Richard Gomez looks back on his heydays with Mother Lily Monteverde

Rachelle Siazon

<div><img src='' alt='010513-richard_main.jpg' width='305' height='290' align='left' border='0'>Former <i>Walang Hanggan </i>star Richard Gomez recalled how little he knew about local showbiz when he started his career as an actor. His talent manager then, the late Douglas Quijano, tried to orient him about how the industry worked and it was quite amusing that Richard’s knowledge of entertainment fare was limited to Kung Fu films (Richard initially wanted to star in action flicks) and canned foreign shows. At one point, he didn’t even recognize Vilma Santos at a social function attended by Regal Films matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde and other showbiz personalities. </div><div><br/></div><div>“<i>Nagdi</i>-dinner <i>kami nina</i> Mother Lily. <i>Ang daming tao at ang gaganda nila. Lalo na yung katapat ko. </i>Then <i>natapos yung</i> dinner,<i> lumabas na kami. Sabi ko kay Douglas, ‘Ang ganda naman ng babaeng ‘yon. Sino ‘yon?’ [Natawa siya sa akin at sinabi niya], ‘Ano ka ba? Hindi mo kilala si </i>Vilma Santos?” recalled Richard in StarStudio Magazine’s cover story about the making of Mother Lily’s empire and the “Regal babies.” A former crewmember of a famous fast food joint, Richard was first introduced in the Maricel Soriano-William Martinez starrer <i>Inday Bote</i> (1985). It was a role originally intended for Gabby Concepcion who turned down the project.</div><div><br/></div><div>In the same interview, Richard attested to Mother Lily’s legendary temper especially when things don’t go her way. Being a hands-on producer that she is, he shared that the way she runs the studio is very different from how movies are made nowadays. “Before, everything <i>talaga </i>was centralized kay Mother Lily. She makes everyone run, she makes everything work. All orders come from Mother Lily. <i>Hanggang sa</i> style, <i>sa </i>look <i>ng artista</i>, Mother Lily will take care of that. ‘<i>Pag sinabi niya</i> sexy <i>ka, kailangan nakakamison ka ha, kailangan puti, kailangan nababasa ha,</i> standard <i>sa kanya ‘yun</i>.”</div><div><br/></div><div>Other showbiz icons who talked about their heydays back in the ‘80s in the magazine include Maricel Soriano and Snooky Cerna.</div><div><br/></div><div>StarStudio Magazine’s January 2013 issue is now available in leading bookstores and newsstands nationwide.</div><div><br/></div>

Richard Gomez shares how different the movie industry was when he started out as an actor with Regal Films.

Richard Gomez looks back on his heydays with Mother Lily Monteverde | PUSH.COM.PH