ALDEN Richards will play a man who will be gifted with clairvoyance. Above photo shows him in character as Sep with his newest TV mother, Jo Berry as Strawberry.

“When The Gift was first presented to me, I got really excited to do a teleserye again. After seeing the plot, I thought that this was a story very close to the hearts of many Filipinos. Let’s face it, viewers love drama and they love stories like this,” Alden said in mostly Filipino during the event.

Alden admits this is his first time to portray a character like Sep who goes through a lot in life but remains headstrong and resilient. “In this series, my character will have to make a lot of difficult choices, most of them based on how he was raised and also when he finds out about his true identity. The challenge for me is how I will be able or translate that for viewers to appreciate,” he noted.

As part of his preparation for the role, Alden said he underwent immersion sessions with the visually-impaired at Resources for the Blind Inc. in Cubao, Quezon City.

“I interviewed many of the blind people there and many of them were not born that way but lost their sight because of sickness, because of an accident, among other reasons. I can feel how depressed they are because they no longer have something we often take for granted. For most of us, it’s normal to see everything but to lose that in an instant, it’s very painful and not easy to accept,” he mused.

Having interacted with several blind individuals made Alden all the more inspired to share their stories through his character in The Gift. “That’s what I want and hope viewers will take away from watching our series — to get to know and better understand our visually-disabled brothers and sisters and what they had to go through every day.”

The 27-year-old actor recently dubbed as Asia’s Multimedia Star was honored last month with the Asian Star Prize award from the Seoul International Drama Awards. Right about the same time, his latest film, Hello Love Goodbye, made history when it exceeded the P800-million mark to officially become the highest grossing film ever produced in the Philippines.

Now, Alden is back to warm the hearts of millions of televiewers with GMA Network’s new primetime soap, The Gift. Directed by LA Madridejos, the inspirational drama features a strong supporting cast that includes Jean Garcia, Jo Berry, Elizabeth Oropesa, Mikee Quintos, Martin del Rosario, Christian Vasquez, Rochelle Pangilinan, Mikoy Morales, Tetay, Betong Sumaya, Luz Valdez, Ysabel Ortega, Thia Thomalla and TJ Trinidad.

In the series, Alden plays Sep, a Divisoria vendor who got separated from his mother Nadia (Jean Garcia) when he was still a child. Adopted by his Nanay Strawbery (Jo Berry), a fruit vendor and Lola Char (Elizabeth Oropesa), he loses his eyesight in a near-death accident but in the process gains the gift of clairvoyance or the ability to see things beyond the naked eye.

The Gift will have its world premiere today, 16 September, and will air weeknights, after Beautiful Justice on GMA Telebabad.

JEAN Garcia plays Alden’s biological mother, Nadia.

Kapuso viewers from across the globe can also catch their favorite Kapuso shows via GMA’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV and GMA News TV International. For the program guide, visit www.gmapinoytv.com.