Unang lead role ni David Licauco ang pelikulang Because I Love You.
Bagamat matagal-tagal na rin siya sa bakuran ng Kapuso network, hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin daw siya makapaniwala sa mabilis na pagpasok niya sa mundo ng showbiz.
Pag-amin niya, “Honestly, when I first learned about it, it was out-of-this-world for me because growing up naman, I was a basketball player then.
“All I thought about was playing basketball, hanging out with my friends, hanging out with my family.
“So parang yung being an artista was already farfetched for me.
“And then now, here I am, in a movie, and I’m the lead male character.
“It’s something na I never really expected na would happen to my life.”
Dalawa agad ang movies ni David kunsaan siya ang lead star: ang Because I Love You at ang G!LU.
Lahad niya, “I’m just really grateful kasi iyon, with GMA naman kasi, they’re really also giving me good projects like TODA One I Love and all that.
“And I guess yung social media presence ko rin kasi, I can say na I started in social media, na feeling ko it really helped my career so much, kaya iyon.
“I feel like dun ako unang nakilala e, sa social media.
“Like, kahit hindi pa ako lumalabas sa GMA before, I had a number of followers na medyo marami.
“Kunwari pupunta ako ng mga bars, ganyan, yung mga pang-millennial na crowd, kunyari mga rave parties ganun, nagpapa-picture na sila sa akin kahit hindi pa ako artista.
“So I guess with the millennial crowd, I already got it somehow kasi dahil sa social media, like Instagram.”
Sa Because I Love You ay gaganap si David bilang mayamang executive na si Rael, at si Shaira Diaz na leading lady niya ay si Summer na isang bumbera o firefighter.
Sa G!LU ay anim silang bidang lalaki; si David, Derrick Monasterio, Kiko Estrada, Enzo Pineda, Teejay Marquez at Ruru Madrid.
Sa Because I Love You ay masasabing sila ni Shaira ang magdadala ng pelikula kahit nandun din sina Michelle Dee, Timothy Lawrence Yap at si Samantha Lopez.
RELUCTANT HEARTHROB?
Dagdag-pressure ba ito kay David?
Aniya, “Oo, oo, for sure, for sure!
“Kasi iyon nga… pero I dunno, basta until now, hindi ko pa rin talaga…
“Honestly, I don’t know what to feel, e.
“‘Coz having a movie, parang sobrang ang labo talaga.
“And I remember nga before, yung mom ko, she went to Eastwood, nagpahula siya sa isang manghuhula and then sabi niya meron ka daw isang anak na iyon nga, sisikat, something like that.
“And then at that point I was playing basketball kasi hindi talaga ako guwapo dati, e!
“Pero hindi ako ‘nagpagawa,’ ha?
“Ewan ko. Nagpapayat lang talaga ako, pumuti ako, nag-Cathy Valencia, um-okay ang hitsura ko bigla, so...”
TRANSFORMATION
Dati ba siyang mataba at maitim?
Pagbabalik-tanaw niya, “As in, tipong nung high school, walang nagkakagusto sa akin. Even in college, ha?
“Like, parang never akong naging... parang never akong kinonsider na, ‘Uy, heartthrob!’
“Something like that.
“Siguro at that time lang, sporty, malakas ang dating kasi kung maglakad ako sa corridor yung parang tipong ganun-ganun, alam mo yung typical basketball player?
“Iyon lang yung parang dun ako na-stereotype before.
“So itong, all these happenings na parang… may movie ako, na people peg me as like cutie or like hunk, parang…
“I try not to think about it kasi wala lang.
“I feel like I’m still normal, yung kung anuman ako dati, when I was high school, elementary.
“How I talk, how I talk to my barkada, I mean, kung paano lang talaga ako sa personal...
“Naglalakad pa rin ako sa labas, wala akong pakialam kung like people recognize me na, ‘Uy, si David,' something like that.
“For me parang wala, chill lang ako, like whatever happens, happens.”
Produced ng ALV Films in cooperation with Garahe Films (distributed by Regal Films), ang Because I Love You ay sa direksyon ni Joel Lamangan.
Ipapalabas ito sa mga sinehan sa June 26.