Will Ashley: From Spotlight to Self
Will Ashley, a former child star—and now Pinoy Big Brother breakout star—has always considered himself a closed-off person. Here, he opens up to Allure Philippines about how his stint inside Bahay ni Kuya actually helped him break down his walls.
For someone who’s practically grown up under the spotlight as a child actor, landing his first role in GMA Network’s Villa Quintana at age 11, you wouldn’t expect Will Ashley to come across as… shy. But that’s precisely the vibe he gives off—timid, reserved, and, yes, a little shy. He sits quietly in his chair, cap slung low across his eyes, but it really becomes apparent when he begins to speak, in an octave so low that the voice recorder barely picks it up.
Borgy Angeles
It’s a stark contrast from the Will Ashley on our screens—that is, when he’s taking on one of the many complex roles that he’s already pulled off with aplomb, garnering praise and accolades from critics and colleagues alike. That Will Ashley loudly announces his presence and demands your attention, no matter which persona he is taking on— whether it’s as Enzo, the son of Marian Rivera’s character in Balota, or as Xander alongside Ina Raymundo in X & Y, or as Jerry, opposite fellow housemate Bianca de Vera in the GMA and ABS-CBN network collaboration series Unbreak My Heart.
But Ashley is the first to admit that, for the longest time, despite living in the public eye for years, people have only known him through the characters he’s played. “Never ko na-express sarili ko dati, kasi takot talaga ako ma-judge,” he shares quietly. His reluctance to share wasn’t limited to exposing his real self to the adoring public, but also included opening up even to those around him. “’Di talaga ako ma-conversation dati with other people,” he explains. “Sobrang closed talaga ako as a person. Ang taas ng walls ko.”
Those walls, it seems, are slowly coming down. Today, despite the soft-speaking tones, Ashley readily shares details of his life, of his time on Pinoy Big Brother, of his own personal takes on wellness and health, and it’s all, ironically, thanks to his time inside Bahay ni Kuya.
How exactly did such an unexpected outcome come to pass? It seems, as per Ashley’s thoughtful musings, the isolated environment, so effectively cut off from the noise of the outside, served as the perfect backdrop for him to just be himself. “Hinayaan ko din sarili ko mag-explore sa loob ng bahay,” he shares. “And aside from that, the people around me inside the house, they kept telling me ‘Ilabas mo yun, ikaw yun eh. As long as nagpapakatotoo ka sa sarili mo, at wala kang tinatapakan na ibang tao, okay na ‘yun.’”
As he underscores the importance of support from one’s own community in breaking out of one’s shell, it’s impossible to discount Ashley’s own background as a child star—which couldn’t have been easy to navigate for a young boy.
When he was six years old, his father died. “Ever since, kami lang talaga ni Mommy ang magkasama,” says “Ang Mama’s Dream Bae ng Cavite,” Ashley’s given moniker upon entering the Big Brother house. The bond between mother and son runs deeper than deep, with Ashley taking on the role of breadwinner as his showbiz career took off.
Still, the entertainment industry is not for the faint of heart, and it’s easy to imagine the toll that rejection and demands can take on a child. Showbiz, Ashley states pointedly, is very, very stressful and full of pressure. “Grabe yung mga pinagdaanan ko before. Halos araw-araw naming iniiyakan ng mommy ko,” he shares, without going into specifics, but explaining how it has affected him—profoundly it seems, enough to build boundaries around himself.
Again, surprisingly, it was in the Pinoy Big Brother house that Ashley found a somewhat antithesis of the showbiz environment, which allowed him to rip down those walls and slowly bring the real Will Ashley out. It’s a fundamental change in him (“Sobra talaga.”) that he attributes to the love and support that his housemates gave him, from which he began to draw his confidence from. “Sa kanila ako nakakuha ng kumpiyansa para sa akin at sa personality ko. Meron pala akong kulit na mailalabas sa mga tao,” he says with a small chuckle.
That’s not to say that his stay in the PBB house was a bed of roses—not at all. It was in revisiting his why that Ashley found the strength to soldier on. “Of course, I knew that this (PBB) could help my career. Ito yung bagay na pinagdadasal ko dati pa, na sana mangyari sa akin,” he says frankly, explaining that a good career would allow him to give his beloved mother, Mindy, a good life. Providing for his mother is the best thing he does, Ashley says.—making sure “na nakaka-kain kami ng maayos, na nakakatulog kami sa bahay na maayos, na nakaka-travel kami.”
Borgy Angeles
Today, though, his why has a new addition: himself—the self that he’s just recently met, and is raring to introduce to the rest of the world. “I’m super happy that after all these years na nasa industriya ako, nailabas ko na sarili ko. Sa interviews or guestings, na-e-express ko na sarili ko,” he shares. “At natutunan ko din not to live with regrets, so, whenever I do something, I make sure to give one hundred percent.”
Will Ashley has always dominated his space on screen. Finally, he’s beginning to learn how to own his own space off camera.
Grab a copy of Allure Philippines’ Wellness Issue here.
Production design: Justine Arcega-Bumanlag
Photographer’s assistants: Rojan Maguyon and Pao Mendoza
Grooming: Myckee Arcano
Hair: Myckee Arcano
Styling: Joy Bernardo and Jolo Bayoneta of StyLIZed Studio, assisted by Jethro Barrietta, Ayi Custodio , Ashley Jamlang, Beatrize Lagco, and Stephanie Satorre
Art direction: Nicole Almero
Beauty direction: Trina Epilepsia Boutain
Writers: Leira Aquino and Lia Cruz
Special thanks to Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition and Sparkle GMA Artist Center .
