Xian’s cup runneth over

MANILA, Philippines — Xian Lim has a lot on his plate these days, but who’s complaining?

The 29-year-old multi-hyphenate artist stars in the upcoming film Miss Granny, joins History Channel’s Celebrity Car Wars, plays for a professional basketball team, and makes it as one of the 10 finalists for the 2019 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival for his film titled Tabon. And basing on some of his Instagram posts, it’s not hard to tell he’s got a happy love life as well. 

“(It’s) time management in capital letters. It’s all about priorities. What will come first for today? When you wake up, (you do) small increments of priorities. It’s still a big thing in the future, parang put two hours here, put one hour there,” he told The STAR when asked about how he finds the time for his many interests.

In terms of experience and sense of fulfillment, he said no interest is the same.

He said of being a film actor: “For me, doing films, there’s nothing compares to it. When it comes to film, the adrenalin, the excitement and the feeling of not knowing where you’re gonna be, what you’re gonna do and you never know what to expect in the film, nothing can replicate that feeling.”

On being an aspiring scriptwriter and filmmaker, Xian shared, “I’m new to being a writer. Di ko masyado masasabi yun (fulfillment). But writing is, in terms of my experience right now, it’s like you’re typing and bleeding at the same time because sabi nga nila, you have to write bad, you have to write good (laughs). I ask myself, what am I doing? I have a lot of questions! But I really wanna learn.”

He got into scriptwriting after becoming part of the Batch 17 of the legendary Ricky Lee’s scriptwriting workshops. “It was 14 weeks of sessions with Ricky Lee. But I’ve always wanted to write, I’ve always been asking people on the set, ‘How do you do this? Or, ‘Why do you this?’ Dami kong natanong talaga. Thankfully, sila nagsabi i-pursue mo yan, go!”

He gets to do something, too, in the third season of Celebrity Car Wars set to premiere in September. It’s his first time to do a reality show wherein “12 cameras (were) following everywhere we go, it was just awkward. But after Day 3, we became loose and just had fun.”

Xian Lim: I know what I want. Everything I’m doing now, I’m trying to be a step closer (to my goals).

Xian further shared his two-week experience (in a separate presscon): “There were people from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, it was a crazy experience. I think among the guys, in the whole group, I’m the dorkiest, nerdiest guy who knows nothing about cars. So (I was asked), ‘Why are you in Celebrity Car Wars if you don’t know nothing about cars?’ I told them, I just wanna experience what you do here, it’s so exciting! I’ve seen the first season and the second season. It’s really different because you get to break a lot of things. I think this show has a lot of budget (laughs). You have the freedom to wreck cars. So, we had a couple of really expensive cars, and I’m like, OK. What if I slam into this boulder? ‘That’s fine, it’s good for TV.’ I’m like, alright! Let’s do it!”

Now, when it comes to his sport, people may not be aware but what brought the US-based Xian to the Philippines in the first place was basketball. In an old STAR interview, he revealed that it was his father, Godofredo Lim-Uy, a former player for the UE Red Warriors (he was batchmates with PBA legend Allan Caidic), who suggested that he play basketball at the UAAP through a scholarship from UE. Showbiz, however, beckoned and his hoop dreams were put on the backburner. Last month, Xian pursued his pro-basketball dreams by suiting up for the Maharlikha Pilipinas Basketball League (MBPL) team Mandaluyong El Tigre.

Xian said, “When it comes to basketball, this is my second chance. Ito ang nagbigay sa akin ng pagkakataon na parang…  I feel like, I know I’m meant to do this. I know that dapat nandito ako and that I belong here. I’m just working really hard to show people that I deserve to be enlisted.”

With his hands dipped into many things, it begs the question, what does he really want to do in life?

The actor stressed that he’s never been this sure in his life. “Sometimes, people say, ano ba talaga, Xian? It’s more of this is what I’m meant to do. I’m sure this is what I want to do,” he said. “I know what I want. Everything I’m doing now, I’m trying to be a step closer (to my goals).”

Grabbing opportunities and second chances is the theme of his new film Miss Granny (opening in theaters on Aug. 22), where he plays a music producer who will offer the character of lead star Sarah Geronimo “that second chance in life.”

When asked about his first time to work with Sarah and James Reid, another co-star, he had this to say: “I guess, being with Sarah and James, it’s something new. The dynamics is something different. At first, I was nervous. Hindi ko alam paano ako lulugar sa set because I’m new to them. Makulit kasi akong tao. Baka makulitan sila sa akin. But they’re just very friendly. They’re just open to a lot of things; they’re open to me. (Miss Granny) is a very feel-good movie. If you’re feeling down, and if you want something inspirational, this is the movie. And I like being in films like that.”

Speaking of opening up and being inspired, fans are happy to see Xian becoming more open with his relationship with Kim Chiu, at least on social media. He said, “Everything is still the same. Wala naman kaming ginawang iba. I think it’s just more of… we’re just spending more time together. We might be sharing the things that we do. I mean, nandiyan at nandiyan talaga yung mga sumusuporta and we’re very thankful to them. We’re not here to promote anything. We’re just being us.”