With just a year in the business, Jake Ejercito is, by standard, still a newbie, and he feels that he is an actor learning what acting is all about while on camera.

“I signed with Star Magic three days before the pandemic. I wasn’t able to do workshops in person, online workshop lang lahat. And then nasalang na ako sa (I was cast in) ‘Marry Me, Marry You,’ then [in] ‘The Broken Marriage Vow.’ So, basically, I was learning on cam. I guess it’s the best thing to experience,” he said during the roundtable discussion for “A Family Affair” last June 15.

He also noted that by doing the shows “Marry Me, Marry You,” “The Broken Marriage Vow” and “A Family Affair,” it would be fair to say that he has had some growth already as an actor. Ejercito’s father, former actor and President Joseph Estrada, also imparted to him an acting style he could not forget.

“Mata pa lang dapat umaarte na (The eyes themselves should act). Kahit walang lines ‘yung character mo, puwede kang umarte (Even when your character is without lines, you can act) through your eyes. That’s what I always try to remember and try to apply,” he related.

Ejercito feels “honored and blessed” since he was given premier shows in just a span of one year.

“To have been given the privilege and the trust [of our bosses], to be part of such amazing shows – “Marry Me Marry You” was an all star cast, same with “The Broken Marriage Vow,” [and now] “A Family Affair,” it’s something that I could be proud of,” he said.

jake ejercito ig — Jake Ejercito. Image: Instagram/@unoemilio

His “A Family Affair” character Seb is also different from the uptight, and corporate coach and teacher roles he portrayed in “The Broken Marriage Vow.”

“Here, I am the wild child, playboy. That’s why tinanggap ko rin ang show na ito kasi it’s very different and masasabi ko, among the three characters, ito ‘yung most emotionally demanding so far sa mga nagawa ko,” he said. (That is why I accepted this show because it is very different, and I can say that among the three characters [I have played], this is the most emotionally demanding so far.)

Ejercito is also happy that each character in the show, even supporting ones, “are given a spotlight.”

“That’s what’s good about the show,” he stressed.

The series also stars Ivana Alawi, Sam Milby, Gerald Anderson and Jameson Blake, and directed by Jerome Pobocan and Raymond Ocampo. It premiered first on the iWantTFC app 48 hours before its TV broadcast last June 25. It started its broadcast premiere yesterday, June 27, on the Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, Jeepney TV, TFC IPTV and TV5. JB

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