Richard Yap just gets better with age

There’s something about Richard Yap that makes him attractive to women of all ages. They often recognize him as the “chef” in the iconic fast-food commercials. He may have had no speaking lines in those 30-seconders but one’s eyes are immediately drawn to him in his immaculate kitchen whites and appealing face.

At the last Bench show held at the Araneta Coliseum several years ago, women of a certain age asked to have their pictures taken with him. Take note: He wasn’t in the show, he was just there as a member of the audience.

Nowadays, Richard is known for playing characters who are solidly-built, strong and dependable. He’s the mythical knight in shining armor, ready to make everything all right again.

After acting in GMA’s I Can See You, Richard is once again ready to make his numerous fans swoon in I Left My Heart in Sorsogon with his co-stars Heart Evangelista and Paolo Contis.

We recently asked Richard a few questions and found him to be down-to-earth and very relatable. Like most people, he depends on his phone for pretty much everything. “In this time of pandemic and work-from-home, I do everything on my phone. I take pictures, send messages, do Zoom meetings, check my sked, stay in touch and update my social media,” he said. The other item he can’t live without is his Apple Watch which he uses to monitor messages and keep track of his calorie intake, exercise and heart rate.

In the mornings, he looks forward to having a cup of hot coffee, and the activities for the day “whether it’s lazing around at home with the family and our fur babies or if I need to go out and do something.”

He is often cast in the role of the dependable guy; it’s not far from how he was as a child and as a young man.

“I was a shy and quiet guy, never one to hog the limelight. Basically, I always did what I was supposed to do and never gave my parents a problem,” he said.

“I had to be resourceful and strong in order to survive without any help from my family when I started out. I also had to double my efforts because my former employer was also discriminatory just because I married a non-Chinese,” he added.

When it comes to preparing for a role, Richard takes everything to heart. “I try to live the life of the person in the role. I usually think about what that person would do in a certain situation so sometimes I ad-lib but as much as possible I try to stick to the script if there’s nothing to change.”

Some of the actors he looks up to are Bruce Lee, Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Song Joong Ki, and the late Eddie Garcia. “What I liked about them was how they could do any role and convince the audience that they were that person.”

For his role in I Left My Heart in Sorsogon, Richard said he spent a lot of time trying to get the look required for the role. “It’s mostly physical preparation to be able to look right for the role and watching other series so that I can learn from them,” he said.

To ensure the safety of both cast and crew during the pandemic, shoots follow a protocol where everyone works in a “bubble” to prevent infections. This basically means that cast and crew work and live together from the time the shooting starts until it ends, days or weeks later.

Asked to describe the experience, Richard said the longest he’s been in a bubble was only a few days.

“I’ve heard of other cast or crew during one of our tapings who couldn’t sleep because there were paranormal happenings in their rooms.”

If he ever encounters a ghost, I think he will manage to win them over with his charisma. Richard recently celebrated his birthday and as the cliché goes, just like fine wine, Richard just gets better with age.