TO say that Mikael Daez’s path to fame has followed a formulaic path is to state the obvious. Use good looks to land a hamburger TVC that is certain to go in high rotation. Check. Use the TVC role as a springboard to a comedy-horror show where you are paired with no less than Marian Rivera. Check. Use this pairing as a door to the remake of a camp movie classic and show off your buff body there. Check. Parlay buff body to a role in an epicserye that will have you running around in a bahag. Check, check, check.

Not surprisingly, Mikael, who is a leading man-in-the-making on GMA, regards all that as just the beginnings of a career that he is earnest to fashion into something that will be notable beyond a fantastic body and a winning smile.

Is there anything Mikael can’t do? Well, as the fashion model-matinee idol-writer makes the transition to dramatic actor, we’re about to find out. He is one of the stars in the new GMA prime-time drama My Beloved, which premieres on Monday, February 13. It stars Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera.

Do you consider yourself a good actor?

No. First of all, I really don’t like those labels—you know, good, better, best. I am and will continually develop my craft. Right now, I’m a rookie. Before 2011, I never had any acting experience so I would like to learn as much from the people I work with, through the workshops I attend.

Where do you get this earnestness to learn so much about acting when you just started out last year?

I always want to learn. It’s like this tweet I sent before about Kobe Bryant. He’s a great basketball player but it doesn’t matter how far he’s gotten, he’s always willing to improve. And that’s the attitude I want to bring to this industry, and actually any industry I work in. It’s constant improvement that will keep you fulfilled at the end of the day.

You’ve been quoted as once saying about your love for acting: “Hindi naman sa love na love pero nagugustuhan ko.” Some people are so in love with showbiz that they’d do everything just to get even half of what you’ve had last year….

Well, if you’re asking if it’s like a one foot in and one foot out kind of thing, it’s not like. At first of course I was hesitant, but now I love this industry and I want to be successful in it. My commitment to it is 100 million percent.

When was that moment you discovered you’re really in love with what you do?

I had that perfect moment. In Amaya, there was a week where they were going to fully develop my character. So we shot this flashback, an intense scene when I went back to my village and learned that my wife had died, my father had died…. I tried to prepare myself the best that I could and I gave it my all. At the end of the scene, I knew that I had performed to the best of my capabilities and it felt so good. It felt, like, “Wow” and it was then that I realized that I can do this my whole life.

OK, enough about acting. Let’s talk about your love life. So what’s your status in Facebook?

I’m not much of a Facebook person (laughs). But I’m single.

What attracts you to a girl?

Conversation. I love conversations.  Physical? There’s no particular type I’m attracted to. She can be morena, mestiza….

So you’re type is a good conversationalist? What kind of conversations do you like?

Basta masarap kausap. There’s a connection.

So is Maegan Young a good conversationa-list?

(Laughs) She’s a good friend.

A good friend you have fabulous conversations with?

Yes. (Laughs)  But, seriously, we’re just friends. I have a lot of friends I have good conversations with.