Papa Chen: Success is fleeting
The screams may be deafening; the autograph seekers never-ending. But Papa Chen, er plain Richard (Yap), now that he shares top billing with Jodi Sta. Maria in ABS-CBN’s “Be Careful with my Heart” doesn’t let it blow him away.
He can very well run away with the title “Mr. Heartthrob, what with the girls at home studying the slightest twitch of his eyebrow on TV. But forget it. Here is one celebrity who shuns titles.
“I don’t want to think of myself na may mga titles,” he says in a phone interview. “I don’t want to pressure myself. I try to do things the way I did them before this whole thing came along.”
But fans just won’t let their idol be. They follow him around the mall and elsewhere. They flock to him when he takes his family to a restaurant. Papa Chen’s children, aged 16 and five, are amazed – and amused.
“Natatawa lang sila,” he reveals.
Family time
Today, family bonding means a trip to the set where the children see their dad in action. It’s a far cry from his work with a furniture company, from where Papa Chen is on leave of absence. Now, Papa Chen is crossing his fingers his son and daughter understand why he is away from home for long periods of time.
“I try to explain that Daddy’s working. Hindi naman ako naglalakwatsa. They have to understand na may project ako. And they do,” Papa Chen relates.
It’s not all work and no play for him. Weekends, Papa Chen relates, are reserved for the kids and his wife, now fondly called Mama Chen.
“Ok lang yon. Related naman siya sa akin,” Papa Chen remarks.
Mama Chen has turned out to be an efficient assistant. She coordinated this interview and was gracious enough to give Papa Chen’s landline for better a phone reception.
No wonder Papa Chen has remained proud of his family. Unlike other actors who hide relationships from the public, Papa Chen laid his cards on the table.
“I didn’t want to be superficial or hypocritical and tell people I’m single just to sell a show. People will like you for who you are.”
Now that he has a another soap (“Be Careful with my Heart”) after “My Binondo Girl” introduced him to televiewers, nothing can be closer to the truth.
Today’s audience, he explains has matured. They can draw the line between truth and fiction. That’s true in Hollywood and in other countries, Papa Chen explains.
Besides, he continues, denying that he has a family for the sake of ratings is unfair for his wife and children.
His honesty is paying off. Papa Chen’s home network, ABS-CBN, is building him up as the next artist to watch out for.
“It’s very flattering. There are a lot more actors in ABS who are better and more experienced than me. Yet they noticed me,” Papa Chen points out.
Just another job
Still, he knows it’s just another job with the usual shelf life. The business-minded person in him tells Papa Chen that “it’s a business, and right now, I’m the commodity.”
He also knows “showbiz is fickle.” He can’t say for sure if he’ll still be in the radar 10 years after. So Papa Chen is giving it one to two years.
After that, “I’ll see what comes along for me.”
Meanwhile, he looks at everything as a blessing to be thankful for, not something to be arrogant about.
“It’s not something that should change you as a person. Success is fleeting. If you don’t know how to take care of yourself and the people who are with you, baka mawala din yan.”
In knowing how to handle himself, and holding on to those who matter to him, Papa Chen is showing other stars how to deal with success – for their own good.
