Mark Rivera

A rising young celebrity like Mark Daniel Rivera is only human, just like you and me. During a talk with the media last week, he broke down in near-tears as he recalled the lowest point of his life during the pandemic. He was filled with anxiety because his mom was continents away and struck with Covid. It seemed too much for him to handle as he had to take care of his sick grandma in Manila too.

Thankfully, Mark's sadness has turned into joy as his showbiz career goes into full gear under the direction of famed star builder Arnold Vegafria. The 25-year-old is presently cast as Jacob in the groundbreaking teleserye "Unbreak My Heart" where he plays the role of an undocumented migrant in Europe. ALV Talents Circuit, which manages him, also has big plans for his modeling and singing career.

Here are the Top 10 interesting things to know about this multi-hyphenate artist whose natural good looks can leave fans swooning:

1. Mark was born in Italy. His parents met there in the 1980s. It was their love story that was reenacted in the 2004 Pinoy movie "Milan"  which starred Piolo Pascual and Claudine Barretto.

2. Mark can now speak three languages - Italian, English, and Tagalog. The latter is something he had to learn to enhance his work in showbiz.

"After my first project (Be My Lady), I really felt bad that they needed to change my script into English. During that time, I said to myself: ' This is gonna be my motivation, I'm gonna learn Tagalog and it's not gonna be a problem.' So I started to sing karaoke, videoke, Filipino songs, OPM...I started to translate songs. That's how I developed the love  and passion for OPM," he shared.

3. Mark moved to the Philippines to play football and train for the national team but got sidelined by multiple injuries.

"Because of the movie "Milan," they offered me to be part of Star Magic, to be an actor but at that time, it didn't align with my vision in life. I just wanted to play football, football and football. My first two years playing was very challenging and not lucky. I got several injuries. I was really struggling mentally and emotionally," he recounted.

4. He then worked as a commercial model and his first ad was for Jollibee in 2013. Countless commercials followed and after three years, his agency told him he was "too exposed."

5. This led Mark to look for a Plan B. "The Plan B was showbiz. I was so lucky because during that time they were looking for a football player in "Be My Lady" (a 2016 TV series that starred Erich Gonzales and Daniel Matsunaga)," he recalled.

6. Ever since he became an actor, Mark has done more than a dozen teleseryes and other projects. He even played a gay character in "Mga Batang Poz" - an iWantTFC series to raise HIV awareness.

"I don't have a problem playing gay roles," he pointed out. " In Italy where I grew up, sex education starts in grade school."

7. Mark is coming out soon in a Bench underwear pictorial. He described the work as fun, with four weeks to prepare in terms of diet and exercise. At the same time, he felt "pressured" because being compared to other Bench endorsers is inevitable.

8.  He is most excited about his first solo album under Universal Records which will be released later in the year. It will be an all-OPM line-up and he will compose the songs himself.

9. He credits his father for the musical influence. " I had a passion for music since I was young because I grew up with my dad driving me to school and there's Boyzone, Michael Learns to Rock playing on the stereo," he revealed.

10. Mark's not-so-secret wish is to star in an action movie. But playing boy-next-door roles as part of a loveteam wouldn't hurt either.  Kathryn Bernardo, Janella Salvador, Ysabel Ortega, and Arra San Agustin are just some of the actresses he would like to work with.