Dannyka Manangan

EXCLUSIVE: Cris Villanueva reveals how COVID affected his acting: 'It was harder to concentrate’

Article (news)

Rhea Manila Santos

Push Team

<p>While talking about his first movie project this year, <em>Meg &amp; Ryan</em> actor Cris Villanueva shated how he relieved he was that he no longer feels any of the aftereffects of the COVID-19 virus which he and his family contracted in 2021. The 54-year-old actor revealed to PUSH ABS-CBN in an exclusive interview how deeply the virus affected his acting during the pandemic. </p><p>“I think kasi nung time na ‘yun, napansin ko na I could not do my workout because nawalan ako ng strength sa arms ko. And then the next thing nga was that it was harder to concentrate, not necessarily with the lines, but to connect the lines with my emotions. During that time, I was just throwing lines but I could not feel it. So there were times where I would ask the director ng <em>MMK</em> to wait and ask them to explain more. Ang simple nung scene but I’m just blurting out things. I don’t know if they felt weird about it. ‘Yung explanation ko nga was it does not connect, my emotions and my lines,” he told PUSH ABS-CBN. “Now parang bumalik na siya ulit. The family is back to normal.”</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/2021/6/2/fresh-scoops/cris-villanueva-on-his-worst-fear-after-getting-co-193773"><strong>READ: Cris Villanueva on his worst fear after getting COVID-19: ‘My whole family got infected’</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><p>In the late 1980s, Cris rose in popularity in showbiz after being launched as a teen heartthrob in a love team with actress Tina Paner. Both were seen in the late German “Tito Germs” Moreno’s iconic youth variety program <em>That’s Entertainment</em>. During that time, Cris admitted thinking of a different career path. </p><p>“Before kasi, it’s almost like accidental. When I started with a love team, parang during that time, Regal (Films) was just looking for someone to be partned with Tina Paner. So during that time I was signing up with Regal and si Kuya Germs told me, ‘O, punta ka na sa <em>That’s (Entertainment)</em> mamaya ha!’ Nagulat ako. At that time, ang thinking ko, magiging artista ako, magiging dramatic actor ako. ‘Yun ang talagang gusto ko. Hindi comedy, hindi teenybopper. Back in the day, we called it teenybopper. Nowadays, we call it rom-com. So parang mas maganda ‘yung ngayon. I would rather have rom-coms than a teenybopper movie,” he recalled. </p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/2021/6/9/fresh-scoops/cris-villanueva-on-working-with-maris-racal-on-mmk-193906"><strong>READ: Cris Villanueva on working with Maris Racal on MMK’s Father’s Day episode: ‘Ang ganda ng pagkakaganap niya’</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><p>Thankful that he was in one of the country’s most popular love teams during a time when social media was unheard of, Cris said he cannot imagine what today’s young stars have to deal with on and off camera. “Parang hindi ko yata kaya ‘yung hindi ka na halos makakilos kasi everyone has a camera. Because I remember when the dawn of the Nokia with the camera came out, I already said it: ‘Naku, nakakatakot kumilos.’ Parang, back in the day, makakita ka ng camera, oy, bigla kang aayos. Ngayon parang everyone is just whipping out their cameras and I don’t know if I would like that kind of fame na hindi ka na makakakilos,” he explained. </p><p>He also sees the upside to it, though. “Pero because of technology, madami nang pampaganda ng pelikula, marami nang nagagawa na eksena. Unlike before na ganito lang, simple lang ‘yung mga storya. A boy meets girl and then ayaw ng magulang and then sa ending, ikakasal,” he said. </p><p>Now at 54 years old and his matinee idol days long gone, Cris still manages to  keep himself looking youthful and camera ready. “I had nothing done. Sunblock lang ako eh and sometimes,’ pag inaya ako nung nag-aalaga sa akin na derm clinic, they just do that thing para huwag lang mag-sag and then I do my workout at home — calisthenics lang, body weight,” he added. </p><p>Apart from being part of the cast of Pocket Media Films’ latest offering <em>Meg &amp; Ryan</em> where he plays the role of Rhian Ramos’s father, Cris is also part of the upcoming film <em>Quezon</em> which is director Jerrold Tarog’s final installment of historical films from TBA Studios. </p>

<p>'Meg &amp; Ryan' actor Cris Villanueva talks about how it took years for him to fully recover from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 virus after he and his family contracted it in 2021. </p>

'Meg & Ryan' actor Cris Villanueva talks about how it took years for him to fully recover from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 virus after he and his family contracted it in 2021.