It’s nothing but gratitude to GMA that homegrown talent LJ Reyes feels about her mother network.
It’s been seventeen years since becoming a finalist “Starstruck” and the loyal Kapuso actress still feels excited after signing up anew with GMA.
During her Zoom press con on Tuesday, the actress was asked if there was a point where she thought of leaving GMA and moving to a new channel.
She said: “Ang gusto ko lang naman maka-trabaho ang iba pang tao, artista sa industriya.
Hindi pwedeng hindi sumagi sa isip mo kasi lagging may magtatanong ng — hindi mo ba pinaplano lumipat ng network? But in my plan, wala! Everythign that has happened in my life, in my career, GMA has been there for me. Lagi naman nila akong binibigyan ng project, parang walang reason to leave… pero at a certain point gusto mo magkaroon ng chance maka-trabaho ang ibang tao.”
Independent films have allowed her to fulfill this desire to try her mettle against stars from different networks.
“Dun mo sila makakatrabaho. Now we have more Kapuso artists in the house. Hopefully maka-trabaho ko sila isa isa,” she said.
She welcomes the chance to be with the new actors who have transferred to GMA.
“Oo, somehow na excite rin ako,” she admitted, “What are they going to bring on the table?
Syempre kami sanay na kaming maka-trabaho ang isa’t isa. Halos lahat nakatrabaho ko na kasi nga we are in the same network.… maganda rin paminsan minsan ‘yung may makilala bago, may bago sa trabaho.”
LJ also admitted she felt some trepidation about whether GMA would renew her contract.
“Syempre iisipin mo ‘yan, syempre may binubuhay kang pamilya,” she revealed. “Paano kung hindi? But I have said in one of the interviews kanina, this pandemic has made me so much closer kay God. Lagi Nya akong ni-re-remind na if one door closes, another window opens, so kung hindi man ako hindi bigyan iniisip ko na lang ano ang pwede kong gawin.
“Merong konti na [takot na] paano kung hindi? Anong work gagawin ko? Saan ako pupunta?” she added.
Aside from growing closer to God, the pandemic has also made LJ and her partner Paolo Contis, the father of her daughter Summer, to explore their other talents and also, in LJ’s own words, fill their “emotion bank.”
“Bilang isang aktres, I think itong pandemic na ito has really brought so much emotion for us. So yung emotion bank naming mga artista, siguro punung puno at umaapaw. Siguro napaka exciting maka-trabaho uli with a lot of actors at sa production,” she related, “siguro lahat naman tayo mayroong renewed eyes at looking at things, at giving importance to our work, to people around us, to opportunities coming our way. So feeling ko lahat tayo ibang tao na, coming from that, iba na rin maibibigay mo.
“Raming natutunan from shooting from home, malay natin, in the near future, hindi lang bilang actor… malay mo umabot kami sa producing or si pao maging director in the near future. Sa daming natutunan namin, these are things we can explore. Nabigyan kami ng patingin pa ng paano dahil sa circumstances….”
