Matteo in the showbiz fast lane

MANILA, Philippines - Matteo Guidicelli never thought the day would come when he’d give up kart racing. He loved the sport so much he held on to the title “Karter of the Year” for four straight years.

But you have to stop rubbing those eyes. The 19-year-old Fil-Italian has decided to call it quits in the sport.

“My mom doesn’t like it. She finds it too dangerous,” he explains. “I would land in the hospital twice a year because of kart racing.”

Matteo has found a new passion: Showbiz. It’s not exactly where he expected to be years back, when he was still in the thick of kart racing.

“I thought I’ll always be a racer,” Matteo relates.

As a boy, he didn’t jump up and down with joy whenever his Cebuana mom brought him to shows of her idol, Martin Nievera.

Little did Matteo know that the same ballads from Martin his mom would play over and over on the radio would strike a chord in his heart. It would make Matteo a fan of standard songs himself.

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

“Martin’s songs made me think, why don’t I try taking music lessons? It could be fun. But only half of my heart was in it,” recalls Matteo.

Then, his uncle told him, “Why not focus? You’ve already taken step one.”

The obedient nephew found himself enrolling in Musical Theater at Columbia College in Chicago. Out of curiosity, Matteo took an acting workshop, also in the US.

To his big surprise, Matteo found himself falling in love with performing. When he returned to the Philippines and enrolled in Brent, Matteo wasted no time auditioning for the musical Pippin.

He got the coveted title role in the musical’s two-week run and discovered he could do many things with his tenor voice.

From there, it was easy for him to hop from one play to another. Watching YouTube music videos became a habit. He also took up voice lessons under Kitchie Molina.

 Needless to say, Matteo feels so grateful his mom exposed him to standard songs (Michael Bublé is another favorite) early on.

The Star Magic talent also has to thank his Italian dad for his towering height (5’9”) and sharp mestizo features.

Matteo relates that his parents’ love story began in Cebu, where his dad put up a toy manufacturing business. Matteo’s dad would export the toys to his native Italy and US.

“I have no problem with my parents’ mixed marriage,” says Matteo. “My mom and dad are Catholics so there’s no conflict in religion. I was raised the Filipino way.”

Make that the Cebuano way. Matteo admits he’s taking up lessons in Tagalog since he’s more at home speaking in the Cebuano dialect.

He’ll need an entire arsenal of Tagalog words, now that he plays “my most challenging role” in the new ABS-CBN primetime series Agua Bendita. Matteo plays a blind man who meets Agua (Andi Eigenmann in a dual role) when he figures in an accident at sea.

The good swimmer that he is, Matteo felt at home in the underwater scenes. The bigger test lay in acting like a blind man. Matteo must rely on his facial expressions and body movements to express his character’s feelings.

“That’s why I watched films with blind characters like Scent of a Woman and Blindness,” explains Matteo.

He may yet to have a follow-up project after Agua Bendita, but Matteo doesn’t mind. Matteo knows he still has a lot of things to learn, many other areas to look into.

He works out in the gym to maintain his physique and is taking up more acting workshops to further develop his craft.

Given the chance, Matteo would like to do an action-drama. It will tap Matteo’s prodigious athletic skills (he’s also into motocross and horseback riding) while honing his talents in serious acting.

Yes, karting’s loss is showbiz’s gain.