Mario Maurer Talks About Life, Love, Fans and 2012 Career Plans

Mario Maurer Talks About Life, Love, Fans and 2012 Career Plans

By now, Mario Maurer is a certified celebrity… a big star not just in Thailand but also here in the Philippines—as demonstrated by the rabid reception he has received from his ardent, screaming fans with point-and-shoots and SLRs during both his visits to the country. But why is his name on a toilet?

On ten of them, in fact. But it’s not too weird when he reveals the reason behind it.
Hope Floats

This year’s monsoon season wreaked havoc in Thailand, affecting Bangkok and surrounding neighborhoods and flooding most provinces in the south. By now, the ongoing flooding has affected over 12 million people, with damages reaching 1,440 billion baht (US$45 billion) as estimated by the World Bank as of this month.

Naturally, Mario is not going to sit around enjoying the perks of his growing popularity without lending a hand to his struggling countrymen. His idea? Build toilets.

“I took my money and I hired people to make [them],” he shares with Bulletin Entertainment and other members of the press backstage after Penshoppe’s The Encore event at SMX on December 13. “Because the flood is very high; [in] some [places the water is] like one storey-high. There are no place to go for toilet so I [had people make] toilets that can float on the water.”

He adds, “It’s not easy to do, it’s very big [he points to a corner of the interview area].” He describes the floating toilets as having tanks underneath. “It’s a very nice toilet,” he says.

But a funny thing happened on the way their destination. “I ordered it… I said I wanted 10, I didn’t tell them a word that I wanted my name on [them]. And they come in pickups; and every pickup has ‘toilet… toilet… toilet…’ Ten pickups that came from another city very far away… and on the door is like, ‘Mario Maurer…’”

Well, there are worse things that a celebrity’s name can be associated with, but at least the Mario-branded loos have a higher purpose.


Fan Love

More than the celebrity that being an actor accords him, he says, “When I do a new role, like new movie [or a] new drama, it’s like a challenge for me because you don’t know what you’re going to do. Like, you know the role, but you don’t know what it is exactly you’re going to say or do tomorrow or something.”

But behind the frenetic life of a showbiz personality, Mario stays true to himself because he is level-headed enough to keep in mind that “we’re regular people… just like any other…” Add to this, his relationship with his long-time girlfriend keeps him grounded. In fact, when asked if he knew that his upcoming co-star Erich Gonzales [for a Star Cinema movie they are scheduled to shoot in 2010] revealed that he already had a girlfriend and if he was shocked or mad about it, he replied dispassionately, “I absolutely feel nothing. It’s okay…”

Of his girlfriend, who is also an actress in Thailand, he says, “We’ve known each other for a long time—like seven years” and reveals they’ve also been in a relationship that long. “So we’re friends. Her best friend is my best friend.”

But he says his fans are cool with it. “Maybe a long time ago, the fans don’t like it if you have a girlfriend. But I think nowadays they understand it—[that] even if you are a movie star, you [also] have a normal life. It doesn’t mean you have to be a movie star 24 hours… [that] you cannot get out of it.”

The Life of a Star

While lamenting the loss of privacy, especially when he’s out with friends—in a mall, for instance—who have to wait around on the side for him when he runs into a group of fans who want their photos taken with him, he nevertheless says, “It’s hard but I understand. I get used to it and everything…"

And he enjoys the little surprises that go with it, like this Penshoppe endorsement he scored [after the British “Gossip Girl” actor Ed Westwick], as well as his giant billboard on the busiest section of EDSA.

“It got me shocked because the billboard is so big. In Thailand, I never had [a] huge billboard [like that]. This is the biggest billboard for me in my life,” he says onstage at The Encore, his comeback fashion show following his successful appearance on Fashion Week just last October.

While he reveals that “most of the money [my] spent on the clothes,” given that he is in showbiz, he also gets a kick out of his endorsement because he now has “like 30 jeans at home of Penshoppe. I wear, like, [one on] Monday, Tuesday another one, Wednesday another one…”


Message to Pinoy Fans

Like many celebrities, Mario also reaches out to fans via social networking sites. An active Twitter user, he never forgets to say hi to his Filipino fans—whom he describes as “very sexy”—especially before he visits.

“I want to tell all my Filipino fans, thank you very much for supporting me. And all the tweets you tweet me, I appreciate them. If I didn’t answer you, I will try to answer all of you. My phone is very bad lately; I want to change my phone. And if I have enough time I will answer all of you,” he tells his adoring public on stage, where he would also be presented with a birthday cake [a belated surprise for his Dec. 4 birthday] and the crowd’s rousing delivery of the birthday song.

A Busy 2012

Mario returns to the Philippines sometime in 2012, mainly to shoot first movie here. While he is still hoping to get to go to the beach of his choice, Joyce Ramirez of PR Asia interjects, “We’re shooting the movie in a far off location, that’s all we can say about it.”

When asked if there is a role he wants to play in the future, Mario notes—with a little help from Joyce—that he would be thrilled to do something for “CSI.” Being that PR Asia also does the publicity here for AXN, which shows the “CSI” franchise, it might not be an impossible goal. “It’s more than a dream because ‘CSI’ is something I watch with my father. It’s something I learned English from. And it would be great if I could play a part or I get a role there,” Mario says.

For now, though, he’s also gearing up for a concert in Thailand with four other actors from Channel 3. “Now I am starting to do dancing and singing,” he relates, hoping to improve his dancing skills, as seen on a YouTube clip where he busted out a less-than-stellar performance of the Dougie. He also sang in a track on his brother’s album, “but they’re trying to change my voice or something. My voice is no good, so they’ll try to make it good,” he admits sheepishly.

If his lessons work, maybe his next live appearance in the country will already be for a real show.

- Source