KC Concepcion: ‘My
life has been like a reality show’
 |
| KC on Sharon Cuneta: “She will always be one of the most beautiful, feisty, passionate women I know. My one and only mommy.” |
Imagine this. From the moment you were born, the whole
country has known your name. When your parents separated, everyone had
something to say about it. The whole country also had a front-row seat when you
got your heart broken, moved abroad, posed sexy for a magazine, and even when
you were doing nothing. How does one handle a life like that? Here are 10
things you should know about KC Concepcion.
1. On life in the
limelight: “I didn’t realize it was weird until I saw The Truman Show. For me,
my life has been like a reality show since I was born.”
“I was around five years old. I remember when we would be in
the car, people would be banging the windows. I would always get nervous around
a lot of people kasi feeling ko I could get lost in the crowd. I remember it
would be noisy, there were so many people, they were rowdy,” KC recalls. “It
was normal for me. But I knew that when we’d get home, tahimik. And at home we
never spoke about showbiz or shows.”
“I remember nalaman ko na ikakasal ulit yung papa (Gabby
Concepcion) ko when I saw it on the news. I was in the dirty kitchen at home,
and ako pa nagbalita sa mom ko (Sharon Cuneta). I was eight years old.
“I remember a story that there was a guessing game among the
nurses when I was about to be born. Is she a girl or a boy? My mom came up with
the name Kristina, papa ko came up with Cassandra. And then a doctor there came
up with KC. I was supposed to be (nicknamed) Sandy,
pero naging KC.”
2. As far back as she
can remember, even in school, she was compared to her mother, the Megastar.
“In school, I remember a fan made me sign autographs, but
copying my mom’s signature. I didn’t wanna do it, bakit ko gagawin ‘yun? And at
a young age! I found it weird. May identity crisis din na nangyari sa akin.
Parang we are one and the same, but we’re not,” KC reveals.
“In I.S., the few Filipino teachers I had, nagkataon naging
teachers din niya. So they would compare, ‘How come your mom is this or that,
or how come when your mom was here…? When she’d laugh, tahimik siya, but you
laugh so loudly.’ I felt, I don’t know, nakakatawa eh, anong gagawin ko? It was
too much. It is okay to be compared at work, but hanggang sa school ba naman.
Parang, nakakapagod na,” she explains. “The hardest part of being an International School kid is not being able to see your
friends often and always having to adjust to new people.
“Paris
was nice. I felt like a normal girl,” she recalls of her college days in the American University
of Paris. “They
didn’t know anything (about me). Hindi yung parang sinasabihan ng magulang or
yaya na, ‘O, be friends with her.’ They just like you, they just wanna hang
out, you just share the same interests.
“When I graduated, I was advised to just hit the ground
running. I thought I would get into a corporate job or advertising. I thought I
could be a travel journalist. Kaya lang when I went home to Manila, there were movie offers, commercials.
Nagalit pa nga sa akin lolo ko, on my Pangilinan side, he said, ‘Bakit ka pa
nag-iisip ng ibang trabaho, God is giving you those offers for a reason.’ So I
tried it out; why not? Then it became fulltime, because it was so
time-consuming. Then I realized, this is actually a career.”
3. On nurturing her
relationship with mom Sharon and dad Gabby: “So many things have happened
already. It’s a whole new time in our lives, a new chapter. You can’t be stuck,
you have to keep moving.”
“She was the youngest, coolest, hippest mom in every
parent-teacher meeting. In jeans, button-down polo, loafers, her forever
emerald cut earrings, and a ponytail,” KC recalls growing up with her
then-single mom. “She was always my Valentine. Yeah, it was me and her against
the world. I remember when she would be heartbroken she would cry to me. But
you know, so many things changed. She got remarried and it was a 180-degree
turn. So many adjustments, and the whole world was watching. Even if we’re
(like barkada), she makes sure I don’t forget that she’s my mom.
“We spent time in Batangas, me and him, and nothing
changed,” she shares about her newfound closeness with her dad. “As much as so
many things have changed, how we are is the same. The feeling lang na
nagda-date kayo ng tatay mo, that means a lot. Even if my stepdad (Kiko
Pangilinan) is there for me, it’s a different relationship with my papa. What
my papa and I do is we make memories. He taught me how to make memories. Not
everything has to be so intense and emotional and dramatic. With him, it’s just
chill.” His term of endearment for her? “Baby,” KC says, imitating her papa and
giggling.
4. On the most bizarre
of all the rumors spread about her: “That my sister Miel is my daughter!”
“First of all, sabi nila, kaya daw ako nag-Paris when I was
18 is because I was pregnant. And I didn’t know it was such a big rumor because
it isn’t true! I didn’t mind it. It was funny eh, but when your family starts
to ask about it, then it gets real. Parang, wait lang, showbiz can actually
ruin relationships,” KC recalls. “In showbiz, there can be smoke when there’s
no fire, unfortunately.
“So when they didn’t see any tell-tale signs, sabi nila,
nagpa-abort daw kasi ako. Ano ba talaga? Nabuntis ba ako or nagpa-abort? They
said anak ko daw si Miel (Pangilinan), because I wasn’t here when she was born.
They said my mom paid so and so millions para daw tumahimik yung mga tao. Then
when we adopted my brother Miguel, si Miguel naman daw yung tunay kong anak.
Even they’re confused! Also, when I was 12, I went to the States for a year and
studied in Boston.
Kaya daw ako lumipat ng school is because I got kicked out because I was caught
smoking in the bathroom. Huh?” KC laughs and shakes her head.
Having to deal with rumors and unsolicited comments all her
life, does she still get affected now? “It makes me want people to get to know
me more. If you know me, how I am, how I think, kayo na mismo makakaalam if
(rumors are) true or not. Instead of allowing other people to introduce me,
I’ll do it myself. That is why I am so passionate about photos, sharing myself
on Twitter and Instagram, and my blog before, it is my way of letting the fans
in, so that they can know me.”
