21 YEARS A MEGASTAR
by Maryo B. Labad, Woman Today, September 29, 1999

After two decades in showbiz the best is yet to come for the Megastar.

Venue: the Cebu Coliseum. The event: a sound check for Megastar Sharon Cuneta's first Cebu concert in nine years.

The original plan was to interview Sharon after the pre-concert sound check. But when it lasted for more than two hours, her secretary Mailah and other members of the production began to panic. She still had to go back to the hotel (Plantation Bay), a 45-minute drive from the city, to freshen up and get ready for the show that was to start at 8:30 p.m.

I was not part of The Mega's entourage. I had been invited to Cebu by Heinrich Ngo, manager of the 7th Soul Band, to watch the group's two-night show at the R&B Bar along Gorordo Avenue. I was thus worried whether or not I would get anywhere near the Megastar. Thankfully, I was assured by Jun Nardo, one of Viva's publicists, that I would be given an exclusive interview after the show, at the victory party to be held at the Mandarin Restaurant at the Gaisano Country Mall. I arrived a few minutes before midnight, enough time for the Megastar to relax and have dinner.

"I had so much fun," she claims. "It was such a great audience, and to think that tonight was my first major concert in the city after nine years. And my first time ever after five years since my Super Ferry free concert." It's her first leg of provincial shows, in line with the promotion of her latest album "When I Love."

Sharon had a special reason for choosing Cebu. "We could have done the first leg in Manila easily, but I didn't want it that way. As I've said, I wanted to go back to my roots, that's why I did a pop album again. "And it was in Cebu where I did my first movie Dear Heart, and I used to come here all the time. That's why this place is so close to my heart. When I was 14, former Mayor Solon made me Cebu's adopted daughter," she recalls.

Since Sharon is marking her 21st year in show business, our conversation centered on her life for the past two decades in the industry. As one of the few showbiz personalities born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, she admits that there's still one thing she hopes to achieve: to continue her studies.

"I want to finish school. I believe that there's nothing more important than education. It's one thing that people can't take away from you. It's with you until you die. Ayoko naman na puro scripts at lyrics and alam ko. I want to go on learning all the time. I don't care if it takes me 90 years, basta I finish. That's why Mother Lily (of Regal Films) is so admirable because she's back in school," she stresses. She's also contemplating the idea of recording and releasing an album outside the country.

For the past two decades during which she has enjoyed unparalleled fame and fortune, the Megastar believes that her biggest achievement is something that no one can predict. "It's one thing that you can only hope and pray would come your way unconditionally, and that is the love of your audience. I can be the best actress there is and win all the awards, but if nobody cares to watch my movies, I won't feel the same way. I would feel sad. I'm not saying that awards are not important. Both commercial success and recognition of your effort are matimbang. But when you know what you're doing, you don't need awards to confirm that. You don't need awards to validate that.

"But I'm not discounting the fact that you need it. And you know you can do something, you can act. Siguro marami lang kami, or hindi lang tama yung role ko. But the love of the people is something you can't dictate, or predict. Even if you think that maybe now they love me, you can never be sure what happens tomorrow. It's something you can't buy or demand. You can't even work hard for that. You can work hard for an award, but the adoration of the public, you can't."

And how about regrets? "If I said I had regrets, I think I would sound very ungrateful, because I believe that everything that has come my way, including the negative events, happened for a reason. And I became a better person. I learned so many things," she answers.

Sharon enumerates the three most important events in her life as, "the day I had KC, the day I married Francis, and the time when I went abroad with my dad, in Hong Kong. I was 16 and in 10th grade. It was a father-daughter trip. We were with his friend who also traveled with his daughter. My mom went to the States with Tita Helen. We had the chance to travel as father and daughter and I missed that. I cry a lot every time I remember that trip, especially now that dad can't talk back to me anymore, although he can understand and mumble a few words."

In spite of all the trials and obstacles in her life, where does she get her inner strength?

"My faith in God," she quickly responds. "There's absolutely no question about that. Some people take it with a grain of salt when some well-meaning friends tell them that you need to have strong faith and you must pray. Others take it lightly. I must admit I don't read the Bible everyday, but I have my own prayers I recite everyday. I go to a Christian church every Sunday with my family, except when I'm promoting in a noontime show."

Off camera, Sharon admits that she has a bad temper, but is very reasonable. "Actually mahaba ang pasensya ko," she insists. "But everything has an end." And she's a voracious reader. "I just don't read books. I devour them," she tells us. "When I tell my husband that I have a problem, he knows that I have finished reading a book and I'm looking for another one that I'm really interested in."

