Never say never.
“That’s my mantra,” said Ramon Khino “RK” Bagatsing who persisted even when the odds were against him. “I knew that in the long run, makukulitan din sa akin ang universe.”
RK related that at 10, he joined German “Kuya Germs” Moreno’s kiddie show Best Friends but soon quit and went back to school. An injury thwarted his dream to be a basketball player and he decided to work at a call center.
“But showbiz is in our genes,” added RK whose two siblings, Raymond and Monina, are also in the business, “so I tried and tried again, even after I failed auditions for StarStruck, PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) and other shows. I was never discouraged. I just kept going.”
A latecomer, RK (turning 32 on May 9) finally found his spot in the entertainment sun when he shone in such films as Slumber Party (2012) and Apocalypse Child (2015), and Kapamilya series Wildflower and Araw Gabi with Jane Oineza. RK and Jane were veritable head-turners in the series and Regal Entertainment decided to bring back the team-up in Us Again (opening nationwide on Wednesday, Feb. 26), directed by Joy Aquino, a post-Valentine offering in which RK plays a struggling artist and Jane a medical technician frustrated in her dream to be a doctor. That was five years ago when their romance didn’t prosper, until they meet again and give it another try.
Asked about their love scenes, RK said that to prepare, he had to brush his teeth thoroughly and discuss with direk Joy “how the scene would go, where their characters were coming from and where the story is going.”
No problem with Jane. “No need to prepare, hahaha!!! It’s part of our job as actors. Besides, RK and I are friends and we are comfortable with each other. Walang malisya between us.”
“We are on the same wavelength,” seconded RK.
What is sexy to you?
Jane: Sense of humor is sexy to me. And how he carries a conversation, how he carries himself.
RK: Same with me. Importante sa akin ang sense of humor. Sexiness is in a girl’s total personality; how she conducts herself.
When do you feel sexy?
Jane: When I am comfortable with what I am wearing.
RK: I am in my element, I feel really sexy when I am doing what I love…acting…and at the end of each project, I am appreciated by my co-workers and the public. That raises my confidence and that’s sexy to me because sexy is a state of mind.
(Only to RK): When did you lose your innocence?
RK: I lost it very early. I was 10.
To an older woman or girl his age?
RK: Older woman.
What are the qualities you like in a man/woman?
Jane: Somebody who talks sense, who talks well, para walang dead air, walang awkward silence. Pag may sense of humor, mas lalong malakas ang dating.
RK: Somebody who has no inhibitions, palatawa at magaan kasama never mind kahit makulit.
Sexiest instrument?
Jane: Saxophone.
RK: Spanish guitar.
Sexiest song?
Jane: Marion Aunor’s How Can I (used as theme song of the movie Always Be My Maybe).
RK: Teenage Fever by Drake.
Sexiest car?
Jane: Jeep and Benz.
RK: Any Mitsuoka car.
Sexiest part of her/his body?
Jane: My eyes and my lips.
RK: My eyes.
Sexiest part of a man’s/woman’s body?
Jane: His eyes.
RK: Her lips.
Sexiest time of day?
Jane: Any time of day.
RK: As soon as I wake up kapag kitang-kita ang abs ko.
Sexiest part of the house?
Jane: Kitchen.
RK: Bedroom.
Sexiest clothes?
Jane: Nothing, hahaha!!!
RK: Boxers. Oh yes, I find it sexy when a woman is wearing my shirt.
Sexiest perfume?
Jane: Joe Malone.
RK: Lacoste Red.
Sexiest scene they have done?
Jane: Here in Us Again.
RK: In Us Again.
Sexiest scene you’ve done to yourself?
Jane: Wala, eh. Pinapagawa ko sa iba, hahaha!!!
RK: Pamper myself in the gym.
Sexiest fantasy?
Jane: Doing it in a public place na walang tao, like in a park.
RK: Having a threesome.
(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)