Kiko Matos

Kiko Matos
Born	Francisco Manabat Perestelo De Matos (1990-09-22) September 22, 1990 Macau
Nationality	Filipino
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Years active	2004 – present

Francisco "Kiko" Manabat Perestelo De Matos ^[1] (born September 22, 1990) is a Filipino-Portuguese actor.^[2] He is also an aspiring mixed martial arts fighter currently signed with Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC).^[3]

Early and personal life

Kiko Matos was born in Macau on September 22, 1990 to a Portuguese father and a Filipino mother.^[4] He has a brother named Gonzalo Matos, who played Arnold in Jason Paul Laxamana's Love is Blind.

Raised in Parañaque, Kiko attended Ann Arbor Montessori when he was in high school. When he was young, he would travel every year to his father’s hometown in Lisbon, Portugal.

Career

Kiko's career on television started in 2004 when he joined the ABS-CBN talent competition TV Idol where he became one of the finalists along with Ahron Villena, AJ Dee, JE Sison and Marc Cortez. Among the actresses he has worked with as a young actor were Shaina Magdayao and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, who was then using the screen name Pia Romero. Kiko was introduced as a film actor in 2013 in Laxamana's Babagwa (Spider's Lair), and in 2014, he starred in Mumbai Love opposite Solenn Heussaff.

Since Babagwa and Mumbai Love, Kiko has been a regular in independent films, most of which were entries to local and international film festivals. His manager is veteran entertainment journalist Mell T. Navarro.

Cinemalaya Film Festival

Babagwa was an entry to Cinemalaya Film Festival in 2013. In 2014, Kiko returned to the festival with Edna, the directorial debut of Ronnie Lazaro. Two years later, Kiko played a supporting role in the historical film Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli, which was the closing film of 2016 Cinemalaya Film Festival. It was directed by Gil Portes.

In 2017, Kiko is part of two entries to the festival, namely Ang Guro Kong Hindi Marunong Magbasa and Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha. The latter marked the first time he co-starred in a film with Sharon Cuneta, the Philippines’ Megastar.

Metro Manila Film Festival

In 2015, Kiko played a supporting character in Nilalang, also known as Sonzai-sha in Japanese and Entity in English. Starring Cesar Montano and Maria Ozawa, the Filipino-Japanese action horror film won five awards at the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival.

In 2016, Kiko starred in his second MMFF movie Kabisera. It was the first time he co-starred in a film with Nora Aunor, the Philippines’ Superstar.

Cinefilipino Film Festival

In 2013, Kiko was part of the cast of Bingoleras, which earned the Jury Prize nomination at Cinefilipino Film Festival. In 2016, he returned to the festival playing his first gay role in David Fabros’s directorial debut Straight to the Heart.

Sineng Pambansa Horror Plus Film Festival

Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli was not Kiko's first film with Portes. The actor starred opposite Krista Miller in the late director's 2014 Sineng Pambansa Horror Plus Film Festival entry Hukluban.

C1 Originals Film Festival

In 2015, Kiko starred in two C1 Originals Film Festival entries namely Dahling Nick and Bukod Kang Pinagpala.

QCinema Film Festival

Kiko co-starred with Benjamin Alves and Phoebe Walker in the 2015 QCinema Film Festival entry Gayuma. In 2016, Kiko and Walker reunited in the short film Unconventional.

World Premieres Film Festival

Two films under the Filipino New Cinema category of World Premieres Film Festival 2015 featured Kiko. He starred with Paulo de Vera, Hazel Faith Dela Cruz, Coleen Perez, Lara Villar and Elston Jimenez in Sino Nga Ba Si Pangkoy Ong? and with Ruben Maria Soriquez, Polo Ravales and Sue Prado in Of Sinners and Saints.

Singkuwento International Film Festival

Kiko, Felix Roco and Angela Cortez played the lead characters in Jill Singson Urdaneta’s Partee, which was screened at 2015 Singkuwento International Film Festival.

Sinag Maynila Film Festival

Kiko played a criminal in Expressway, one of the films at 2016 Sinag Maynila Film Festival.

ToFarm Film Festival

Kiko reunited with Laxamana in Instalado, an entry to 2017 ToFarm Film Festival. It was the actor and the director’s first time to participate in the festival of films about agriculture.

Madrid International Film Festival

Kiko was in the supporting cast of Joel Lamangan’s Sekyu, which was featured at the 2016 Madrid International Film Festival.^[5] Among Kiko’s co-stars in the film were Allen Dizon and Kristoffer King, who both have starred in several films directed by 2009 Cannes Film Festival Best Director Brillante Mendoza.

International Independent Film Awards

After World Premieres Film Festival 2015, Of Sinners and Saints was submitted as the Italian entry to the Cine Europa Film Festival 2016. It also competed at the 2016 International Independent Film Awards in Los Angeles, California.^[6]

Busan International Film Festival

After Sinag Maynila Film Festival, Expressway was screened in 2016 at the 21st Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea.^[7]

Aside from independent films, Kiko has also been featured in several mainstream movies, three of which were released in 2016. He played supporting roles in Gitana Film Productions’ Higanti starring Jay Manalo and Assunta De Rossi and in Star Cinema’s The Super Parental Guardians starring Vice Ganda and Coco Martin.

In Regal Films’ Love is Blind, Kiko had two reunions. Heussaff was one of his co-stars in the fantasy-comedy film directed by Laxamana.

Controversy

In 2016, Kiko made headlines with Baron Geisler, younger brother of taekwondo Olympian Donnie Geisler, due to the social experiment they both participated in. It was part of a documentary titled Beastmode,^[8] which has yet to be released.

On June 25, 2016, Kiko and Baron had an MMA bout, which ended in a draw.^[9] After this, the former started to train regularly and on October 29, 2016, he won bronze in his division at the Arte Suave Manila 2016 headed by URCC referee Franco Rulloda.

On December 18, 2016, Kiko was scheduled to fight Ranny "The Champ" Chak but the match was cancelled due to a broken rib injury of the former. On June 19, 2017, URCC President Alvin Aguilar announced in a press conference that Kiko and Mark "Mugen" Striegl are in the fight card in an upcoming MMA event on August 12, 2017 at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines. Baron attended the event and challenged Kiko for a rematch.^[10]

In 2017, Kiko and Baron are among the guest actors featured in Mendoza’s TV5 series "AMO,” which stars Roco, Dizon, Derek Ramsey and Vince Rillon. It was Kiko’s first time to work with the first and still the only Filipino filmmaker to win Best Director at Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography

References