Aga Muhlach is every ounce a Peter Pan. He celebrated his 38th birthday last August 12 yet he has the demeanor of a 25-year old bachelor and the playfulness of a 16-year old boy. Now sporting a leaner figure, Aga is still into sports and lives a laid back life. After all, he has paid his showbiz dues as a young man and is now just enjoying the fruits of his labor.

        Yet, he is also very much a family man. He talks with much fondness about his twins, Atasha and Andres, and is very proud of his wife, Charlene Gonzales (“She’s going to Harvard for two weeks on a short course on real estate.”) He is also spending more time with Igi Boy, his son with former girlfriend Janice de Belen, and is very concerned about his future. With Igi, Aga is a father playing catch-up.

His birthday wishes, though, concerns his very own Neverland:
    1) for all the good things happening in his career to continue; and
    2) for the network wars to end soon.

“I certainly hope that the network wars will be over,” said Aga when he met the press for the promotion of his latest ABS-CBN sitcom, That’s My Doc. “It’s better if all stars are given the opportunity to work with the two giant networks, not tied down by either station because such situation seems to hinder their growth. It’s better if everyone is given the chance to work in either station and is able to promote their respective movies.”

He also finished a new movie under Star Cinema titled A Love Story, where he co-stars with Maricel Soriano and Angelica Panganiban for the first time. It also marks his reunion with award-winning director Maryo J. delos Reyes who directed him in his very first film, Bagets. Bagets, which Aga did when he was only 14, was the film that catapulted him into stardom.

“You can’t say no to Maryo J. delos Reyes,” recalls Aga. “He was my very first director, in the movie Bagets. And my first shooting day with him was in the swimming pool and I was only (wearing) brief. That was my first experience with him. Up to now, I still can’t forget that and I carry that experience with me. It’s nice to work with him again. He knows what he wants and it shows onscreen.”

He enjoyed doing the movie with Direk Maryo, certainly one of his favorite directors. Aga did some of his most memorable movies with him, including Joey Boy Munti which became his comeback project after his career suffered a slump when he became an unwed father at 18. He also did Sinungaling Mong Puso with Direk Maryo and it was in this film that he won two Best Actor awards.

“I trust him completely and I am confident that our reunion flick (A Love Story) will be one of the best films that we had made together. The movie is also special because it’s my first time to work with Maricel and Angelica, who are both excellent actresses,” says Aga.

Even before A Love Story hit the theaters, Aga has started shooting for another movie entitled Waiting for Love with Anne Curtis. It is under the direction of Joey Reyes, who directed Aga in the award-winning filmfest entry May Minamahal more than a decade ago. After this movie, he says he will rest for about six months before he shoots another film with Claudine Barretto.

Once again…Doc Aga

That’s My Doc is Aga’s TV comeback after a year away from the limelight. The sitcom, which started airing last July 29, shows Aga assuming the doctor role once again. Here he is Agaton Abogado, a pediatrician who sought greener pastures in the United States as a nurse but returned to the Philippines after a pang of homesickness and a quest for the true meaning of life hit him.

Aga’s role as a professional who wants to pay back family, friends and community will be the heart of the entire sitcom. It will not only make viewers laugh, but will also tackle health-related concerns and issues on the side. Since Aga is playing the role of a pediatrician, the viewers will be able to pick up bits of medical tips as well.

Direk Aga?

Aga has also taken a new sport called wakeboarding. This August 16 to 21, he is taking his whole family—wife Charlene, and his children including Igi Boy—to a new resort in Camarines Sur to go wakeboarding. He’s also taking an entourage of friends who are also into the sport.

At 38, Aga is open to doing more and more serious materials. Though he is tinkering with the idea of directing a film, (“Even now, I direct myself in some sequences of the movies I make”), he thinks that being a director involves too much responsibility.

”But if I can’t be a director, I can be an assistant director,” says Aga. “It’s hard to be a director kasi you’re on top of everything so you can’t afford to have mood swings. ‘Pag actor ka, puwede kung hindi ka in-the-mood. But if you’re the director, you have to take charge so having a mood swing is a big no-no.”

“But I still want to try other things. Siguro I can try to be an assistant if I can’t handle my temperament to be a director,” he says.