Jake Cuenca talked about this career decision
Kapamilya actor Jake Cuenca revealed the reason behind his decision to transfer to ABS-CBN from GMA.
Years ago, the network rivalry was so intense. It would be a big deal when a celebrity decided to switch networks. Back then, there was exclusivity when it came to contracts. Nowadays, the line is already blurry; Kapamilya stars can appear in Kapuso shows and vice versa, depending on their contracts and management arrangements.
In Jake’s case, he started his acting career on GMA. In a recent interview, based on the article in The Philippine Star, the actor recalled his beginnings as an actor.
Jake Cuenca was one of the cast members of a fantasy series on GMA in the mid-2000s. He had a memorable experience being part of that project.
He shared that a director told him a brutally honest comment that he was not good enough to be an actor and stay in the entertainment industry. With this, Jake was prompted to reassess himself.
That comment from the director ignited his major decision in his showbiz career.
“Bago ko lumipat ng ABS, it was my last fantaserye sa GMA. Tapos nagtatalo ko non e, lilipat ba ko ng ABS o hindi. Ang daming nagsasabi sa akin sa GMA na ‘Jake huwag kang lumipat ng ABS. Wala pang lumilipat ng GMA na sumikat pagkalipat nila sa ABS. Siyempre natakot ako,” he shared.
Then, he recalled seeing a director watching a scene he was in, and the director said, “Alam mo ‘tong artistang to, dapat bumalik ng modeling to e. Hindi dapat maging artista to e. Hindi siya magaling.”
Jake shared that the comment from the director did not totally dishearten him from pursuing his dream. It even helped him to improve and take acting seriously.
“Ultimately, dahil don lumipat ako sa ABS. That was the deciding factor, na sinabi ko na this was it. This is the market: lilipat ako ng ABS na malinis ang konsensya ko,” the actor said.
However, Jake Cuenca said that he now has a good relationship with the unnamed director. After a decade since that incident in GMA happened, Jake worked with the director in the Kapamilya series Pasion de Amor, in which he was the lead actor. It was the director’s first project in the Kapamilya network.