5. On the decision to
enter show business full time: “Siguro it was my way of self-preservation.”
“When others enter showbiz, it is their choice and they know
that rumors and issues come with the package. I can’t escape it anyway because
even if I’m not in it, I still feel like I am. So I said,
sige na nga, mag-aartista na ako. Anyway, I love acting, I might as well get into it by choice
so I don’t feel so invaded,” KC shares.
On balancing fans’ expectations and the projects she wants
to do: “I think by now people already know that I’m more exploratory. I also
get the guidance of people in the industry para naman may meaning yung ginagawa
ko, hindi yung basta para maiba lang.
Sometimes it’s also your feeling, like you wanna do something and you
don’t always know why,” KC explains. “It really feels like a reality show
because people think they know you. But they see how you were presented to the
world or how you were packaged. So if you do something like Rogue (magazine),
they go, whoa. But actually I’ve always been more of the creative type.”
6. On the biggest
relationship lesson she’s learned: “That a person who is perfect on paper is
not always the perfect person for you.”
When asked to share a few of the things she’s learned from
love and relationships, she laughs and says, “Oh, my! A lot!
“A guy could be perfect on paper. Check lahat. Family
background, looks, your family loves him. But, if you aren’t in love, he’s not
right for you,” she explains. “Also, I’ve learned that kilig yung possessive,
pero huwag O.A. Kilig yung kaya ka niya, pero huwag O.A. Konting temper is
okay, pero huwag O.A.”
“Sometimes you think that you want this and this,” she says
about love and falling in love. “And it has only happened to me once, or maybe
twice. Talaga. When you fall in love, wala ka nang ma-explain. Wala siyang
sense, na-inlove ka eh. Well, I’m really not the expert. I’m just a girl,” she
laughs.
“He has to get along with my sisters and friends. Big deal
sa akin na he can hold his own, that he doesn’t freak out if he’s surrounded by
my friends. I just want someone I can be silly with. Who is attentive, who just
wants to get to know me, someone I can learn new things from.”
7. KC in numbers:
2: number of theater roles she’s had. As supporting cast in
Little Mermaid, and as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. She also did a cameo in
Katy the Musical
70-plus: estimated number of magazine covers she has done
6: number of years she has been National Ambassador for the
UN World Food Program
6: number of passports she has filled. “I really started
traveling when I was 16.”
512,000-plus: number of Instagram followers on her account,
@xtina_ontherocks. “At that time I was into cocktails. So it’s not on the rocks
as in trouble, as in a drink on the rocks. I didn’t want the name to be so
commercial.”
8. KC loves traveling
and describes the perfect day in three cities she’s lived in:
Los Angeles: “Definitely a sunny day with a
cool breeze, driving down Sta. Monica by the beach with my girl friends and
music blasting. We’d do yoga, probably see a concert, and we’d have a nice pool
party with a great view at night. Just laughing and just super chill.”
New York: “Spring time with the cherry
blossoms. I would just be walking the whole day. I’d probably have lunch in
Shake Shack with no line. Maybe an outdoor film event with my friends. Go to Williamsburg to have the
best coffee and take lots of photos.”
Paris: “Paris is just perfect in general, it is where
my heart is. Paris
is my alone time place. I’d love to be stuck all day in a place with high
ceilings and big windows and the sun shining through, listening to jazz, making
an amazing painting that day. Or do my photography, or be on my bike, or cook
all day, too. So romanticized.
9. She admits to
currently being obsessed with health and fitness. “It’s like going to war
against my genes.”
“I’ve always been active, but to study what really works and
to really do it every single day, I’ve only been at it the past month. I have a
nutritionist and a private trainer na tutok,” KC shares. Her workout of choice
is Plana Forma and Forma Asana.
“I’m not a morning person, so to wake up at 6 and have
breakfast cause you have to have the right breakfast every day is such a big
thing for me. It started with my trainer in L.A., he asked what’s my goal? Honestly? I
wanna battle the genes. I’m so sick of being labelled. I just wanna have the
body I want. I wanna go to the beach and be in my bikini, I wanna have to not
worry about how to cheat my clothes or how to cheat my pose. I’m doing it for
me. There was a time I got pissed. I’m eating well, I’m active naman, how come
I’m still not happy? I don’t shy away from talking about it because it’s
interesting how the body can morph so fast. If you stick to it and do it right.
It’s a revelation for me, I never thought my body could change. This is without
any cosmetic surgery or pills, it’s pure eating and exercise. It’s like a new
adventure for me and I’m curious to know what’s gonna happen.”
10. KC admits she
really chooses to leave and travel regularly. “I love Manila, but sometimes it feels like a golden
cage.”
“Later on, I’d want to be based here in Manila and one more place, I feel like a
gypsy,” KC shares. “I’m all about making memories but I can’t live without
working. I love my job but sometimes talaga it gets high octane. It’s always
good to know what is new and what people are doing in other places. It is good
to get out and come back, always come back.”
“I definitely will go back to work, I wanna work and be on
set,” she says when asked about her next career move. “It isn’t even a question
of me having so many choices, I know what I want to do and I know what I love
doing. It is more of where do I bring it now, where am I gonna take it, and
what else can I do.”
* * *
I realize that 10 items are not nearly enough to paint a
picture of KC’s life and thoughts, joys and struggles. The only thing as
colorful as the judgments about her are the many facets to her personality.
“It’s weird being packaged and boxed by people. It really feels like a reality
show and people think they know you,” she says. “I was born into this and I
just had to adjust to this world. I come from a different place compared to
other artists, at pinapakilala ko lang ang sarili ko.”
