Kiko Estrada may be leading man material but his idol is no less than his grandfather, the late legendary character actor Paquito Diaz.
Kiko Estrada
In an interview with Bulletin Entertainment, Kiko recalled his favorite conversation with him.
“Before he died he told me I’m gonna replace him (in show business) and I told him ‘I’m never gonna do that because you can’t be replaced,’” he shared.
But since then, that has always been in the back of his mind; to always be “better” actor or person than anyone else or likely even himself the day before.
“That’s why my career is fast, it is because I show dedication. I show na I’m very passionate about this and I wanna get this right and I wanna prove myself and I wanna get better every time,” he related.
The 22-year-old joined show business in 2011. He has done several TV series and movies. Last year, he was named as the Outstanding New Best Actor on World Class Excellence Japan Awards for his protagonist role on the 2016 GMA-7’s series “Sinungaling Mong Puso.”
Kiko admits being the son of actors Cheska Diaz and Gary Estrada somehow puts pressure on him to excel.
“It is good pressure,” he said. “Because if you’re not pressured, then what are you doing? You’re being lax. I think in this industry, you have to be pressured to show your skills,” he explained. “And if you’re good under pressure then you’re good.”
Kiko added: “Because right in this industry, you receive scripts five minutes before the take or swerte ka na lang if you get it a day before. But, you know, you got to be on your feet. You got to be fast, you got to think fast. You got to be aware. So I’m just blessed to be in the company of where I am at,” he added.
Note that aside from his parents and Paquito, his paternal grandfather George Estregan was also prominent in the business particularly as he is known as a three-time FAMAS award-winning Filipino film actor.
His other relatives in the business are Joseph Estrada, Romy Diaz, ER Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Julian Estrada, and Joko Diaz, to name a few.
On summing up his career for the past seven years, Kiko simply feels blessed. His aim is to be like American actor Joaquin Phoenix.
“I wanna have good roles. I don’t care about leading man status. I don’t really care about that. I don’t really care about money because I came from a well-off family. But you know I wanna be paid right, you know, decent naman. I mean I’m here for the passion and I love my work, I love acting and I wanna have more roles like challenging role or more serious role.”
He took it a step further by saying he doesn’t aim to become big in show business.
“I don’t wanna boom. I just want good role. And if that includes booming then so be it, I guess. If that includes being famous, then so be it. But really I just want good role. I wanna play unique characters and I’m very picky with my roles.”
Kiko is doing two films. First is “My Stepmother’s Lover” where his character is lover to that of Sunshine Cruz’s. Second is “Walwal” about millennial barkadas.
At the end of the day, Kiko just wants to do quality TV shows and movies.
“I take my work seriously. So ito ’yung mahal ko, ito ’yung girlfriend ko ngayon and I like it that way,” he related.
The actor co-stars with Julie Anne San Jose on “My Guitar Princess.” Surprisingly, he finds doing light scenes more challenging than those drama scenes.
“Kasi parang mas inclined ako sa (drama), sa ganu’ng genre,” he explained.
Don;t get him wrong though.
“It doesn’t mean na easier because it’s lighter, kasi walang hugot. Para sa akin kahit naman anong eksena may hugot. Kahit naman anong simple scene may pinanggagalingan dapat so this is how committed we are to the craft,” he added.
“My Guitar Princess” also stars Sheryl Cruz, Isabelle de Leon, Jazz Ocampo, Marika Sasaki, Marc Abaya, Ralf King, Kier Legaspi, Frank Garcia, Maey Bautista, Rob Sy, and Lui Manansala, among others. The series starts airing today before “Eat Bulaga” on GMA-7.