Aakalaing si Jake Cuenca yung tipo ng aktor na kapag nasa set ay madaling mag-switch sa kanyang karakter.
Yun pala, hindi raw siya nakakapagtrabaho nang maayos kung may isyu o may dala-dalang problema.
Pag-amin niya, "I work my best when I’m happy.
"When I’m preparing something, and I’m going through a problem, I really have to departmentalize it.
"Kasi, if I keep on thinking about it too much—kasi ako ngayon, my top priority is to stay in character. To come up with something that you’ve never seen before. That’s why I push myself.
"So, that’s my priority."
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Kaya kinakarir daw niya talaga ang atake sa bawat role na ginagampanan niya, at talagang nagpi-prepare siya.
Mahirap man, kailangan niyang ihiwalay ang personal na problema sa trabaho.
"If I think about my problem too much, if I think about my issues too much, then it’s gonna be too much of, 'Jake, you’ve seen that already.'
"Out of 23 years na umaarte ako. Kumbaga, what I’m trying to do, after noong pandemic is to show you guys something different.
"Kahit ilang beses niyo na akong nakitang nagkontrabida, it’s still to come up with something new.”
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JAKE CUENCA ON LOVE LIFE
Sa kanyang love life, hindi ba siya nagkaroon ng trauma dahil ilang beses nang nauwi sa hiwalayang mga relasyon niya?
“I’m very happy right now,” nakangiti niyang sagot nang makausap siya ng Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP.ph) sa isang pocket interview sa Pandan Asian Cafe sa Tomas Morato, Quezon City.
“Parang for me, I don’t doubt God’s plan for me. I don’t doubt the process anymore. In fact, what I live for is the process.”
Read: Jake Cuenca on blossoming romance with Chie Filomeno: "I'm happy, super."
Naging open si Jake na masaya siya ngayon sa relasyon nila ni Chie Filomeno.
JAKE CUENCA HAS QUIT ALCOHOL
Bukod sa kanyang love life, ang maganda pang nangyayari sa buhay ni Jake ay tinalikuran na niya ang pag-inom ng kahit anong uri na ng alak.
“When you almost die, you’ll gonna start to look at life differently,” natawang pag-amin niya.
Ang tinutukoy ni Jake ay ang pagkaka-involve niya sa police car chase noong 2021 sa Ortigas.
Read: Jake Cuenca reportedly involved in car chase with police; Grab driver shot by stray bullet
May tatlong taon na raw siyang hindi umiinom. At inamin niyang hindi ito madali.
“I’ve been out of alcohol for three years and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever have to do. To be honest with you, when I stop drinking, to say no, especially when you’re with your bosses and people in the industry, it’s definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever have to do.
"But it’s definitely the best decision I’ve made,” saad niya.
Kahit daw mga light drinks, hindi na niya sinusubukan.
Katuwiran niya, “No, kasi doon nag-start.”
JAKE CUTS TIES WITH DRINKING BUDDIES
At ang mahirp pero kailangan niyang gawin, Jake had to start avoiding his drinking buddies.
Sabi rin ni Jake, “I would say, you have to be very decided and you have to cut ties. You have to cut people in your life, especially people na you have the bond of drinking with.”
May mga na-cut ties nga siyang friendships?
“I cut a lot of people,” pag-amin niya. “I have to, to make solid changes, to make real changes."
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Malaking bagay na wala rin talaga siyang time for night-outs.
"I really don’t have any time aside from work and if I do have time, of course, I want to spend it with my family and my loved ones.”
JAKE MAKES TIME FOR OTHER HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
Imbes uminom, pinili ni Jake ang iba pa niyang puwedeng pagkaabalahan.
Isa na rito ang pagmo-motor.
Balak din niyang mag-aral sa ibang bansa ng filmmaking.
Tuloy pa rin ba ang plano niyang ito?
“Studying abroad? Ang daming trabaho, e,” lahad niya.
“There’s a lot of projects right now. If I’ll study, I’ll study locally na lang, and, at the same time, tuloy pa rin naman ang pag-aaral ko as director and writer.
"But I’m not in a rush, kasi wala naman edad iyon.
“Right now, I’d like to strike while the iron is hot. Ang gaganda ng mga projects na dumarating sa akin at the moment.
"So for me, it would be foolish of me not to prioritize my work right now.”
JAKE CUENCA ON BARON GEISLER
Ilan sa mga proyektong ginagawa ni Jake ay ang kasalukuyang napapanood sa VIU PH na What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim kasama sina Paulo Avelino at Kim Chiu.
Read: Jake Cuenca opens up about deep friendship with best friend Paulo Avelino
May ginagawa rin siyang action film at isang BL (boy love) movie.
Kasama rin sa producer si Jake sa BL movie kunsaan kasama niya si Baron Geisler.
“That’s why I said, to do all these things altogether, that would be great,” masayang sabi niya.
Bukas na aklat ang laban ni Baron sa alcohol. Habang siya naman ay nagtagumpay para matalikutan ito.
“Meron akong non-negotiable. For me, no alcohol in the set.
"But I don’t have to tell Baron about that right now. Kasi, si Baron now, if you watch him in social media, kaya siya nag-gym every day.
"For me, at this point, with all the trainings he did, he put in so much works already.
"Ako, I trusted him that we’ll gonna finish these two movies and it’s a great year for Baron.”
JAKE CUENCA ON What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim
Sa What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, ginagampanan ni Jake si Morpheus o Cyrus Castillo, kapatid ng karakter ni Paulo.
Bilib na bilib si Jake, lalo na sa orihinal na actor na gumanap sa karakter ni Paulo, ang Korean actor na si Park Seo Joon.
“When you watch the original, si Park Seo Joon, he’s brilliant, ang galing. Ang dami niyang ginagawa, ang dami niyang ipinapakita. Same thing with the actor who played Morpheus.
“So for me, sabi ko, I’m doing a lot of projects, but the effort and preparation is probably the same or even more than I did in Iron Heart. Plus, nagkataon sa Iron Heart, physicality iyon, e. We do stunts, we do fight scenes.
“Here, parang sabi ko, it’s the same preparation, more than emotional siya. Sabi ko nga, this time, parang mas inihahatid mo ang audience sa sequences. Sabi ko nga, noong pinapanood ko ang original, they’re doing so many things. Hindi sila parang one take lang.”
Read: How Park Seo Joon reacted to Pinoy fans asking for hugs on stage
Sabi pa ni Jake, “Even yung kay Park Seo Joon, yung sa original, kahit sabibin mong light, iba ang accomplishment nila doon. It came across to the whole world. The whole world watched their show.
“Kami naman nina Pau, nina Kim, hindi namin parang binalewala iyon. It’s a big project, big title, and it requires our best and I think, we were able to give out our best.”