Chinito heartthrob Xian Lim happily renewed his contract with VIVA for yet another five years. His contract signing was attended by Viva Content Creation & Development Senior VP Val Del Rosario, Viva Communications President & CEO Vincent Del Rosario, and Viva Artists Agency Head Veronique Del Rosario-Corpuz.

Xian first signed with VIVA’s talent management arm, VIVA Artists Agency, in 2017, from when his career had an overflow of projects — one after another as an actor in films, TV, and even behind the scenes as a writer and director.

“I’m very grateful to be part of this wonderful company…” he shared to the members of the media who attended his milestone event. “The relationship with Viva has been really healthy. Five years went by really fast. I guess, that’s because I’m having fun and at the same time, ang daming challenging roles na nabibigay. It feels like a really nice learning process para sa isang artist because you get to do new things.”

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Expectations versus reality

Xian did not expect to be as busy as a bee for the past five years of his career under the wings of VIVA.

He recalled, “It’s something that I really didn’t expect na I would be this busy and I would do different types of projects — as promised. Kadalasan naman dito sa industriya, [ang] hopes and expectations [ay] medyo nali-let down. That’s the truth. With this company, they really stayed true. Boss Vic, Ate VR, Boss Vincent stayed true to their promise na I would be very busy and they would provide me with a variety of roles and projects na pinapangarap ko, things I didn’t expect.”

He reminisced how memorable his previous projects were. “Very unexpected para sa akin,” he described his out-of-the-box film “Untrue” wherein he was paired with Cristine Reyes for the first time. It was directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo (‘Kita Kita’). “Very unexpected, para sa akin.”

VIVA’s bosses were all smile as they give their respective messages to Xian for his contract renewal.

‘Xian is a cornerstone leading man’

Veronique Del Rosario-Corpuz, the head of their talent management, said this to Xian:

“For Viva Artists Agency, we’re happy that he’s renewed his contract. It’s been a wonderful five years with Xian. He’s part of the family and we’re hoping, yung mga gusto mong magawa, magawa natin, especially yung pagdi-direct.

Boss Vincent’s message was full of flattering words for their multi-talented artist.

“For [Viva Films], obviously, more projects [are coming,]” he shared. “Xian is a cornerstone leading man for us. Never mababakante sa amin.”

There’s just so much Xian can do that Boss Vincent continued with how their hone Xian’s artistry.

“Of course, part of yung relationship namin is to harness yung kanyang creativity: yung kanyang pagdi-direct, pagsusulat. Masaya dahil bihira yung multi-hyphenated na aktor na maraming pwedeng gawin. [Here’s part of the] new blood in terms of being behind the camera. Yung pagiging artista naman niya, established na yan e! He gives us also flexibility sa mga kombinasyon ng ating mga artista — yung mga female artist. He can do drama, he can do light romance, comedy, medyo sports-related, action also.”

RELATED: Xian Lim, Louise Delos Reyes paired for the first time via 'Hanggang Kailan'

Second KimXi film, upcoming projects

Boss Vincent also gave hope for another film pairing for real-life couple Xian Lim and Kim Chiu.

“We did one during the pandemic. Hopefully we can do one again in this batch of movies na kasama namin si Xian,” he noted, referring to ‘Always,’ the Filipino adaptation of the 2011 South Korean movie of the same name which starred  So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo. That remake served as the couple’s reunion project on the big screen after seven years.

Xian reacted positively to his bosses’ messages.

“I take so much pride in being part of the Viva family. And it’s because I’ve learned so much,” he explained. “Hindi ko lang sinasabi na ‘O, may mga natutunan ako dito’… The work speaks for itself: sa variety of projects na naibigay nila sa akin. Really, I can’t help but learn a lot from different roles, from different genres na nabibigay po nila sa akin. And these are from the ends of the spectrum.”

Among the titles he was proud to have accomplished aside from ‘Untrue’ and ‘Always’ are the romantic series ‘Parang Kayo Pero Hindi,’ the romantic film ‘Hanggang Kailan’ with Louise Delos Reyes, and the light romcom ‘Miss Granny’ with Sarah Geronimo and James Reid.

RELATED: Box-office hit 'Miss Granny' reaches 100-million peso mark

“They really did stick to their promise and I’m very happy to be part of the family,” Xian emphasized with such joy.

Xian signed three contracts with his bosses present at the event held at VIVA’s headquarters in Ortigas.

He was happy to announce that he’s signing for his Viva Artists Agency contract apart from his Viva Films contract, and a new one for directing.

Currently seen in GMA Network’s primetime series ‘Hearts on Ice’ opposite Ashley Ortega in her first leading role, Xian will soon resume taping for his supposed first project with the network back in 2020 — the primetime series ‘Love, Die, Repeat’ with Kapuso Ultimate Star Jennylyn Mercado.

He is also set to do a series for Viva One (previously branded as Viva Prime) inside the Vivamax app. He will also start promoting for an upcoming romantic drama entitled ‘Sa Muli,’ where he is paired with Ryza Cenon, under the helm of young director Fifth Solomon. They got to finished this film which was first announced pre-pandemic.