Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. (born January 2, 1992), known professionally as Alden Richards, is a Filipino actor, entrepreneur and television personality. Known for his leading man roles in romantic and historical drama in movies and television. His accolades include a Seoul International Drama Award,[1] a U.S. International Film and Video Festival 2018 Gold Camera Award,[2] a FAMAS Award, and five Star Awards for Movies, in addition to nominations for a Gawad Urian and two Metro Manila Film Festival Awards.
Outside of acting, Richards also ventured into production, co-producing films, concert shows and events. In music, his second extended play Wish I May (2015) has been certified diamond by the PARI, making it one of the best-selling albums in the Philippines.
Early Life and education
Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. was born on January 2, 1992, in Quezon City and raised in Sta. Rosa, Laguna to Richard Peralta Faulkerson Sr. and Rosario Reyes Faulkerson.[3] He is the second child in the family with an older brother and two younger sisters.[4] He is of American descent through his American paternal grandfather who died in California when he was only three years old.[5]
Richards studied at Paco Catholic School in Paco, Manila and graduated from high school at Colegio de Santa Rosa de Lima.[6] He attended college at De La Salle University-Canlubang with a degree in Business Administration but his studies was put on hold when his mother died from chronic pneumonia in 2008.[7] To help his family, he pursued his mother' dreams for him to become an actor and adopted the stage name Alden Richards.[8]
Richards appeared in films Ang Panday 2 replacing Aljur Abrenica role as Hubli[13] and The Road playing the teenager Luis Medina, his performance was praised by critics.[14] Some entertainment writers predicted that he would become the next big star of the network.[15] He appeared in supporting roles in My Beloved[16] and CBN Asia' UNOS (Calamity) in the 4th week special Tanikala.[17] His first primetime television appearance started when he was offered the lead role of Tisoy in One True Love and Jerome in Mundo Mo'y Akin with Louis delos Reyes.[18] His portrayal on the shows earned him an outstanding performance nominations at the Golden Screen TV Awards.[19] On October 25, 2013, he signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network.[20]
As a recording artist, Richards debuted in Party Pilipinas #SummerCrush episode. In April 2013, he launched his first single Haplos, a revival of Shamrock hit song which was released on iTunes and MyMusic Store.[21] On May 26, 2013, his self-titled album Alden Richards was released under Universal Records. Three of his songs were used as a soundtrack in other television series with Haplos in Mundo mo'y Akin while his other songs Di na Mababawi at Sa Aking Tabi were used in the comedy-drama series With a Smile and the Filipino-dubbed Korean series Seoyoung, My Daughter.[22] He was featured as Myx Celebrity VJ for the month of June 2013.[23] Richards received New Male Recording Artist of the Year nomination at the 27th Awit Awards and 6th Star Awards for Music.[24]
In 2014, Richards was paired with Marian Rivera in Carmela.[25] His song Naalala Ka from his debut album was used as the end theme song for the series. He starred in a lead role as José Rizal in historical drama series Ilustrado whom he won his first best actor award in the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television.[26] He was the only nominee from his home network against a field of respected actors from the rival network.[27] He began hosting in Bet ng Bayan with Regine Velasquez. Richards acted opposite veteran actress Nora Aunor in a short-film Kinabukasan.[28]
In 2015, Richards became part of the longest-running variety noontime show Eat Bulaga! and appeared as co-host in That's my Bae.[29] On July 16, 2015, he was paired with Maine Mendoza accidentally in Juan For All, All for Juan segment and they became a loveteam known as AlDub.[30] Because of their popularity, a sketch comedy series called Kalyeserye was created for them; Richards played different roles including a fictionalized version of himself.[31]
In August 2015, Richards signed a four-year film contract with APT Entertainment[32] and a recording contract with GMA Records.[33] He launched his second album Wish I May on October 17, 2015, in SM North Edsa.[34] The album contained two original songs and the rest were renditions. The first single Wish I May was an original composition by Agat Obar-Morallo and was released earlier for online downloading and streaming in September 2015.[35] His song landed on iTunes top spot Philippines song charts.[36] His sophomore album earned gold record award from Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) prior to its official released.[37]
In September 2015, his debut album Alden Richards earned gold record from PARI; it ranked number 10 at Billboard World's Album chart and it turned platinum by November 2015.[38][39] The following month, Universal Records released a special edition of his debut album including AlDub theme song God Gave Me You by Bryan White. His sophomore album Wish I May received 2x times platinum record award in December 2015;[40] it turned 7x times platinum by July[41] and earned a Diamond Record Award from PARI in October 2016.[42]
In December 2015, Richards and Maine Mendoza co-starred in My Bebe Love: KiligPaMore alongside Vic Sotto and AiAi delas Alas, directed by Jose Javier Reyes, which was an official entry to 41st Metro Manila Film Festival.[43] Richards was inducted into the Philippines Walk of Fame with his Kalyeserye co-stars in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City.[44] He returned to big screen with Maine Mendoza in Imagine You and Me released on July 13, 2016.[45] The following year, they starred their first primetime television series Destined to be Yours[46] and headlined Love is... a television film directed by Adolfo Alix Jr and produced by Eat Bulaga!.[47]
