Christian Bables
As Christian Bables made his way up the stage to receive his MMFF 2016 Best Supporting Actor Award, he had an epiphany. “Totoo pala yon — yung pakiramdam na maaalala mo lahat,” he says, sincerity all over his boyish face. “Mula simula. Jampacked yung mga memories dun sa maiksing oras na yun. Grabe, nag flashback lahat.”
The road to this victory was paved with lots of auditions (He once lined up at 2 a. m. hoping to be part of Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition. At 2 p. m. the next day, someone from the production team said they were cutting the auditions short, just like that); cruel rejections (“Ba’t ika- cast yan? Hindi naman gwapo. Ba’t kukunin yan? Wala namang pangalan? Ba’t kukunin yan? Hindi naman magaling?” Take note: The unkind casters said these things to his face) and, most importantly, Christian’s relentless passion for acting. (“Buo na yung loob ko eh, na ito yung gusto kong gawin.”) Christian, 24, beat luminaries like Joel Torre, Lou Veloso, and Ricky Davao, thanks to his excellent portrayal of Barb in Jun Robles Lana’s critical and box office hit Die Beautiful — and it is a win that is widely celebrated by the supreme court of the Philippines: the comments section. A receipt: Jobert Hiso Tumalaytay’s fervent Facebook comment on a selfie with Christian reads, “Barbs!!! Walang sawa ko talagang inulit-ulit yung movie niyo. Ang galing mo, Christian Bables!”
The ladies are just as smitten. On Instagram Kat Veloso declares, “I love you, Barbs. I watched Die Beautiful twice for you.” This outpouring of love, the fact that people now know his name is Christian Bables ( The correct pronunciation of his last name is bab-less) is so different from the treatment he got from bouncers during the first few mall tours for Die Beautiful. Security guards were tasked to form a human barricade around lead star Paolo Ballesteros and Christian, but the ones assigned to protect him kept shooing him away from Paolo, thinking he was just one of the fans. He laughs at the memory, and there’s no bitterness in his voice as he tells me this, just incredulity with the the way things unfolded and how they continue to unfold. “offers,”Ang dami nang he says, smiling and shooting a grateful glance at his two refreshingly chill managers. “God Pero ang galing ni kasi He made sure muna na nakapako yung paa ko sa lupa.” 2017 is shaping up to be a promising year, but Christian says he’ll never lose sight of his why. “loveItong ko for the craft, may purpose ’ to. Hindi ko ’to nararamdaman dahil wala lang… Dahil gusto ko lang sumikat? Yiiiieee,” he shudders visibly. Well, we hate to break it to you kid, but that last bit seems inevitable. Better get used to it. The highest court — the comments section, unusually benevolent towards you — has decided, and the unanimous decision is: Everybody loves Christian.