Is Joaquin Domagoso saying goodbye to tweetums roles?
Isko Moreno’s son, Joaquin Domagoso, is back to doing series via the GMA Afternoon Prime teleserye “Lilet Matias: Attorney-At-Law,” headlined by Jo Berry.
In the series, he plays Inno de Leon, a young celebrity who will be involved in a scandal.
Prior to this, Joaquin took a short hiatus from doing a regular TV show after “First Lady” in 2022. Admittedly, it was because he focused first on being a father to his firstborn, Scott Angelo.
He says in an interview with FreebieMNL, “Napahinga po ako, na-busy po ako. Unang-una, naging father po ako, so that’s one thing talaga. Naging busy ako over the time na wala akong ginawa for work.
“So, ito naman, binigyan ako ng GMA ng bagong character na si Inno De Leon.”
It came as a surprise in 2022 when news broke out that Joaquin was going to be a father.
Of this, Joaquin is grateful to GMA-7 and his management, Sparkle GMA Artist Center, for still giving him a chance to show his skills and standing by him amid the controversy.
“Actually, super love na love ko yung mga boss ko dito sa GMA, and that’s one reason why I’m always gonna be a Kapuso–I know that. Kapuso is where my heart is talaga, and thankful akong hindi ako pinapabayaan ng mga boss ko, lalo na handler ko rin, managers ko rin.
“They’re always parang nakaalalay sa akin kahit na may issue nga ako or stuff, they never went against me.
“Kumbaga they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna fix this and here’s what we can do next,’ and doon ko na-realize, iba yung treatment ng Sparkle which is talagang makatao sila sa artists nila. Hindi nila pinapabayaan.”
FreebieMNL spoke to Joaquin during the grand press conference of “Lilet Matias: Attorney-At-Law” at the Manila City Hall on February 24, 2024.
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Goodbye, tweetums roles?
“Lilet Matias: Attorney-at-Law” is Joaquin’s third teleserye on GMA-7. His first was 2021’s “First Yaya,” which was followed by its sequel, “First Lady,” in 2022.
With his first two shows falling under the romantic-comedy genre, Joaquin got excited when he was offered the role of Inno in “Lilet Matias.”
“I was super excited, to be honest, kasi sabi ko, ito na yung chance ko gumawa ng ibang role kasi everytime I get roles from ‘Wish Ko Lang’ or from ‘Magpakailanman,’ ‘yun yung parang masaya kasi talagang ibang tao ka talaga, e.
“Sometimes kasi, shows will often guide you into your character pero ito, pag mga ganun, para talaga makalayo sa ‘yo, ‘yun masaya. Although si Inno, may mga similarities, yung tunay na pagkatao niya, doon kami magkaiba. Kaya malalaman niyo po ‘yan sa show, paano po ako naging ganito, ganyan, everything.”
How did Joaquin use his acting experience from his previous projects?
“What I can tell you is marami akong takeaways na galing sa ‘First Lady,’ but I didn’t use 80 percent of them.
“Kasi yung gagawin ko dito is talagang magkaiba from ‘First Lady’ to now, until ‘Lilet Matias,’ kasi dito hindi lang ako parang pampakilig, hindi lang ako ganun. May mga layers din yung character ko. Actually, lahat din naman ng characters dito.”
In “First Yaya” and “First Lady,” Joaquin was paired with Cassy Legaspi. This time, his character is involved with Sparkle artist Zonia Mejia.
But while their characters are in a relationship, he can’t say that they are a love team because of one incident he cannot just spoil yet.
Is it also a conscious move for Joaquin to veer away from having a love team?
He answers, “Actually, it’d be nice to have a loveteam din. Pero that’s not my goal right now. I wanna focus on myself first and build my own standing so that one day, magiging ka-level ko na yung mga partners ko kasi ayokong ipahiya sila.
“For me kasi, I don’t feel like ka-level ko sina Zonia. Sina Zonia, matagal na sila sa showbiz, and she’s a one-of-a-kind girl. Sweet siya, smart siya, so there are things that I can’t match up with her. Masasabi ko na immature pa ako and I need to learn more about love and life.”
Working with Jo Berry
It is also Joaquin’s first time to work with “Lilet Matias” lead actress, Jo Berry.
When asked about his working relationship with Jo, Joaquin faces the camera and says, “Alam mo Ate Jo, super sorry pero I love you talaga!”
He then explains, “Hindi, kasi nahihiya na nga ako kay Ate Jo, parang every time na magkabulol ako sa linya, kasi I’m not really fluent sa Tagalog and there are lines that hindi ko talaga masabi minsan.
“Like, nasa emotion na ako, nandun na ako, ‘tapos kapag narinig mo, parang mali, so cut! Cut ulit.
“’Tapos si Ate Jo, [since] yung camera nasa akin. Mina-mouth niya na yung sasabihin ko.”
Joaquin says Jo is very supportive of her to pull off every scene they do.
He adds, “Yung words kasi may, parang kumbaga… it’s ‘Karangalan,’ minsan, ‘Karagalan,’ gumaganon ako, ‘tapos sasabihin niya.
“Super supportive. May good times kami din doon na napapaiyak ako, and there are some lines na when she says it, talagang it doesn’t feel like acting na talaga, parang galing talaga sa puso. Ito yung masarap na panoorin lalo na na-experience ko rin in-person.”
“Lilet Matias: Attorney-At-Law” premiered on GMA Afternoon Prime on Monday, March 4. Starting March 8, its timeslot is airing 20 minutes earlier at 3 p.m. due to programming changes brought by the cancellation of “Tahanang Pinakamasaya.”
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Banner Art Paulo Correa
