The saying “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is indeed true for Joey de Leon and his granddaughter twenty-six-year-old Sofia Isabel De Leon who is now a comedienne in a sitcom entitled “Anong Meron Kay Abok” where she is cast as the niece of the comedian headliner Empoy Marquez.
Last week I guested in the Net 25 sitcom and among the stars in that television show, I knew she was different. It was like she was a comedienne since she was six years old, and I found out why when Gossip Girl had a one-on-one interview with her. “Ever since I was six years old, I would hang around the 'Eat Bulaga' Studio. It was literally my playground with my lolos Tito, Vic and Joey as my playmates. TIta Malou Choa Fagar, the executive producer of Eat Bulaga, would ask year after year if I wanted to join show business, but I would turn her down again and again and only accepted the offer after I finished my studies in Treston International College as a chef and have experienced working in the real world. I first worked in as a chef intern in Marco Polo, then as a chef in Wolfgang steakhouse. Then I worked as a supervisor in SNR supermarket, then as a marketing manager of a gun shop in Camp Crame. But the saying that 'there’s no business like show business' becomes a reality seeing my lolo and Tito Keempee de Leon and all the hosts of Bulaga on the move. So when a producer, Daddy Wowie, offered me my first film project opposite to Joaquin Domagoso, Mayor Isko Moreno’s son, I immediately called Tita Malou to represent me. The movie will come out in December and is entitled 'Bigboys.' After doing 'Bigboys,' Net 25 offered me this sitcom where I play Annette Martinez, the niece of Empoy Marquez. By the way, my career is going. I guess I am here to stay.”
Sofia Isabel is really here to stay. Her energy is for show business, singing with her own microphone and mini speaker during breaks, chatting everyone in the set and just making everybody laugh. “I think I got my zest for life from my mother Cheeney de Leon and grandmother Daria Ramirez, of course my lolo Joey de Leon’s genes are definitely imprinted in my dna, and I am so glad it is.”, the half-Filipina, half-Spanish comedienne tells us with an energy that can power a toy bunny for three weeks. Sofia entered show business all by herself without her grandfather imposing his influence on anyone, “My lolo said, if you really want something, I will support you, but I will not hand it in a silver spoon. You have to work for it, just like I did," tells the eager millennial. 'Anong Meron Kay Abok' will premiere in Net 25 soon.
Fia, that’s what her friends call her, is manifesting that she can do shows abroad as Net 25 reaches TV audiences on the eastern and pacific coasts, USA, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa via OSN. You might need a fellow singer-comedienne in your shows Fia, I’m just here okay? hahaha!