Actor Jerald Napoles admitted that there was once a time where he considered his life being “useless.”
On Friday, July 16, during the virtual press conference for his and girlfriend Kim Molina’s upcoming Viva movie, Ikaw at Ako at ang Ending, he revealed how hopeless he was during the early stages of his career.
“Madami akong pinagdaanan sa buhay na hindi ko naike-kwento sa maraming tao,” he admitted.
Financial problem was Napoles’s main struggle at first. The actor opted on dropping his studies because he was unable to support himself.
Napoles also had no work despite being a theater actor back then. His only source of income was per-project work whenever there is one.
“Unang-una, naging out-of-school youth ako dahil hindi ko na kayang tustusan ang pag-aaral ko. Tapos wala ring trabaho.
“Pero theater actor ako no’n. During that time, umaasa lang talaga ako sa project-per-project basis. Tapos nag-apply din ako ng iba pang trabaho. At parang hindi ko alam kung ano talaga yung gusto kong tahakin na landas,” he recalled.
Due to the hardships that life is throwing at him, Napoles thought to himself, “Ano ba talaga ang gamit ko? Ano ba ang gamit ko sa mundong ‘to?”
Still, he chose to hold on to his dream and passion of being an actor.
Recalling the time when he did a project with director Chris Millado, Napoles shared the quote that made him continue pursuing his passion for acting.
Millado’s words were this: “Love your art and your art will love you back.”
The actor held to the director’s words.
“Pinanghawakan ko ‘yun hanggang sa I started connecting with people na makaka-tulong sa’kin sa passion ko,” said Napoles.
Fast forward to the present, Napoles has done various projects already, ranging from television to film. He even had a hosting stint in GMA Network as he once hosted the variety show, Sunday PinaSaya.
Before Ikaw at Ako at ang Ending Napoles did Kaka and Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam, all of which were released this 2021.
Napoles started as a theater actor who rose to fame as one of the Care Divas then as Tolits in the musical stage play Rak of Aegis. He first became part of Triple A management before signing with Viva in 2019.
Catch the movie Ikaw at Ako at ang Ending on August 13, available on Vivamax and ktx.ph.