Nagbabalik sa pag-arte sa harap ng kamera ang male actor na si Sebastian Castro na naka-base na ngayon sa Atlanta, Georgia sa Amerika.
Ito ay sa international BL (Boys Love) series na pinamagatang Stay.
Sa one-on-one interview ng Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP.ph) kay Sebastian nitong Huwebes via Zoom ay hiningan muna namin siya ng kaunting backgrounder tungkol sa naging showbiz career niya dito sa Pilipinas.
“January 2011 was the first time I’ve ever visited the Philippines, 'tapos second day pa lang, I was cast in a commercial for Sun Cellular Broadband. Yun ang unang-una kong project sa Pinas.
“'Tapos, from there I did a Jollibee TVC, for Pantene Hair and a couple billboards and eventually I had a YouTube channel where I came out of the closet around the same time I did my "Bubble" music video.
“That got millions of views.
“And then shortly after that, I started doing TV projects.
“From 2011, I left the Philippines in 2020 dahil sa pandemic, just before the March 2020 lockdown.”
Isa sa mga nagawa niyang proyekto ay ang pelikulang 4 Days na isang gay-themed film na pinagbidahan nina Sebastian at Mikoy Morales noong 2016.
“It was a feature film where I was in a lead role, si Direk Adolfo Alix, Jr. yung direktor.
"But other than that, lots of supporting roles and minor roles, I was always happy to accept indie projects in-between years.”
SEBASTIAN ADAPTS TO PANDEMIC LIFE in the states
March 2020 siya umalis dahil nga sa pandemya na hatid ng COVID-19.
“My family po kasi is based sa US, in Atlanta, so the first thing I wanna do is to make sure they’re okay. We actually were not always close but it was a global pandemic and, remember in the beginning we did not know how serious it’s gonna be.
“So a lot of people were saying like different percentages, a lot of people were throwing around different, like fatality rates, and I was scared for them so I basically came home and I did the groceries for them and anything that they needed me to do that required going outside, I did that for a few months just to know that they were okay.”
“I remember that there were two things going on. One was there was a travel ban so I think foreigners who leave they were not gonna be able to come back I think after that March 15th, March 17th timeframe.
“'Tapos, there was also like a lockdown quarantine for all Filipinos in the Philippines.”
Ilang araw bago nagkaroon ng total lockdown sa Pilipinas noong March 17, 2020 ay nakalipad na si Sebastian sa Amerika.
Mabigat rin sa loob niya na napilitan siyang isara ang kanyang negosyo na isang taon ring tumagal dito sa bansa at i-let go ang kanyang mga empleyado, ang Tito’s Burritos na may dalawang branches na noon.
“Lahat ng locations namin are located in school districts.”
Isa sa mga unang isinara sa pagsisimula ng pandemya ay mga eskuwelahan kaya naapektuhan nang husto ang negosyo ni Sebastian.
SEBASTIAN carves HIS niche IN REAL ESTATE Biz
Sa Amerika, pinasok ni Sebastian ang real-estate business at naging matagumpay na real estate agent sa kasagsagan ng global pandemic.
“I have many dreams, I think the problem is that sometimes, as I have been told by my mom, I have many dreams,” at tumawa si Sebastian.
“But I have certainly wanted to try real estate and this forced me to be in a position to really do it because it made the most sense at the time.
“I got my real estate license in 2020 as well. I immediately worked for that, spent several months making it happen.
“And then between getting my license at the end of 2020 up to now in 2022 I have sold over ten million dollars of real estate.
“Which is for me, best case scenario more than I could’ve, like even in my best case scenario I didn’t see myself doing that well, I suppose.”
Na kahit may pandemya ay maraming naibentang property si Sebastian sa Amerika.
“Yeah the very weird thing is here in the US, the way that the US government responded to the pandemic was by lowering interest rates.
“So it was easier for Americans to buy things, including to buy houses. The real estate market in the US exploded upward from all of 2020, all of 2021 and it’s started to slow down now recently.
“But I was actually very lucky I entered the real estate business at a time where it was very easy to help sellers, challenging naman to help buyers.
“But yeah I’m very grateful and happy that that worked out.”
Dahil nga sa mababang interest rates, kahit may pandemya ay maraming bumili ng properties noong 2020 at 2021 sa US.
Hindi man bumaba ang presyo ng mga properties ay bumaba naman raw ang interest rates kaya naging madali para kay Sebastian na magtagumpay sa real estate industry.
SEBASTIAN'S SHOWBIZ COMEBACK
Pero sabi nga, mahirap talikuran ang kaway ng showbiz kaya muling umakting si Sebastian sa harap ng kamera at ito ay para sa BL (Boys' Love) series na Stay kung saan kinunan ang lahat ng mga eksena ni Sebastian at iba pa niyang co-stars sa Los Angeles, California.
Nagpadala kay Sebastian ng mensahe sa kanyang Facebook at Instagram account at sa kanyang e-mail sina Dexter Paglinawan Hemedez at Allan Michael Ibañez ng Team Campy Entertainment upang alukin siyang magbida sa Stay.
Sina Dexter at Allan ang mga direktor ng critically-acclaimed indie film na 1st Sem noong 2016 na pinagbidahan ng multi-awarded actress na si Lotlot de Leon (na nasa cast rin ng Stay) at then-newbie actor na si Darwin Uy na isa ng Regal baby ngayon.
Ang Stay ay tungkol sa pamilya, pag-iibigan, at higit sa lahat ay ang pakikipagsapalaran ng mga Filipino filmmakers sa ibang bansa tulad ng Amerika.
Gaganap si Sebastian sa Stay bilang Pilipinong direktor na si Andre na susubukan ang kanyang kapalaran sa Amerika.
Tampok din sa Stay ang American theater actor na si Ellis Gage bilang si Joshua, ang love interest ni Andre, at ang Filipino drag queen na based na sa US na si Bombalicious Eklaver bilang si Mikyla na bestfriend ni Andre.
Gaganap naman bilang ina ni Andre na si Grace si Lotlot na kinunan ang mga eksena via Zoom dahil hindi na nakabiyahe patungong Amerika ang aktres.
Abangan sa Facebook page at YouTube channel ng Team Campy Entertainment (kumpanya na nag-produce ng Stay) ang marami pang updates, photos at videos, release date at platforms tungkol sa nabanggit na BL series.