Flonique Guimary

River Joseph reacts to being hated for his kontrabida roles

Article (news)

Jemuel Tandoc

Push Team

<p>One of the characters viewers love to hate is the bully Parker from <em>Love at First Spike</em>, played by rising actor River Joseph.</p><p>In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN, River himself revealed that it was tough for him to play the bad guy.</p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1757932223678river.JPG" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><p>“Playing a kontrabita like Parker, at first, syempre, nahihirapan ako. Kasi sobrang layo ng personality at character ni Parker kay River. So, nahihirapan ako to play that bully, pero I had to play that character,” he said.</p><p>River added that he understands the need to fully portray the character as an actor, even if it is far from his true personality.</p><p>“Grabe ‘yung message na pinapalabas nila (sa <em>Love at First Spike</em>). And I knew that, you know, there are people in this world who still act and think like Parker. And I had to become that representation of that character in the show,” he shared.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="670" height="377" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EZUnky6P7z8" title="River Joseph is Parker Robinson in Love At First Spike | Coming Soon on iWantTFC!" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><p>He shared that he doesn’t mind being hated for his character, as it only means he is playing the role effectively.</p><div><br/></div><p>“Kung nakikita ko na naiinis sa mga tao dahil sa character, parang masaya ako. Kasi that means na I was able to do my job, I was able to portray the character, and I was able to give that emotion to the viewers,” River expressed.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-6" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNF8IjShs6X/embed/captioned/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=630&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A6%2C%22os%22%3A8844322.599999998%2C%22ls%22%3A5611773.199999999%2C%22le%22%3A5612273.6000000015%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="1030" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-6" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>Before <em>Love at First Spike</em>, River took on another kontrabida role as Steven in <em>Pamilya Sagrado</em> in 2024. Moving forward, however, the actor admitted that he still has hopes to be given the opportunity to explore good guy characters in the future.</p><div><br/></div><p>“Medyo lately ‘yung mga roles ko is puro kontrabida. So hopefully, in the next projects, sana mabait naman ‘yung mga character ko at mabuting tao,” River said.</p><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, River reacted to viewers shipping his character Parker with Diamond, the show’s trans representation.</p><div><br/></div><p>“Ako sini-ship ko rin si Parker at si Diamond. Sana, hopefully, magkaroon ng season 2 para ma-explore ‘yung relationship nila or kung may nangyari ba sa past. So, let&#x27;s see. Let&#x27;s see how that will go,” he teased.</p><div><br/></div><p>He also hinted at what’s ahead for him.</p><div><br/></div><p>“So, lately, I’ve been busy with taping. Hindi ko pa pwede sabihin ‘yung ibang projects, pero isa dun ay para sa <em>Sins of the Father.</em> And we also have an upcoming project and an upcoming movie na aabangan,” he revealed.</p>

<p>River Joseph reacted to viewers who dislike his bully characters, including Parker in the series 'Love at First Spike'. He also teased what fans can watch out for from him next.</p>

River Joseph reacted to viewers who dislike his bully characters, including Parker in the series 'Love at First Spike'. He also teased what fans can watch out for from him next.

EXCLUSIVE: River Joseph reacts to being hated for his kontrabida roles: ‘Masaya ako’

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EXCLUSIVE: River Joseph reacts to being hated for his kontrabida roles: ‘Masaya ako’

Jemuel Tandoc,

Push Team

Published Sep 15, 2025 06:33 PM PHT

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River Joseph

Love at First Spike

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