I’m not one to flip out when a Hollywood celebrity comes to Manila. Not that they frequent our beautiful (read: gulu-gulo) city. But on one of my countless nights of doomscrolling on the Gram, I came across an announcement that would awaken an incredibly long manic episode—Manny Jacinto was coming to Manila. I wanted to cry.
That’s right. The endearing himbo from The Good Place, the gorgeous pilot whose lines were unrightfully cut from Top Gun: Maverick, the hottest Sith Lord from a galaxy far, far away who basically carried The Acolyte on his back, was coming to the motherland for a red carpet appearance in support of his latest film, Freakier Friday. Adding to the list above, Manny Jacinto plays the handsome chef-dancer-single-parent-love-interest to Lindsay Lohan’s Anna. I knew I couldn’t miss that film.
You see, as if it isn’t already painfully obvious, I have a huge crush on Manny Jacinto. I don’t have to explain why.
As a former music journalist myself *pushes glasses up her nose*, I did a little Googling of my own and found the info I needed about the fan meet from some news sites. Further sleuthing ensued, leading me to score two passes for me and a friend to see Manny Jacinto in real life. One for me, and one for my buddy, Kate (who writes the newsletter, Oat Milk Latte Boutique). We might not have the same taste in music beyond Disney soundtracks or men when it comes to Skarsgårds, but we Venn diagram quite seamlessly when we’re talking about celebrity crushes.
I was also living the high of completing my first stint as an artist merchant at StickerCon. I might’ve been tired as hell from extroverting at that 4-day market, but my colleague-turned-bestie, Camille, reminded me to draw Manny. And so I stayed awake way past my bedtime, sketching Qimir—my favorite role of his.
Drawing a portrait for artists I look up to with the intention of giving it to them has become a bit of a tradition for me when I attend meet-and-greet events. These creative people—mostly from the world of heavy metal—have given me so much through their work, so personally handing them a little something I made myself is my way of saying thanks (and I love you).
Come the day of the fan meet, Kate and I drove to SM Mall of Asia looking cute as hell. Before heading down from the second floor, we cast our gaze upon the empty green and purple striped court below. A line of fans zigzagged from the entrance to who-knows-where, proving the shared love and excitement we felt for our new Pambansang Jawline ng Pilipinas. Without waiting another second, Kate and I went down, snagged our passes from registration, and planted ourselves at the barricade.
After the first half of the program, camera flashes went off like there was a rainstorm in our midst. Fan signs and photos of Manny Jacinto were raised overhead. Everyone was screaming, cheering for the man of the hour. And in that moment, we all knew Manny had arrived.
I rushed from the barricade to the red carpet, trying to find a way to reach him, but there were too many people in front of me. With my phone up and my thumb hitting the shutter as fast as it could go, I finally caught a glimpse of him from afar. And my god, Manny Jacinto is just as handsome in real life, if not more. Like really. I’d never seen anyone so handsome (sorry, Sho). He walked down the red carpet, stopping to take quick interviews from the press and beam that stunning smile for the fans. Slowly, he was coming my way, but there was a wall of tall Star Wars fans blocking me. I couldn’t let them stop me, but there was no room to budge. Suddenly, Kate called out from the barricade—she hadn’t followed me to the red carpet—and pointed to an opening to my right. I dashed over, squeezed myself in, and finally had the chance to offer my drawing to Manny.
“Manny, this is for you!” I said, my voice shaking from the rush.
”Wow!” His brows shot up in surprise. He asked, “For me?”
“Yeah, I made it for you!”
“Oh my god!” He held a hand to his heart; his expression softened. “Thank you so much!”
We took a selfie, and he continued down the red carpet, then made his way to the stage.
I returned to Kate, trembling, with actual tears in my eyes. Besides the joy I felt beating hard against my chest, my mind kept telling me, “Oh boy, you never would’ve done that if you were still media.” I might’ve been able to score a one-on-one interview with him in my previous life (there’s always a music angle somewhere), but I truly feel this was a moment I had to experience as a fan. A moment I would relive in my head over and over in the next seven days and seven nights.
I’ll never know if Manny actually kept my drawing (I saw someone who might’ve been his assistant holding it while he was onstage), but I’ll forever cherish the 10 seconds I had with him that Tuesday afternoon.
There’s a common saying that goes, “Never meet your heroes.” But I gotta tell ya, I’ve done it time and time again, and in some instances, even turned those heroes into clients for my design and illustration work. You could say that I’m lucky none of my heroes turned out to be assholes and blackened my soul with disappointment. The same goes for this celebrity crush in particular. Not only is he drop-dead gorgeous, but unbelievably sweet and genuinely kind, too.
So for now, I’d like to rephrase that timeless proverb, “never meet your heroes,” because besides the fact that I 100% support the goal of meeting them, I’d also want you to “meet your crushes.” Why? It’s simple—it’s a lot of fun. So, go forth, my friends. Sign up for that fan meet. Join the contests. Use your connections. Save up for that MAGIC VIP 1 pass to the meet and greet. You’re gonna have one helluva time.
Check out this lil recap video I made of me working on my drawing for Manny Jacinto and personally giving it to him at the red carpet:
This post originally appeared on my Substack newsletter, Karaland.