Darren Espanto on doing acting workshops for ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’: ‘Masyado akong mabait!’

After making his acting debut in the 2018 Star Cinema film The Hows of Us, Darren Espanto has continued to explore his acting talents. He made his teleserye debut in the series Lyric & Beat last year and has now returned to acting in a series with the DonBelle-led show Can’t Buy Me Love which started streaming last month. 

“Second series ko pero the first one was a mini series for iWantTFC, so ito po ‘yong first teleserye ko talaga na weekdays siya pinapalabas and stuff like that. I play Stephen Tanhueco in Can’t Buy Me Love and parang siyang best friend ni Caroline (played by Belle Mariano),” he shared. 

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In order to prepare for his role as the rich and aloof Stephen, Darren said he had to a complete personality change once the cameras started rolling.

“I prepared for the role of Stephen, nag-workshop kami ni Belle. And of course I talked to the directors about my character. Kasi we did acting workshops kasi masyado akong mabait (in real life). Yung role kasi ni Stephen is a bit cold to everyone. But to Caroline, parang siya yung, he's a bit warm to Caroline in terms of personality. So yun yung isa sa mga traits ng aking character. But to everyone else, medyo may pagka masungit ayun. So medyo nahirapan po ako run kasi natural na sa akin yung laging nakangiti eh,” he explained.

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Darren admitted there is more pressure to deliver his best after joining the Star Creatives major production.

“Yeah there's definitely more pressure because it's something that we are always shooting almost on a daily basis lalo na sina Donny (Pangilinan) and sina Belle. You really have to know your lines, and know your character once you're on the set, unlike when we had more time to prepare then and alam na namin yung produktong ilalabas namin before everyone else got to see it. So in this one, you just have to be more concentrated on your character. We're focused every time you're on set para mas mabilis din yung shoot namin,” he explained.

Being one of the newer actors on the set, Darren said he got a lot of support from his co-stars and the production team.

“Yeah, okay naman. Everyone is very helpful at saka our directors are always there to guide us. Sa lahat ng mga shoots namin, so hindi ako yung type na kinakabahan kapag nasa set kasi I feel that everyone's there to be able to help me and guide me with my role rin,” he added.

Earlier this year, the 22-year-old singer revealed why he decided to drop his last name Espanto from his showbiz name.

“I feel like it goes better with the brand that I'm trying to portray also as a singer and as an artist. So, it's not really much of a big deal. But for now, it's just there,” he said.

The Canadian-born kapamilya first rose to fame when he became the youngest finalist of the Canadian reality TV show The Next Star at the age of 10 in 2012. His career in the country began after joining the first season of The Voice Kids Philippines where he emerged first runner-up.