Everyone knows Akihiro Sato as the handsome Brazilian-Japanese model with the lusciously lean built and perfect blend of Caucasian and Asian good looks. He has appeared everywhere—from magazines and billboards to Celebrity Duets Season 3 and indie film Handumanan—but he has always been viewed as just a foreign-blooded headturner who fumbles with his Tagalog.
But there's more to this model turned actor than meets the eye, and Cosmopolitan Philippines finds out what it is.
As Man on Fire in Cosmopolitan's January 2010 issue, Akihiro reveals personal details that his body-baring billboards and magazine pictorials would never disclose.
For one, Akihiro is an artistic soul. Besides singing, he has another talent—painting. The model shares with Cosmo that he paints with oil, depicting "views or landscapes, like beaches and mountains."
When asked who his local celebrity crush is, he replies, "I really appreciate and find Iza Calzado beautiful. She's a good actress. I hope I can work with her one day."
The two-time Cosmo Centerfold seems pretty comfortable baring his torso for billboards, but Akihiro admits that seeing shots of him half-naked actually makes him feel bashful. In an exclusive interview with Cosmo.ph, the online home of Cosmopolitan Philippines, he says, "I don't know why, but I'm really shy. I think all the artistas are the same. When you see yourself on TV, you get a little bit shy, I think."
He even reveals that he sometimes gets critical of the way he looks. "You never see yourself as perfect. Sometimes I eat, and [I think] mataba ako, I need to lose weight."
Meanwhile, Akihiro also gets naughty on Cosmo.ph, listing the top 10 things that turn him on (click here). Like many red-blooded males, Akihiro lists the sight of "two girls kissing" among his turn-ons!
Even though he has a naughty streak, Akihiro is a romantic at heart. Asked about his single status, he replies, "I don't want to be babaero with so many girls. I need just one girl. I just wait for the right time."
For 2010, Akihiro says that his goal is to "focus on learning Tagalog and English in preparation for acting, and join more workshops." He also discloses that he will star in a soap opera this year, and he has plans of forming a band "where I can sing and dance." Apparently, losing to entrepreneur Joel Cruz in Celebrity Duets Season 3 hasn't deterred the Brapanese hunk from aspiring to be a singer!