MANILA, Philippines?Late last year, we reviewed the Maricel Soriano starrer, ?A Love Story,? and made special mention of Mark Gil?s exceptional portrayal of her former husband. We noted that he had ?only a few scenes in the movie, but made all of them count.?
Further, we observed that Mark looked older than his actual age?which is never a good thing for an actor?and suggested that he do something about his receding hairline, which was the main reason why he registered so ?maturely? on the movie screen.
Desired effect
We left it at that?but, it turns out that our comments had the desired effect on Mark: They prompted him to rethink his screen image, and move to boost his options.
He agreed with us that he was too young to be relegated to ?senior? roles on TV and in the movies.
As happy happenstance would have it, our review also got the attention of Svenson, the hair-restoration experts. It was then that they thought of proposing their non-surgical hair-replacement solution to the actor.
Flashforward to June 2008?and, look at Mark Gil now! He looks positively transformed, not to mention more confident and happier than ever! ?What a difference a full head of hair (courtesy of Svenson) makes.
Even better, Mark?s new and more youthful look has encouraged producers and directors to offer him more and better roles. Since Mark is one of our best (albeit underutilized) actors, we?re happy to hear that we?ll be seeing him more often on the big and small screens, from here on in.
Mark further shares, ?Mas diverse pa ang mga role that have opened up to me. Now, I?m being considered for bigger and better parts than the contravida. Before, it was hard for me to look at myself onscreen, because I looked bad. Some directors even needed to adjust their shots just to hide my bald spot.?
Mark?s new projects include a soap (?Eva Fonda?) for ABS-CBN, plus two indie films (?Alon? by Ron Bryant and ?Sabongera? by Miguel Caimo). And the ?new? Mark (again, thanks to Svenson?call 892-HAIR) is just getting started.
Happy ending
We feel gratified that this story has a happy ending, because not all of our ?unsolicited advice? is warmly received by the show biz people we write about. To his credit, Mark was able to turn out comment about his receding hairline into a call for action, and Svenson also saw a great opportunity in his positive reaction to show what it could do to transform ?tonsorially challenged? people?s lives and career prospects (even if they aren?t celebrities).
Of late, we?ve been making other ?negative? comments about young stars with deficient talents, veteran leads who have become lazy and are just coasting along on their past successes, unprincipled and self-obsessed TV people?etc.
Their natural impulse is to dismiss those comments as biased nonsense. But, if they take their cue from Mark?s positive reaction, they could also experience a similarly transformative moment in their own troubled careers. ?Give it a try, why don?t you?
