How Tom Rodriguez surprised everyone — including himself

Budding actor Tom Rodriguez surprised everyone when he decided to leave a top-rating programme for a new show in another network. Many thought he was committing career suicide, but he proved his critics wrong. He opens up to tabloid! about his decision. 

What made you decide to leave ABS CBN’s Please Be Careful with My Heart for GMA’s My Husband’s Lover?

I read the script and I thought it was going to be a trailblazing series, which it eventually was. When My Husband’s Lover finally aired, it was one of the most-talked about shows on Philippine TV, and it still is up to now. 

So, a good decision apparently. But when was announced you were leaving you drew some flack. How did you feel about that?

Yes, I got a lot of calls from friends and colleagues, as well as messages from well-meaning fans saying I should back out. To be honest, I doubted my decision at that time. But I went with my instinct and felt that the only way I was going to be a better actor was for me to tackle more challenging roles. 

The show mad a big splash. Were you surprised?

In a way yes, because we didn’t know for sure that the concept of the show was going to be accepted by the public. Homosexuality is still a taboo subject, especially for most Filipinos, even though we see a lot of personalities being accepted in mainstream society. But the show talked about quite a risky subject that we felt we were treading on thin ground. But the result has been overwhelming, and the biggest surprise of it all was when an unusual ‘love-team’ between me and Dennis Trillo (his co-star) called TomDen became a big hit. It was funny because we were actually invited to appear in other shows, sing in concerts as if we were really a love-team. 

How did you feel about that?

In the beginning, we were all surprised and it was a little awkward; but we went along with it and it turned out to be a lot of fun. No one was taking it seriously in a way, but everyone just took in their stride. 

Will you be accepting a similar role in the future?

It depends on the project, actually. But I would rather be involved in a show where I get to tackle a different character.

Aside from your soap, what else are you busy with?

I’m doing a film with Carla Abellana for Regal Films. It’s a light rom-com movie entitled Let’s Take a Chance. We might be included in the Metro Manila Film Festival but it’s not sure yet. Hopefully we make the cut, after it was announced two films had backed out. Ironically, one was the film version of Please Be Careful With My Heart.