Doctors Can Act, Too!

The high-profile doctor and Celebrity Duets finalist, Dr. Hayden Kho Jr., is adding another laurel to his crown in the form of acting. And we're not one bit surprised that this tall and charming doctor captured hearts aplenty and made heads turn when he first made his presence felt on national television. Text by Loretta G. Ramirez. Photos courtesy of GMA Network Ever since he made his debut in show business via the television milestone Celebrity Duets, Dr. Hayden Kho, Jr. has been the darling of the press. Being young and adventurous, this young doctor is willing to try anything that piques his interest. So, when we learned that he will be continuing his showbiz career after his stint in Celebrity Duets, we scheduled a private session with the Kapuso Network's resident hunk to ask if this doctor really can act. Part of the MariMar phenomenon Many welcomed the inclusion of the very popular cosmetic surgeon in the phenomenal show MariMar. Acting opposite the big names in the local biz, Hayden seemed oddly comfortable in the presence of these stars. He explained his role in MariMar as “ang lalaking inagawan ng minamahal ng mga Santibañez.” He was the fiancé of Dra. Rhia (Carmina Villaruel) who in turn fell in love with Renato Santibañez (Richard Gomez). “Tapos, matitipuhan niya si MariMar (Marian Rivera) pero babalik ito kay Sergio Santibañez (Dingdong Dantes),” described Hayden about his brief stint in the show. He then continued with a confession that it took him four takes to do his first scene in the show. “Galaw ako nang galaw at lagi akong nakapikit at nakatungo. Akala ko, close-up ang kinukunan sa akin, whole body pala. ‘Tsaka, maliliit ang mga ka-eksena ko at kailangan kong tumungo para marinig ang sinasabi nila. Dahil nakatungo, nagmukha akong nakapikit," shares the young doctor rather amusingly. He also confided that he was supposed to go to Paris to study but when the offer to be part of MariMar came, he decided to postpone his trip and accept the offer and delve into acting. Dr. Henry Kim Playing another doctor role in GMA’s first Koreanovela remake, Ako si Kim Samsoon, Hayden proved that he is definitely staying in the business. “For some reason, I find acting easier than singing,” says the 2nd-runner up of Celebrity Duets. “Hindi ko alam pero I find it really intriguing. I guess kasi when I am alone 'yun ang ginagawa ko, I think of imaginary situations and just try to put myself in those situations. You just have to pour your heart into it.” We have yet to see his appearance in the show but I am sure that a lot of his followers are quite excited to see how he fares in Ako si Kim Sam Soon. He admits that he did not undergo any kind of training in preparation for the show but he did bring the DVD of Kim Sam Soon while he was in Africa for some background about the story. “For acting, wala kasi akong workshops at wala naman akong background so what I did is I looked in the Internet and searched for a book about acting,” confirms the budding actor-doctor. Although, he did not confirm how long will he be staying in the acting business, he did say that at the moment he just wants to balance his medical profession with his showbiz career. “Of course medicine pa rin and priority ko, but as much as possible kung kaya kong pagsabayin 'yung dalawa, bat hindi, 'di ba?” And indeed why not? Let’s just wait and see how this young doctor turned actor will do. Watch out for him in Ako si Kim Samsoon, weeknights right after Mars Ravelo’s Dyesebel. Get in touch with Doc Hayden! Text DOCHAYDEN and send to 4627. (Each Fanatxt message costs P2.50 for GLOBE, SMART and TALK N TEXT, while it costs P2.00 for SUN subscribers). (This service is available only in the Philippines.)