He released his book entitled Alden Richards: In My Own Words under Summit Media in August 2016.[48] Aside from being a regular host in Eat Bulaga! and Sunday PinaSaya, he appeared as guest star in Lip Sync Battle Philippines, That's my Amboy and the reboot fantasy series Encantadia.[49] He renewed his contract with GMA Network in September 2016.[50]
Richards played the lead role as real-life activist Bonifacio Ilagan in the docudrama Alaala: A Martial Law Special.[51] The show premiered in September 2017, co-starred Bianca Umali, Rocco Nacino, and Gina Alajar and directed by Adolfo Alix Jr. and written by Bonifacio Ilagan.[51] The special won the silver medal at the New York Festival TV and Film Awards.[52] Richards and program manager Joy Madrigal received the award.[53] In 2018, he played the titular role of Victor Magtanggol, an action-drama fantasy series.[54]
After being on movie hiatus for almost 3 years, Richards was paired with Kathryn Bernardo in Star Cinema's Hello, Love, Goodbye, directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina in 2019. The film became the highest grossing Filipino movie of all time.[55]
In March 2023, Richards returned to Eat Bulaga! after a year-long hiatus from the show, focusing on other projects including the TV series Start-Up PH in 2022.[58]
Richards and Julia Montes starred in a movie Five Breakups and A Romance; this was the first-ever collaboration of GMA Pictures, Cornerstone Studios, and Myriad Entertainment.[59] In an interview, Sharon Cuneta revealed that she and Richards would be featured in a film by director Nuel Naval, Family of Two (A Mother And Son Story), produced by CineKo Productions. It was shown at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival.[60]
Richards played the lead role in Magpakailanman: Sa Puso't Isipan with co-starred Chris Villanueva, Jackie Lou Blanco, Dave Bornea, Therese Malvar and was directed by Gina Alajar. The episode won for Best Drama Anthology National Winner at the 2024 Asian Academy Creative Awards.[61] The episode first premiered in August 2023; it was aired again in January 2025.[62] He joined the ensemble cast in Pulang Araw and played Eduardo Dela Cruz, directed by Dominic Zapata which aired on Netflix in July 2024.
Aside from being an actor, Alden Richards has also done modeling stints. In 2010, he ranked 4th on the list of Candy Magazine's "Celebrity Cuties".[65] In July 2012, Richards was on the cover of MEGA Magazine with Kapuso co-actors dubbed as "GMA's new breed of rising talents".[66] From this time on, he has continued to appear in a number of magazines,[67] while being featured in several endorsements.[68]
Philanthropy
After the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Richards helped with the relief efforts initiated by GMA Network.[69] He became ambassador for Habitat for Humanity Philippines in 2014.[70] For three years, he spent his time by building homes alongside other volunteers and families in Payatas, Quezon City.[71][72] He spent his post-birthday celebration by visiting Aeta community in Tarlac for his outreach program in 2016[73] and he returned to build a school for them in 2019.[74]
He became Boardwalk's ambassador for Young Emerging Sociopreneurs (YES) campaign which encouraged students to earn money while still in school.[75] and he also joined the Share Campaign with part of the proceeds went to charity in 2015.[76] He was part of Tamang Panahon benefit concert by Eat Bulaga for AlDub Library construction in different schools.[77] He participated in #NowPH Climage change campaign by National Youth Commission (NYC) and Climate Change Commission (CCC).[78]
Richards supported children' charity with serious diseases[79] and a benefit concert entitled For The Love Of Mama in 2015.[80] After joining Philippine Red Cross for 2015 Nation's Blood Drive project,[81] he returned to donate blood for Kapuso Foundation Blood letting project with Red Cross for two consecutive years.[82][83] In August 2016, Richards announced his plans to have his own foundation.[84] Six years later, he launched the AR Foundation, Inc. an educational scholarship for underprivileged children.[85] He helped build a school for cultural minorities known as Mangyan in Mindoro in 2019.[86]
In 2023, he participated in Century Tuna's Save our Seas campaign (SOS) for beach and coral reef clean-up drive and was joined by over 200 volunteers in collecting trash in Anilao, Batangas.[91]
Richards became the youngest member of Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund) in September 2023.[92] In the next year, He joined Dingdong Dantes in celebrating Mowelfund 50th Anniversary and were introduced as members of Board of Trustees.[93][94]
Business
In 2016, Alden ventured in his first business and opened a restaurant in Tagaytay, Concha's Garden.[95] From a single branch, the restaurant now has a total of four branches located in Silang, Cavite and Tagaytay.[96] He also opened his very own franchise of McDonald's in Biñan, Laguna.[97]
In 2022, he established his own multimedia company, Myriad Entertainment Corporation, a company that organized the reunion concert of rock band Eraserheads entitled Huling El Bimbo, where Richards served as the co-producer.[98]
In 2017, Richards revealed that his late-mother suffered from bipolar disorder all her life.[101] On December 5, 2023, he shared his personal struggles with severe depression for three months and considered leaving showbiz.[102] He also expressed of wanting to deepen his relationship with God whom he neglected during his down time.[103]
Richards, Alden (2016). Alden Richards: In My Own Words (First hardcovered.). Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Summit Publishing Co. ISBN9786214041244. OCLC1183439037.
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