We don’t always get this version of Coco Martin—the one who laughs at his struggles with English, talks about craving ‘lugaw’ after a long shoot and his soft spot for romance-drama flicks. But in this rare and casual interview with Bianca Gonzalez on her YouTube channel, the "FPJ's Batang Quiapo" lead and director set aside the Primetime King image and let Rodel Nacianceno do the talking.
They say a person’s favorite food can reveal surprisingly intimate things about them. So, when Coco mentioned his comfort food consists of simple street-food favorites and classic Filipino home-cooked meals (Pinoy ulam), we took it as a sign of his down-to-earth nature. While you'd expect an acting royalty to crave fancy takeout or gourmet meals after work, Coco would rather come home to isaw, tokneneng, balut, sisig, bulalo, kare-kare, and most of all, lugaw, as these dishes remind of special childhood memories spent in his hometown in Novaliches.
Sometimes when that random 'lugaw' craving hits, he'll request his girlfriend Julia Montes to whip up a bowl for him, "Kasi naaalala ko noon every time nagba-basketball ako 'pag hapon, pagkatapos ng laro, kakain kami ng lugaw doon sa kanto namin."
If he can’t physically return to the streets he grew up in, he makes it a point to still enjoy the same comfort food at home. Coco mentioned that "FPJ's Batang Quiapo" has an audio man from Pateros whom he regularly asks to buy penoy and salted eggs from there, which he then cooks at home so he can still taste those familiar flavors.
We move on to his favorite movies! Coco laughed at the contrast between what the world assumes and what he actually enjoys. While people might expect him to list explosive action films, yet in reality he’s a full-on romance-drama guy at heart. He's watched “Ghost,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “Titanic” far too many times to admit without blushing.
For those familiar with his beginnings, Coco’s foundation was always drama. He dreamed of following the careers of Aga Muhlach or Piolo Pascual, evident in the teleseryes "Walang Hanggan" and "Ikaw Lamang" until he realized audiences appreciate his action scenes more, which explains the massive success of "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano."
If you ask Coco, becoming an actor wasn’t even his dream, "Kasi nga, alam ko na hindi naman ako artistahin. Ang liit ko. Tapos, ‘di ba, bulol pa ako. May lisp problem ako. Tapos that time, wala akong damit." He even had to borrow pants from a friend just to audition for Star Circle (now Star Magic) Batch 9 in 2001—he was batchmates with Heart Evangelista, Rafael Rosell, and Janus del Prado, among others.
Before showbiz, Coco hustled with various odd jobs such as dishwashing, driving a tricycle, waiting tables, and distributing flyers, so when showbiz gigs started coming in regularly, he realized "parang totoo na siya. Ito na ‘yung career ko." From looking at acting as just a "raket," he started treating it with purpose, "Tinitingnan ko na kung ano ‘yung magiging resulta nu'ng ginagawa akong trabaho."
From there, his path eventually expanded into bigger responsibilities, growing from actor to actor-director in "FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano" and now to a full creative producer in "FPJ’s Batang Quiapo," realizing that in the industry, "dapat lahat inaalam mo," and you shouldn't become complacent. "Alam ko kasi na isang araw matatapos din to. Alam ko malalaos ako," he said.
Despite the crazy workload, his biggest flex is that he still puts his family first. "Sabi nga sa akin ni [Julia], kwento ko lang, nagulat siya, nung 'Ang Probinsyano,' halos wala akong oras," he revealed. "Kasi that time, honestly, nagpapatunay pa lang ako no'n eh. Ngayon, natuto na ako na parang kapag 'yung trabaho at pamilya mo ang [binalanse] mo, sabi ko, magkakaroon ka ng time.”
Even though viewers are used to seeing him act weeknights and often hear about how demanding his schedule is, Coco has learned to handle the workload by delegating tasks to his team and running a tight, disciplined set. "Kasi sabi ko nga, 'pag dumating sa set, diretso trabaho. Hihinga tayo kapag lunch break. Ang pinaka-reward nating lahat, nakakauwi tayo nang maaga sa pamilya natin. Kaysa mauubos ‘yung [oras sa] chikahan natin dito and then after that, bigla madaling araw na saka pa lang tayo uuwi. Sabi ko, doon nagkakaroon ng problema."
There are also days now when he does nothing, treating a well-deserved break as sacred space to recharge and protect himself from burnout, and says he often uses that time to get a haircut, enjoy a massage, or tend to his pet birds and fishes at home.
Bianca then asked Coco one thing he cannot do, to which he replied, laughing, "Mag-English." He might be good at a lot of things, but English terrifies him, so much so that he gets nervous whenever someone starts speaking straight English and just waits for the conversation to slide back into Taglish so he can follow.
Back in school, he struggled with the subject that he failed it repeatedly. There was one time he and a friend, assigned to report in front of the class, chose to walk out and accept a failing mark rather than stand there explaining everything in English.
Which is why, if you notice, he usually skips playing affluent characters, because he knows those usually come with a lot of English lines and would make him so fixated on perfecting his pronunciation that he completely loses the scene's emotional texture. Coco laughs about it now, but when he was just starting in ABS-CBN and he would get invited to appear on "ASAP," communicating was such a struggle that he couldn’t even keep up with the teleprompter, eventually pushing his manager to enroll him in personality development classes where he learned not only English but also how to carry himself more confidently.
After a few sessions, Coco realized he was changing. And even though the changes were good, he felt scared he was starting to like this polished version of himself too much that he might lose the "jologs" Coco people connected with. "Minahal naman ako ng mga tao na ganito. Sabi ko, hindi naman ako nagpe-pretend. Dati hindi ko kailangan mag-pretend. Sabi ko, mas gusto ko kung saan ako komportable. Kung ano ako bilang tao, ‘yun ako. Para hindi ako mahirapan," he told his manager then, realizing he’d rather stick with what felt real and familiar to his core.
We don’t often se Coco without the armor of a director, a lead actor, or a Primetime King, and yet it’s this makulit, lugaw-loving, English-fearing version of him that feels the most endearing.
Catch Coco in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 PM on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, TV5, iWant, and Kapamilya Online Live (KOL).