SOLO KIGGINS, 16 years young, is no ordinary teenager aspiring to make a name in show biz.

Asked who would be his dream leading lady, he asserts, without missing a beat: ?Eugene Domingo.?

He doesn?t even mind figuring in a May-December romance with the comedienne. ?I watched ?Mamarazzi? and ?Kimmy Dora.? I think she?s cool,? he says.

Kiggins, son of former actor Chuck Perez, admits feeling the pressure to prove himself: ?I want to surpass my father?s achievements in show biz. I want to be known not just as Chuck Perez?s son.?

As a kid, he watched his dad?s old movies, like ?Bagwis,? ?Eseng ng Tondo? (in which Perez appeared with Fernando Poe Jr.), ?Mana-Mana, Tiba-Tiba,? and ?Shake, Rattle & Roll V? (where Perez played a monster).

Film debut

?Coincidentally,? Kiggins says, he is making his film debut in the 12th edition of the ?Shake? franchise, Regal?s entry to this year?s Metro Manila Film Festival.

He plays a young fisherman in the ?Isla? episode, top-billed by Andi Eigenmann and directed by Topel Lee.

Lee says the newcomer ?is shy at first, but once the camera starts to roll, he knows how to act.?

His father, now based in San Jose, California, was initially ambivalent about his son?s decision to become an actor, too.

?But because I promised to finish schooling, he eventually agreed. He?s very supportive,? Kiggins says.

A high school senior, he is now taking the home study program of a Pampanga campus. ?We are given modules and every three weeks, I go to school to submit my assignments,? he explains.

He is now being managed by Star Magic. He is in the cast of the ABS-CBN soap opera remake ?Mara Clara: Noon at Ngayon,? along with Albie Casino, Yong Gopez, Phytos Tuddao Kyriakou and John Manalo. ?I play the chick boy in the barkada,? he says.

Kiggins is taking his job seriously. ?I learn a lot from our director Jerome Pobocan, in terms of camera angles and delivering your lines properly,? he says. ?I also pick up pointers from [co-star] John Manalo. Although he is young, he acts well.?

?Mara Clara? premiered last Monday.

He attended the latest Star Magic Ball, where he was part of the cotillion: ?I wore a suit by Frederick Policarpio. It was like prom night and I got starstruck when I saw Maja Salvador. She?s really pretty.?

Like most boys his age, Kiggins spends a lot of time on the computer?doing Facebook, playing Dota or Left for Dead, and watching TV shows.

?I prefer to watch ?The Simpsons,? ?Glee,? ?America?s Next Top Model,? and ?How I Met Your Mother? on the computer,? he points out. ?On TV, you can only watch one episode. But from the Net, you can download as many episodes as you want.?

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com