Roderick Paulate

One of the reasons Roderick Paulate stayed with showbiz, and is blessed with longevity, was his mother. But after his mom passed away, he now felt he should do something else to avert falling out of love with his acting career that already spanned almost four decades. The actor resorted to public service by running for Councilor of the 2nd District of Quezon City!

“My mom is the reason why I don’t get tired of acting and show business. Since I began my career, as long as my ‘nanay’ was happy, I just kept working. She was my audience and now that she’s gone I hope I won’t get that feeling of getting tired of what I do,” Roderick explained in Filipino.

Such mindset prompted the actor to decline a soap opera stint after his GMA-7 teleserye “Rosalinda” ended its run months ago. “I believe that I should do something else also,” he said. “I also need to have breaks and plan what I should do next. When you miss something, you get driven more and I won’t tire of acting.”

He recalled that since his days as a child actor, he was always doing movies one after the other as well as TV shows later on in his career. A workaholic through and through, taking a break then from work was a luxury for him. “My routine nowadays is to always take a break after each project. In my younger years I work straight but now I pace myself. Afterwards I accept acting projects again,” he stressed.

Does he miss his “younger years” working as hard as he did? “I don’t miss the hard work. What I miss more was the flourishing showbiz industry then. It was very different compared today. I used to make movies left and right. And there were a lot of local movies made and released every year. Everyone was active from producers, actors and even the media. It was a great feeling,” he exclaimed.

For him, actors and actresses of that era were also different from what showbiz has to offer today. He referred to their trainings, discipline, star-qualities and longevity. More movie projects were immortalized and made stars out of the actors’ memorable performances.

“We have a different culture back then and a different psyche. Producers like Mother Lily know how to handle and take care of their talents. She really looks after you closely. They control your career, your life, and your attitude especially with work,” he described.

If stars were born then, they were still made to be stars that last. According to him much planning was placed on a star’s career especially in answer to what their respective fans want. “What we avoid back then was for our careers to suddenly disappear. Today you can be an instant star then lose it fast,” he lamented.

It’s a hit or miss formula that’s used in showbiz today which he felt was more of a disadvantage for aspiring and talented actors. For him, for every 100 actors, only one would be developed and shine. Afterwards, another is picked from a lot of actors. Longevity, for Roderick, has become a thing of the past with such formula.

“In my opinion in terms of longevity, we have an advantage. My batch with Vilma Santos, Lorna Tolentino and Maricel Soriano was very different. Our goal was to sustain our status in the industry. It’s not enough that you’re just a star,” he smiled. “So we would always keep learning and honing our crafts. We should always do things that people would like us to. And most importantly, we must take care of our personality and integrity as stars.”

And if Roderick never got figured in any form of intrigues as a young star it was because of fear. “I really took care of my name because it was my real name. I didn’t use a screen name and I was carrying my father’s name. That was enough for me to take care of my reputation in showbiz... it was hard though because there was a time that my life was boring. But I didn’t have regrets. I was scared to do something foolish in public and even in my private life. In the long run, it showed that I benefited from it because I’m still here and I’m already 43 years in showbiz,” he proudly declared.

From his late father’s accounting which stopped in 1986, Roderick has done more than 150 movies, local and American films. At the moment, his recent film under APT Entertainment entitled “Ded na Si Lolo” is now being lobbied in America as a possible Oscar nominee for the Foreign Film category. “We’re all praying for a nomination,” he shared. “And winning will be a bonus for all of us. It will all depend on God’s will!”

With regard to his latest endeavor as a political candidate, he will be pitted against some colleagues in showbiz. As hardworking as he is in real life and “untarnished,” he might just be what QC District 2 needs. To rephrase an old adage, “May the best ‘star’ win!”