Piolo Pascual's nephew now a rookie

And so good looks and talent do run in the family. Hunk actor Piolo Pascual may have prevented his son from entering showbiz, but now his very own nephew is taking the same path and from the looks of it, he’s pretty much doing just fine. Benjamin Alves just got into GMA network’s rooster of stars and he was officially welcomed last Sunday in  the afternoon musical variety program Party Pilipinas.

During an interview, Benjamin talked about his on-going movie project Guni Guni that will hit theatres this August. He stars in the film alongside the beautiful and talented actress Lovi Poe. Asked about how it was working with Lovi, Benjamin was all-praises for the actress. “Lovi is such a nice person. I’m so lucky to have such a big [project] and to have Lovi as my leading lady. She keeps me at ease. The biggest adjustment for me was that I can’t relax as normally as I can. Seeing Lovi being relaxed, being down to earth and being someone that I can talk to, it makes me feel comfortable,” he said.

Benjamin, however, admitted that he felt very nervous when he was told that he was going to do a kissing scene with Lovi in the film. “We had a ‘moment’ there. Yeah, we had a kissing scene. It was a little awkward since it was a first for me but after the first take, we’re fine. The good thing about Lovi is that she does not make it any weirder than it has to be, she's game. For your co-actor to be like that, you have to make sure that you take the job seriously as well,” Benjamin said.

So how did it go? “Interesting", he answered with a laugh. "Interesting because of the set-up, with everyone watching us. But I don’t kiss and tell, so.. (laughs),” he said.

Benjamin grew up in Guam where he graduated summa cum laude in college. He took up AB English and is planning to pursue graduate studies. Despite his American upbringing, Benjamin is lucky to be able to speak Tagalog fluently without the “twang,” which usually hinders most aspiring Filipinos who grew up abroad from making it big in the local entertainment industry. Although being compared with his uncle Piolo Pascual seems inevitable, Benjamin hopes that he would have the opportunity to establish his career in the showbiz industry on his own. “It’s unfair to expect someone to achieve in a day what Piolo had achieved in years. But I do hope that in due time, I’d be as successful as he is,” he said.