As of now, her interests include Chinese books, like those by authors Amy Tan and Jeung Chan. She has outgrown John Grisham, but never Stephen King. "That's the reason why I want to make a suspense thriller. I also love reading biographies. I admire the Kennedy women, especially Jackie Onassis. They're so interesting. They all have this quiet inner strength that you can help but admire."

As a person, Sharon reveals that there's one thing she learned from her father that has proven to be useful in her life. "I think my dad always said that when you're sincere and real, it will come across to whoever you're dealing with. And it helped me in things business because when you're fake, it will come out. And you can't act a certain way and continue to do that for the past 20 years. Kahit papaano sasablay ka.

"I think I'm just true to myself. No matter how other people would perceive me, this is me. Take it or leave it. Whether you love me or not, thing is me. If you don't, sorry, I can't please everybody. I don't have a problem with that."

Sharon also admits that five years ago, she was always sad and emotional. "If you look back and think about it, I never had any problems aside from emotional ones. I never had financial problems. I never had to worry about how I was gonna put food on the table. I never had to worry about how I was going to travel. Parang my problems were all about the heart. Unlike other people na proproblemahin mo pa ang boyfriend mo, pati and nanay mo, tatay mo at mga kapatid mo, ako walang problemang ganyan. Puro broken-hearted ako.

"But after a while, after reading all those books, and reading about events like the Cultural Revolution in China, you think at sasabihin mo sa sarili mo na ang kapal ng mukha mo mang-complain. Now that I'm mature, I think better."

When she was younger, all she wanted was to sing and sign autographs. That's it. She never thought that it would become her career. "I thought that I was just going to do Tawag Ng Pag-ibig and Mr. DJ. And when Dear Heart came along, I said maybe do one or two movies, then finish school. Then go to the States, study or whatever. Then find a regular job, put up a business, get married, tapos."

And what changed her mind? "Wala, tuloy-tuloy na. It was one project after another. So when the albums and my movies Dear Heart and P.S. I Love you made it big, things began to fall into place. Parang God was giving it to me. Ang kapal ko naman para tanggihan," she explains.

"My father was against it at the beginning," she continues. "Pero ng kumita ang Dear Heart, siya na ang nag produce ng P.S... niyaya na niya si Boss Vic. I think, after a while, he felt very good about the pride I brought him. And he relished that more than anything else, more than the money or the fame. It was the pride that every father feels for his daughter. It was not a father's wish, but I could still remember when I was little, he always said that I would be a queen someday. But I think he meant a beauty queen (laughs). He used to sing me that... when I grow up to be a lady, I'll be a queen, a lovely queen.... tapos sasabihin niya sa mommy ko na itong anak mong ito long legged ito, magiging beauty queen to'. Hindi ko naman alam na tataba pala ako ng ganito." Incidentally, Sharon has lost 44 pounds since she started dieting last September.

As a role model, what does it take to be a Sharon Cuneta? "Honestly, the same love and dedication for my work all these years," she states. "In fact, it just struck me last week, somebody told me na ang sipag ko daw, araw-araw nakikita ako sa TV to promote; na hindi ko na raw kailangang gawin yan. What I did, tiningnan ko lang siya at sinabi ko na yun nga ang differnce, eh. Some people simply can't understand. Ako, ginagawa ko pa rin kahit hindi ko na kailangan gawin kasi gusto ko. I have a genuine love for my work. It's not just the money, that's why it's good to me because I love it."

Before the millennium ends, she's still hoping to have a baby, although it's too late for that now. "I also want to bring my father to Europe and to all his favorite places because before he got sick, he would always say that `sana before I die, I can go to Europe again, at least one more time.' And I feel so frustrated because now that I have the means to give him everything that he gave me, now that I can make his life more comfortable the way he made mine, he can't enjoy it anymore," she says, her eyes welling up wit tears. As far as her career is concerned, she just wants to be busy enough for her fans to be happy.

Aside from her regular TV show, Sharon is also busy with other things, like her being a TV producer (It's a Fanny Day, aired over Channel 23, every Sunday at 11 a.m.) and her Mega Music record label. She will soon start another movie under Star Cinema, hopefully with Richard Gomez as her leading man. Eventually, she wants to produce small-budget films and release them abroad. In the next 21 years, she hopes to remain active in showbiz, especially as a recording artist and a singer.