Gio Emprese: even a hometown boy can make it in showbiz

June being Pride Month, it's worthy to mention some proudly gay characters that have lit up the screens in the last few years. One such person is Gio Emprese, a supporting actor who is deeply committed to his craft.

He currently plays the role of Gelai, a school dean in the hit BL series "My Story" streaming on Youtube. Prior to this, he portrayed the same character in "MyDay" and will be seen again in the third chapter of the series entitled "Our Story."

With his gregarious personality, Gio also excels as a host. He recently became an entrepreneur, opening Black Heart Gastropub in their province. He comes from a political family in Quezon but chose not to follow his parents' wishes to be in public service.

"I can't be a politician. I always say what I feel," he admitted.

What he really aimed for was to go to Manila to try his luck in showbiz.

"My parents were very protective of me. They said I can only go to Manila if I enrolled in med school, so I did. I thought being in the city was the best way to be discovered in show business. I was naive and didn't know being discovered accidentally was only for beautiful women," he said in the vernacular.

"Ginapang ko talaga ang pagpasok sa show business," Gio said to illustrate how he literally "crawled" his way to where he is now because he did not know anybody in the industry.

He remembered the time when he lined up for the Star Magic workshops several times and the slots were filled up every time. " I was so drained emotionally, but the good thing is I got to befriend a lot of people in the queue. In fact, one of them was Mikee Quintos."

Gio plays Gelai in 'My Story' the BL series but he would also like to try drama

Gio's first foray onscreen was the gay indie movie "Philippino Story" starring Mark Gil in 2013, followed by the historical TV series "Katipunan."

Gio attended a workshop of talent manager Ogie Diaz which introduced him to prominent BL director Xion Lim. The two struck a good friendship. From then on, Gio was cast in all of Xion's BL undertakings, including those from Regal Films.

"Xion is very nice but at the same time, we understand him when everybody needs to be serious and working. What I like about Direk Xion is he accepts it  when I need to ad-lib my lines because I'm not really the type to memorize the whole script," Gio remarked.

It is part of Gio's bucket list to be in drama scenes to test out his acting skills but he also doesn't mind being typecast  in light, feel good boys' love series.

"Choosy pa ba, ang hirap magkaroon ng project. There's a lot of competition. Tapos ang mga straight men ngayon, they're also playing gay roles."

He clarifies however: "I have no issue with that since we're all actors. I can also play a straight character  but I have no offers. I believe it's not really about your gender preference. If you're a good actor and you can deliver, even if you act the role of a snail, it doesn't matter."

Gio expressed happiness that the BL trend, of which he's a part of, is giving the young gay generation the "representation" due them.

"I am thankful because these BL shows  prove that love is for everyone. We didn't have this kind of entertainment when we were young. At this stage, I just want to inspire others that it's okay to be who you are and aim for the best you can be," Gio stated.