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Richard Yap says acting came as an unexpected answer to his prayers

Article (news)

Reyma Deveza

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Richard Yap never dreamed of becoming an actor, but when he prayed for a new direction after years in the corporate world, showbiz unexpectedly became the answer.In an interview with Melai Cantiveros on &quot;Kuan On One,&quot; Yap, who hails from Cebu, recalled that he was already in his 40s when he prayed and surrendered everything to God because he got tired of corporate business. &quot;I prayed &#x27;Lord, at the age of 45, I will resign from my job. I don&#x27;t know what I will do after that but I surrender everything to you,&#x27;&quot; Yap said, translated from Bisaya. &quot;At the age of 44, I got my first acting gig. At the age of 45, I was cast in &#x27;Be Careful With My Heart.&#x27; I  couldn&#x27;t go back to my old job,&quot; he added.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787725365860Richard.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>YouTube/ABS-CBN Entertainment</div>After appearing in TV commercials, Yap landed his first drama series, “My Binondo Girl,” in 2011.He went on to star with Jodi Sta. Maria in “Be Careful With My Heart,” which premiered in 2012 and won over viewers.Yap admitted that he and his family were shocked with the success of &quot;Be Careful With My Heart.&quot;&quot;They were absolutely surprised. People were asking to take pictures of me. I don&#x27;t even take pictures of myself. I consider myself a very private person. I don&#x27;t really attend social functions. Until one day I realized that there were people who were sick who wanted to see me. It made me realize that maybe God put me here ...this is my purpose in life,&quot; he said.Yap said that he&#x27;s just grateful that he was able to do &quot;My Binondo Girl&quot; and &quot;Be Careful With My Heart.&quot;&quot;You know those were tough times, it&#x27;s my first time to do acting. I&#x27;m just thankful that I was able to get through that time. As I was doing &#x27;My Binondo Girl,&#x27; I was learning along the way,&quot; he said.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787725404500Richard2.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>YouTube/ABS-CBN Entertainment</div>Yap shared that it was during or after &quot;Be Careful With My Heart&quot; when he fell in love with acting.&quot;I felt like it opened many opportunities for me. And then it&#x27;s a good path because we&#x27;re able to give back to others in return,&quot; he said.Asked of his biggest lesson in life, Yap shared: &quot;For me, never stop learning, even when you&#x27;re older. There&#x27;s still so much to discover. That&#x27;s why I like spending time with people who are older than me. Most of my friends are older because you can learn a lot from them, whether in business or in life. Our experiences aren&#x27;t the same. They&#x27;ve gone through things we haven&#x27;t yet  So if you listen to what they share, you&#x27;ll really learn a lot.&quot; &quot;Also, from the younger ones, you can learn from them also. They&#x27;re the ones who know about the latest advancements in technology. So whether someone is younger or older, there&#x27;s always something valuable to learn. Don&#x27;t think you&#x27;re the best,&quot; Yap concluded.

Richard Yap never dreamed of becoming an actor, but when he prayed for a new direction after years in the corporate world, showbiz unexpectedly became the answer.

Richard Yap never dreamed of becoming an actor, but when he prayed for a new direction after years in the corporate world, showbiz unexpectedly became the answer.