HE may be primetime’s biggest star, but Coco Martin admits there’s one thing that still shakes him to his core: speaking English.
In a candid sit-down on Bianca Gonzalez’s Paano Ba ’To!? podcast, the FPJ’s: Batang Quiapo lead said English has been his lifelong weakness, a fear so deep it once made him walk out of a class report.
“Mag-English,” he said when asked what he couldn’t do. “Everytime may interview at may nage-English, ninenerbyos ako. ‘Ano kayang pinag-uusapan nila?’ Sana may mag-Tag-Lish para ma-gets ko.”
Coco said the fear goes back to school.
“Nung nag-aaral ako, pag English subject, nangangatog ako. Lahat ng English subject ko bagsak,” he recalled, adding that even the late Susan Roces once told him he seemed “traumatized” by the language.
It also affected his career choices. He avoided English-heavy roles and even international projects, saying he couldn’t focus on emotions if he was panicking over the script. Early in ABS-CBN, he struggled with the ASAP teleprompter and was eventually enrolled in English and personality development classes.
He improved and briefly enjoyed the process, but later backed out, afraid people would think he was trying too hard.
“Ang worry ko, gusto s akin ng tao yung pagiging masa ko. Baka sabihin trying hard ako,” he said.
Coco later told his manager he preferred embracing what felt real.
“Minahal naman ako ng mga tao na ganito. Mas gusto ko kung saan ako komportable. Kung ano ako, yun ako,” he said.
