A director’s harsh comment became the turning point that pushed actor Jake Cuenca to make one of the biggest decisions in his showbiz career.
Jake opened up about the moment he was told he was “not good enough” to be in the industry—a remark that pushed him to reassess himself as a young actor in the mid-2000s. At the time, fantasy series dominated television, and GMA Network, known for its fantaseryes, had cast Jake in one of its flagship shows.
Before making the switch to ABS-CBN, Jake said he was already weighing his options, but many warned him that the move might not work in his favor.
“Bago ko lumipat ng ABS, it was my last fantaserye sa GMA. Tapos nagtatalo ko non e, lilipat ba ko ng ABS o hindi. Ang daming nagsasabi sa akin sa GMA na ‘Jake huwag kang lumipat ng ABS. Wala pang lumilipat ng GMA na sumikat pagkalipat nila sa ABS.’ Siyempre natakot ako.”
He recalled a particular scene that became the catalyst for his decision.
“Naalala ko non may eksena kong ginawa. Nandon ako sa hagdan ng OB van. Nanonood ng eksenang ginawa ko tapos sinabi ng director habang pinapanood ‘yung shot ko: ‘Alam mo ‘tong artistang to, dapat bumalik ng modeling to e. Hindi dapat maging artista to e. Hindi siya magaling.’”
Jake starred in several of GMA Network’s biggest fantaseryes, including ‘Encantadia’ (2005) and ‘Majika’ with Angel Locsin (2006). ‘Majika’ would become his final show under the network before he eventually transferred to ABS-CBN—just as Angel herself did in 2008.
Instead of letting the director’s blunt criticism break him, Jake said it pushed him to take acting seriously.
“Narinig ko ‘yon sabi ko sa director: ‘Direk, I’m so sorry.’ Basag ang puso ko as an actor but because of that it fueled me. Ultimately, dahil don lumipat ako sa ABS. That was the deciding factor na sinabi ko na this was it. This is the market: lilipat ako ng ABS na malinis ang konsensya ko.”
Years later, fate brought Jake and the same director back together—this time with Jake in a lead role.
“Funny, this is years and years later, decade later, mayroon akong show na ginawa, dito naman bida ako, big show [called] ‘Pasion de Amor.’ The director was him. First niya sa ABS.”
The 2015 primetime drama ‘Pasion de Amor’, an adaptation of a Colombian telenovela, starred Jake alongside Arci Muñoz, Ejay Falcon, Ellen Adarna, Joseph Marco, and Coleen Garcia.
Jake said he used the opportunity to show the director how much he had grown.
“I’m gonna use all my energy in this show, everything that I am to prove those words wrong.”
