In the three decades that he has been in the entertainment industry, we’ve certainly known how versatile and astounding actor “Lavender Fields” star Jericho Rosales is. But aside from acting, there are also other things that he is passionate about, one of which is motorcycle riding.
And we’re able to get a glimpse of that facet of him through his exclusive interview with Bianca Gonzalez for the latest episode of Cinema One’s online show, “The B Side.”
Passion for motorcycle riding
Their insightful conversation commenced with how his love for riding began. According to him, he actually got it from his father, Santiago Rosales, who used to be an insurance agent and traveled around the Philippines in his Kawasaki D300. He remembered his dad giving him a toy motorbike and a custom bicycle when he was still a kid, which apparently sparked his interest in the hobby.
While some probably have other people as guides in learning how to drive, Echo, as he’s fondly called by many, was able to figure it out on his own when he was 16. When he already started working, he managed to buy his first two units—a Yamaha R6 and a Vespa—out of his hard-earned money. Prior to having the said sport bike, he was already trying out motocross with his friends, until he decided to stop when he almost got squished by two buses while driving along Katipunan, as well as when he got busy with work.
Apart from the said motorcycles, he also got to purchase a classic bike that he usually uses in his rides. And just in case you missed it, he actually has a riding barkada called “The Brap Pack,” comprised of Paolo Abrera, Ryan Agoncillo, Drew Arellano, Odie Flores, Sid Maderazo, Javy Olives, and Todee Teodoro, who all apparently came from the creative industry.
They had their first-ever long ride in 2017, which was a tribute ride for his late father, who passed away that year, aptly called “Salute for Santiago.” His original plan was to go to Leyte by himself, for he wanted to replicate an old photograph of his dad posing at the San Juanico Bridge, but they expressed their willingness to join him in the three-day ride, which truly bonded them and tested their friendship. He may have lost his dad, yet he takes pleasure in gaining new friends.
When asked by Bianca what he finds enjoyable about riding two-wheels, the Kapamilya actor said, “These things really just introduce you to yourself, and you have nothing else to think about. You’ll have thoughts while you’re riding, but it’s just like flushing your thoughts out. That’s the good part, and then there’s nothing. There’s this like presence.”
He continued, “The whole time you’re riding the bike, you’re just present. You just hear yourself, and you hear your voice and you hear your thoughts. And sometimes you find answers to your questions, sometimes it just helps you realize certain things that you can’t find when there’s so much noise. That’s what strengthens the bond between me and riding.”
Jericho further regards riding as an electrifying and therapeutic experience that has helped him escape from reality, gain fresh ideas, and overcome burnout. It has also been instrumental for him in staying grounded all the time, making the best decisions, getting to know himself, and dragging people to his good crazy. For instance, he recalled riding on his motorcycle going to work to somehow shake off the stress and burnout that he was going through.
However, it was his out-of-the-country ride in Africa in 2023 that helped him get to know himself more after going through a tough year in 2022. He recounted going on a motorcycle journey in the Sahara Desert sans their phones for days with fellow riders from different parts of the world. They may have encountered several challenges during that scary yet epic and unforgettable sojourn, but that made him realize all his problems mean nothing in the desert and helped him gain new energy.
“I owe it to the people who know me best—my family, my friends, my loved ones. They told me to go on a journey just to get to know myself and to not turn my back on my art again. Because accepting that I am an artist and I have dreams and I have the power to reach my dreams, that’s what I discovered. And the only key is to really be brave and say, ‘I’m gonna go for it, for my dreams,” Jericho said.
Echo may come off as an adventure junkie, but he confessed that he would never-ever dare try skydiving since he's not keen on the idea of having no control, not to mention that he's scared of falling. However, the next adventure on his list will be as simple as swimming with big fish, such as butandings or whale sharks.
Working on “Lavender Fields”
The Asian Drama King may have stated before that he would never do teleseryes again, but he’s clearly changed his mind as he’s now part of the well-loved primetime series, “Lavender Fields.”
“I love it, really. When they offered this to me, may usapan kami with our creative supervisor, Joel Mercado, I said, ‘Don’t be scared. Write what you wanna write. If he needs to be bad, he’s bad, but with one condition: it’s not comical bad. It’s like bad because there’s a reason why he needs to be bad. Every person on this planet, however bad that person is, may konsensya ‘yan,” he said when asked what made him agree to do it.
Since his character Tyrone de Vera, a.k.a. Arthur Pelaez, has been missing the show, not much is known about him aside from the fact that he’s a really complex character. And he apparently hinted that viewers are going to find out more about him and what compelled him to carry out the things he did on the show soon.
When asked by Bianca if his character will have a redeeming factor, Echo responded that he didn’t want to give it away, but there is one thing for sure: that he’s really torn.
“He’s a man, a character, who always makes the wrong decisions, and he pays for that. It’s simple things that he wants, and ang laki ng price para sa kanya. So, kumbaga, he asks for something in life; he gets it, then ayaw niya na pala. So, binabalik niya. Gusto niya ng power, ng magandang buhay, kumapit siya sa patalim. E ayaw na niya. It’s hard to correct that, right? And the price to pay is huge,” he expounded.
Apart from the complexity of his character that brings viewers on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and it’s being different from the previous roles that he portrayed, he also loves it that all the little details of his relationship with other characters, such as Jasmine (Jodi Sta. Maria), Iris (Janine Gutierrez), and Vittorio (Edu Manzano), are all interconnected.
After all, he admitted that he would not have accepted this project if he knew that there’s "nothing more to work on or nothing to work with."
Other endeavors, learnings in life
Just when we thought that Jericho had indeed become a bum and taken a break from work during the past five years that he was not in front of the camera, he revealed that he actually did the series “Sellblock,” wherein he played the role of a sociopath.
He has also entered his filmmaker era as he and his ex-wife, Kim Jones, established inventory films, which they had to take down because of the pandemic. However, they’re able to shoot a film entitled “Eliseo” and produce her short films and other people’s projects during that time. He also mentioned having a comeback on the big screen via a Star Cinema movie that will be starred in and produced by him, which served as his payback to ABS-CBN after accepting the film that he had pitched to him.
With regard to what his recent experiences had made him realize, he implied that those have helped him discover more about himself, his craft, and the world he’s in.
“Acceptance is something that I discover. Tuloy-tuloy na work in terms of accepting things and being open. And I always say that it’s a “yes year” for me. I’m in a much lighter, more accepting, more open, more understanding artist-slash-person…I’m open to doing everything. That’s the comeback. The real come back is embracing everything that I am,” he said.
And lastly, when asked to describe his “B side,” or the other facet of him that not a lot of people know or see, he revealed that he’s actually not who we think him to be.
“I’m so transparent, I have the energy of a Golden Retriever on the set and when I’m with people. I guess, I still experience a great amount of shyness. I still experience a great amount of doubting myself, questioning my decisions. But I have a really great support group and friends that really remind me of who I am,” he related.
He added, “People think that I’m this confident person, a person who’s always just game. But I can be an introvert if I gave into it because I’m used to be one. I’m a trained extrovert.”
Now that he’s already in his 40s, he told Bianca that he has been learning so much about himself and his life at this age. Unlike other people his age, he doesn’t yearn to go back to who and where he was in his 20s since that was when a lot of “kabopolan” or shenanigans happened.
*Photo credit to Jericho Rosales IG and The Brap Pack IG