Tom: 2013 Breakout Star

Until GMA cast him as a husband struggling with his sexuality in My Husband’s Lover (with Carla Abellana as the wife and Dennis Trillo as the lover), Tom Rodriguez languished in the periphery of showbiz, playing “supporting” roles in movies (Regal Films’ remake of Temptation Island, etc.) and soaps on ABS-CBN which discovered him via Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) in 2009.

Other actors would have recoiled playing a closet gay but Tom, like Dennis, faced the gauntlet head-on — and won. MHL treated the subject in a serious unblinking manner, reminiscent of the 1980s Hollywood film Making Love, so radically unlike the way it was done before that it revolutionized primetime-viewing habits, in the process rocking the halls of Congress (one congressman tried in vain to file a bill penalizing same-sex adultery…ha?) and prompting the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines) to remind the soap’s writers and producers to exercise “restraint.”

The biggest beneficiary of the big MHL to-do was Tom (since Carla and Dennis are already considerably established), deservedly so. Tom became an overnight sensation, the Breakout Star of 2013, enlisted as endorser of this and that product, never having it so good.

Are bigger things in store for Tom in 2014?

Remains to be seen.

Briefly Noted

• The post-2013 MMFF Awards joke revolves around the gown worn by Ryzza Mae Dizon who won Best Child Performer for My Little Bossings, the filmfest’s consistent top-grosser — you know, why did the couturier design it in a way that made Ryzza far more “neckless” (as in walang leeg, the running joke on Eat, Bulaga! which she co-hosts) than she already is? The dress turned Ryzza into a Neckless Princess.

•Aiza Seguerra (Best Supporting Actress for My Little Bossings) and beauty-queen-turned-actress Liza Diño don’t hide the fact that they are lovers. At the MMFF awards night, they were a sight doing PDA (Public Display of Affection), kissing with abandon unmindful of amused stares from other attendees. Could it be true that Aiza and Liza (who has a daughter from a previous [hetero] marriage) are planning to get married next year?

•At the end of Kimmy Dora, Ang Kiyemeng Prequel, Eugene Domingo (as triplets) spoofs the Metro Filmfest Awards. Eugene as host announces that Eugene/Dora wins Best Actress and Eugene/Kimmy noisily protests, demanding for the resignation of the judges and the MMDA execs. Eugene/host tries to console Eugene/Kimmy that she can still win other awards, such as Female Star of the Night. In real life, Eugene lost the Best Actress award to Maricel Soriano (for Girl Boy Bakla Tomboy) and went home with the Female Star of the Night award. Hmmmm, was anybody “punishing” Eugene for that spoof?

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