Patrick Garcia's back!!!

So why is Patrick Garcia all smiles these days and sitting pretty? Well, if you were in his shoes, you would certainly feel the same lightness of being.

So young (turning 17 in September), so goodlooking, so lucky, so privileged and so talented, waving at the world as he stands on the treshold of stardom, already with a Best Actor trophy (for Star Cinema's Batang PX, given by the Philippine Movie Press Club's Star Awards for Movies last March) to his credit, the youngest ever to clinch that honor.

For someone so inexperienced (in more ways than one), the Jeremy Irons look-alike can admirably managed himself in front of veteran movie writers throwing at him one question after another which he beautifully fields with satisfactory answers, speaking in fluent English and hardly losing his poise.

"I'm not a good actor," Patrick downplays himself during a luncheon chat. "I don't even want to watch myself on TV or in a movie. I don't know why, Basta ayoko lang. I get so conscious watching myself on screen, big or small."

It's a surprising revelation from such a young man who is way ahead and way above the other Star Circle members of ABS-CBN/Star Cinema (seven batches to date) in terms of looks, acting talent and chances of becoming a box-office actor/star.

Before Nagbibinata, a chronicle of the life and times of today's youth (their growing-up pains at home, on campus, and among their peers) directed by Jose Javier Reyes, Patrick has chalked up memorable and attention-arresting performances in (aside from Batang PX where he played the love child of displacwed Olongapo dancer/hostess played by Zsa Zsa Padilla who won three Best Actress trophies for it) Separada, Rollerboys, Araw-Araw/Gabi-Gabi, Asero, Ang TV The Movie, Biyudo si Daddy/Biyuda si Mommy and Madrasta.

Like in Separada with Maricel Soriano and Edu Manzano as his parents and Madrasta with Sharon Cuneta who won a Best Actress grand slam for her performance, Patrick again plays a product of broken home in Nagbibinata, which also stars a dozen of other Star Circle Members (Koolits trio John Loyd Cruz, Baron Geisler, and Marc Solis; Kristopher Peralta; Sherilyn Reyes; Paula Peralejo; Carol Banawa; Nikki Valdez; Kaye Abad; and Kristine Hermosa).

It's a role close to family almost (but not quite) derived from the actual experiences of Patrick whose parents (his mother is the sister of Sharmaine Arnaiz and Bunny Pars' mother so the two girls are Patrick's first cousins) are estranged, but with a big difference.

"The charactes I play are often confused," says Patrick, brushing away the lock of hair that falls over his face. "They can't accept what happens to their parents. Me? I don't have any bitterness over what happened to my parents' marriage. That's life. It's not perfect. Nobody can have a perfect life. There will always be problems. My Mom remains my best friend at ganoon din ang Dad ko."

One of three children (his sister, Cheska Garcia, is now in showbiz), Patrick was only 12 when his parents broke up. He was already on Ang TV then (an ABS-CBN kiddie show which served as launching pad for the careers of many of today's teen stars), hamming it up with other kids as if they were just playing games (piece of cake, you know).

"I'm used to facing the cameras because I was a commercial model before I joined television and the movies," says Patrick who's the guy in that Smart commercial.

You blink and when you look again, there he is, all grown-up, a bit underweight and awkward at 5'7" (and still growing), his voice all too suddenly fuller and more manly and his kiddie ways slowly dissolving into gentlemanly manners.

"Girls?" he frowns, and then smiles again the way Jeremy Irons does. "There are a lots of them around me but I don't have time for girls..."---yet. "I don't mind them. I'm not a playboy."

Years earlier when he was entering his teens, Patrick and his friends loved to stroll around Makati and while time away at the disco, until he realized he was just wasting his time.

"Now, I'd rather stay home. Anyway, when at home, I'm asleep most of the time. I get about 15 hours of sleep everyday. I'm a bit skinny, di ba? I don't know why; I eat a lot but I have ulcers. Too many schedules siguro." This school year, Patrick and his fellow Star Circle members are studying at the DECS-accredited ABS-CBN Talent Center. He was a high school sophomore at an Alabang school when he stopped his studies and he'll be on his third year this June.

How is one so young---and so inexperienced---able to flesh out make-believe characters so convincingly? Does he draw lessons from real life? How does he do it?

"I don't use my own personal experience in portraying my roles, not even when I'm playing a child of a broken home. I just use my imagination. I'd rather read and study the script on the set than at home. When the script are sent to me days in advance, I get too engrossed in the character and when the shooting starts, pagod na ako."

With a Best Actor Trophy tucked up his sleeve, Patrick knows that movie fans expect nothing less from him. "Otherwise," he says, "if I don't do well in a movie or even on TV drama, they will make sumbat."

Come to think of it, Patrick isn't simply sitting pretty these days. He's always on guard. He's much too young to just sit around. There are more laurels to bring home and he doesn't have enough of them to sit on. Welcome back...Patrick!!!

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