15-Year Success: Sam Milby Looks Back On His Memorable Roles

15-Year Success: Sam Milby Looks Back On His Memorable Roles

By

Read an excerpt of this month’s MEGA Entertainment cover story on Sam Milby as he open ups about his fifteen-year career and the roles he’ll never forget.

Related: Sam Milby and JC de Vera On Beauty Inclusivity

“I’m also very aware how competitive this industry is. So knowing how lucky and blessed you are to have this work, to have projects knowing how many people wanna be in your shoes—it makes you grateful, but also pushes your drive for improvement. Showbiz and fame can be like a drug. If you don’t keep yourself grounded, you can lose yourself in all of the fame. But, I’m lucky to be surrounded by good people, they’ve kept me grounded through it all,” Sam expresses.

Despite this mindset, Sam also acknowledges he has an acting handicap and that is his American accent. For as many years, he’s been working to be dalubhasa in Tagalog and to this day, he is still doing lessons. When I asked him if he feels his accent limits the roles offered to him and typecasts him in some way, he admits it truthfully.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Because kung may accent, kailangan, o, taga-mayaman na pamilya dahil may accent, parang lumaki siya na Inggles ‘yung first language so that’s why may accent. So, it has to have that backstory. Hindi puwedeng taga-probinsya ka. I mean, probinsya, du’n siya lumaki tapos may accent siya? So, I’m limited in my acting roles ‘di ba?”

“My problem also is I’m an over thinker. So, kahit may mga times na parang feeling ko dalubhasa na ako, okay naman ‘yung accent ko pero dahil sa overthinking ko… I get into my head, and ‘yung kaba, it takes over. Mas lalo kapag galit ako sa Tagalog, nahihirapan ako because tumitigas ‘yung mouth ko and it just doesn’t come out naturally. And I’m not trying to make any excuses. But I am actively working on it.”

Even so, Sam has been known by his more iconic roles which he considers are the milestones in his career. 

“There’s a lot of projects that I’m proud of. When I went to the movie night premiere of And I Love You So and watched the film back for the first time, it was the first time that I didn’t see ‘Sam.’”

“And then during my first teleserye, Maging Sino Ka Man I felt like it was there that I began to grow in my confidence as an actor, which was a big thing for me given that I was someone with little to no acting experience at the time. And to also be included in a power cast. One of the most challenging roles for me was in Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala with Judy Ann Santos. It was my first time playing a dark, gray character. And of course, Halik. I’m proud of how my character was able to affect people,”  Sam proudly enumerates.

Sam was so proud of his portrayal of “Ace Corpus” in Halik because the audience was affected to the point that they would directly message him about how upset they were at Sam’s character and even directed their anger at Sam himself.

“A lot of people were galit na galit sa akin. I was scrolling instagram and saw that I was even receiving death threats. But for me—I don’t know if they were actually being serious. I even got a message for my handler, saying she loves me but she can’t see me right now cause she was so affected and mad at my character on the show. Which made me feel even more proud that someone so close to me was so hooked and affected by this show.”

Even with around 17 movies and approximately 11 teleseryes under his belt, in the future, Sam wants to pursue a genre apart from drama. He wants to get into action.

“I would love to do more action cause I’ve been into sports my whole life and I feel like I could showcase more of my athleticism through this genre. I would even like to do darker roles, because I just admire how actors can portray a character that’s so far from themselves. But my main goal continues to be improving my Tagalog and working on my accent, so I won’t be limited in roles in general,” Sam wishes.


Read more about Sam Milby opening up about his future plans with girlfriend Catriona Gray in MEGA Entertainment’s October 2021 issue available on ReadlyMagzterPress Reader and Zinio.

Photography DOOKIE DUCAY
Art direction NICOLE ALMERO
Grooming MAC IGARTA
Styling TON LAO
Shoot Coordination ANGELA JACOB
Special thanks to CHRISH CACHUELA, AVIGNON CLINIC, DIGISTAR and CORNERSTONE ENTERTAINMENT INC.

Order your print copy of this month's MEGA Magazine:
Download this month's MEGA digital copy from:
Subscribe via [email protected]