Mula noong bumalik siya sa Amerika noong March 2020 ay naging isang successful real estate agent si Sebastian Castro.
At ngayong 2022 ay binalikan niya ang pag-arte sa harap ng kamera bilang isang artista.
Ibinahagi ni Sebastian kung paano siya nakuha nina Dexter Paglinawan Hemedez at Allan Michael Ibañez, ang series creators ng Stay, na maging bida sa nabanggit na Boys' Love, o BL series.
“Facebook and Instagram and my work email, I believe,“ umpisang kuwento ni Sebastion sa Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP.ph) kung saan siya unang kinontak nina Dexter at Allan.
SEBASTIAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH ROLE
Ano ang unang pumasok sa isip niya nang nabasa niya ang mensahe sa kanya ng dalawang direktor?
Detalye niya, “In my head, I have sort of left Philippine showbiz completely, right? I haven't been doing projects for two plus years, so I was okay with just sort of moving on.
“But they reached out to me, offered this particular role for the lead role of the series and I loved the character from the first read.
“So, I play Andre in the upcoming series Stay and Andre is such a fun mess,” ang natatawang bulalas pa ni Sebastian.
“He is a character who makes a lot of mistakes but he tries… and watching him either cover it up or make up for those mistakes is very entertaining.
“And I think at the heart of the story, there‘s a very good love story with lots of kilig.
“So, I definitely was surprised and grateful that that role fell in front of me and I did tell them, I was very happy to tell them, yes I was happy to play it.”
Gaganap si Sebastian sa Stay bilang Pilipinong direktor na si Andre na susubukan ang kanyang kapalaran sa Amerika, at ina naman ni Andre si Grace na gagampanan naman ni Lotlot de Leon.
Tampok rin 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.
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.
SEBASTIAN RELATES TO ROLE
Sa tunay na buhay, paano naka-relate si Sebastian kay Andre?
Paglinaw niya, “I wouldn’t say that we’re entirely the same person.”
Pareho silang “dreamers” ni Andre, pareho silang nagsisikap para maabot ang kanilang mga pangarap.
“Yes, that’s for sure,” pagsang-ayon ni Sebastian.
“I think the thing that me and Andre most have in common is probably how we respond when we make mistakes.
“So I think that in life, let me put it this way… what I love about Andre is that he, despite how many mistakes he makes, how messy he can be as a character, it’s endearing to watch how he makes up for it and it’s hard not to want to see him succeed.
“Yung character niya is a Filipino-born character, he has a Filipino mother and an American dad who he never met, so throughout the story—it’s a love story primarily—but throughout the story, you get to see him trying to come to terms with the fact that he didn’t grow up with a father, and that’s a part of his back story that I can kind of relate to. I can kind of relate to the fact that he didn’t grow up with a great relationship with his father.
“That’s something I can relate to, and all in all I just find him [Andre] very endearing and I was just very happy to play him.”
SEBASTIAN IRONS OUT STRAINED RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENTS
Kumusta na ang sitwasyon sa pagitan nila ng kanyang ama?
“I would say that for the first time since I was a teenager, because of the pandemic, I now have a relationship with both my parents, my mom and my dad,” ang emosyonal na at naluluhang pahayag ni Sebastian.
“And I’m grateful for that.”
May kinalaman sa pagiging gay ni Sebastian sa hindi magandang relasyon nila dati ng mga magulang niya.
“I came out publicly when I was twenty-three after the 'Bubble' music video. I came out publicly at twenty-three but I was forced out of the closet when I was closer to, I guess, in a way, seventeen and even younger.
“So because of that, that put a wedge between me and my parents, my parents are very conservative and they happen to be Jehovah’s Witnesses, and we did not, I think, understand each other very well.
“At one point, my dad made it very clear to me that I was not his son and he didn’t want to see me again. So, they essentially disowned me, more so my father than my mother.
“But again this was in the past and I think as you get older you realize that your parents are gonna die one day.
“You understand and feel their mortality and that life is short so in that vein, I was very worried about them when it came to the pandemic, that brought us together and since then, we do finally have a relationship,” at napangiti si Sebastian.
“It’s not perfect but we are in each other’s lives, and I know that I care very much about them and it matters to me, you know, even more so as they age.”