; I pick my own brains."

Are you gloomy today — or happy?

"Look at my eyes!"