He also ventured into production, co-producing films, concert shows and events. In music, Richards has received several awards and nominations for his albums. His extended play Wish I May (2015) has been certified Diamond record by PARI, making it one of the best-selling albums in the Philippines.
Beyond his work in the entertainment industry, he devoted his time supporting various charitable causes, particularly in the area of literacy and education. He is the founder of AR Foundation Inc., a scholarship program that helps underprivileged students finish college. He serves as member of Mowelfund Inc. Board of Trustees since 2023.
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.[1] He is the second child in the family with an older brother and two younger sisters.[2] He is of American descent through his American paternal grandfather who died in California when he was only three years old.[3]
After modeling and male pageant stints,[7] Richards auditioned and secured the role of Joma in the afternoon series Alakdana, his first acting debut and was paired with Louise delos Reyes. For the role, he won a Golden Screen Television Award for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor and received nomination for New Male Television Personality at the 25th PMPC Star Awards for Television.[8] He was cast in a teen-drama series Tween Hearts and its film adaptation Tween Academy: Class of 2012.[9] He was also part of GMA' Sunday variety shows Party Pilipinas, Sunday All Stars and the comedy-horror series Spooky Nights.[10]
Richards appeared in films Ang Panday 2 replacing Aljur Abrenica role as Hubli[11] and The Road playing the teenager Luis Medina, his performance was praised by critics.[12] Some entertainment writers predicted that he would become the next big star of the network.[13] He appeared in supporting roles in My Beloved[14] and CBN Asia' UNOS (Calamity) in the 4th week special Tanikala.[15] 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.[16] His portrayal on the shows earned him a nomination for an Outstanding Performance by an Actor at the Golden Screen Television Awards.[17] On October 25, 2013, he signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network.[18]
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.[19] His self-titled album Alden Richards was released under Universal Records on May 26, 2013. 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.[20] He was featured as Myx Celebrity VJ for the month of June 2013.[21] Richards received New Male Recording Artist of the Year nomination at the 27th Awit Awards and 6th Star Awards for Music.[22]
In 2014, Richards was paired with Marian Rivera in Carmela.[23] 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 a Best Actor award in the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television.[24] He was the only nominee from his home network against a field of respected actors from the rival network.[25] He began hosting in Bet ng Bayan with Regine Velasquez. Richards acted opposite veteran actress Nora Aunor in a short-film Kinabukasan.[26]
2015–2021: Rise to prominence
In 2015, Richards became part of the longest-running variety noontime show Eat Bulaga! and appeared as co-host in That's my Bae segment.[27] On July 16, 2015, he was paired with Maine Mendoza accidentally in the segment of Juan For All, All for Juan and they became a loveteam known as AlDub.[28] Because of their popularity, a sketch comedy series called Kalyeserye was created for them; Richards played different roles including a fictionalized version of himself.[29]
Richards in his 2017 Upsurge concert
In August 2015, Richards signed a four-year film contract with APT Entertainment[30] and a recording contract with GMA Records.[31] His second album Wish I May was launched on October 17, 2015 in SM North Edsa.[32] 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 a month earlier for online downloading and streaming.[33] His song landed the top spot on iTunes (PH) Songs chart.[34] The sophomore album was certified gold record from Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) prior to its official released.[35]
In October 2015, his debut album Alden Richards earned gold record from PARI and ranked number 10 at the Billboard World's Album chart. [36] In the same month, Universal Records released a special edition of his debut album including AlDub theme song God Gave Me You by Bryan White, thus helping his album turned into platinum record in November.[37] His sophomore album Wish I May received 2x times platinum record in December 2015;[38] it turned 7x times platinum record by July[39] and earned a Diamond Record award from PARI in October 2016.[40]
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.[41] Richards was inducted into the Philippines Walk of Fame with Maine Mendoza, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros, his co-stars from Kalyeserye in Eastwood City, Quezon City.[42] He returned to big screen with Maine Mendoza in Imagine You and Me, directed by Michael Tuveira and the film was released on July 13, 2016.[43] The following year, they starred their first primetime television series Destined to be Yours, directed by Irene Villamore[44] and headlined Love is... a television film directed by Adolfo Alix Jr and produced by Eat Bulaga!.[45]
He released his book entitled Alden Richards: In My Own Words under Summit Media in July 2016.[46] 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.[47] He renewed his contract with GMA Network in September 2016.[48] In December that same year, he served as co-host at the 21st Asian Television Awards in Singapore.[49][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 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, he 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 Five Breakups and A Romance; directed by Irene Emma Villamor. The movie 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, Family of Two directed by Nuel Naval and produced by CineKo Productions. It was shown at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival.[60]
He 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 Single Drama Anthology National Winner at the 2024 Asian Academy Creative Awards.[61] The episode first premiered in August 2023. It was re-aired in January 2025.[62]
He joined the ensemble cast in the war-drama series Pulang Araw where he played the role of Eduardo Dela Cruz, directed by Dominic Zapata which aired on Netflix in July 2024.[63]
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".[66] In July 2012, Richards was on the cover of MEGA Magazine with Kapuso co-actors dubbed as "GMA's new breed of rising talents".[67] From this time on, he has continued to appear in a number of magazines,[68] while being featured in several endorsements.[69]
Philanthropy
Over the years, he has performed benefit concerts in support of GMA Kapuso Foundation, Anawim Foundation Home for the Elderly, Christian Family Movement, Fields of Dreams Children Charity Foundation, Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation, Klassikal Music Foundation and AR Scholarship Foundation.
After the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, Richards helped with the relief efforts initiated by GMA Kapuso Foundation.[70] For more than 10 years, he has supported Holy Trinity Home for Children, an orphanage in Quezon City. Since 2013, he would visit the orphanage by bringing foods, gifts and playing games with the abandoned kids.[71][72] He was part of Department of Health (DOH)Pilipinas Go4Health campaign which aimed to promote healthy lifestyle.[73]
He became Habitat for Humanity ambassador for Philippines in 2014.[74] For three years, he spent his time by building homes alongside other volunteers and families in Payatas, Quezon City.[75] He spent his post-birthday celebration with Aeta community in Tarlac for his outreach program in 2016[76] and he returned to build a school for them in 2019.[77]
Richards was in #NowPH Climage change campaign by National Youth Commission (NYC) and Climate Change Commission (CCC).[78] He became Boardwalk's ambassador for Young Emerging Sociopreneurs campaign which encouraged students to earn money while still in school[79] After joining Philippine Red Cross for 2015 Nation's Blood Drive project,[80] he returned to donate blood for Kapuso Foundation Blood letting project with Red Cross for two consecutive years.[81][82]
He participated in Make-A-Wish Foundation program for seriously ill-children in 2017.[83] The next year, he joined Dr. Vicky Belo outreach program for cancer patients at Philippine Children's Medical Center on Valentine's Day.[84] He helped build a school for cultural minorities known as Mangyan in Mindoro in 2019.[85] Richards became Ronald McDonald House of Charities (RMHC) ambassador in November 2019[86] and raised awareness by joining RMHC fund-raising events for learn to read program.[87]
In early 2020, he turned his restaurant into a donation house center and raised charity gifts and donations for affected residents of Taal Volcano eruption.[88] He was chosen by Department of Health (DOH) for Bida Solusyon campaign about COVID-19 prevention in July[89] and Resbakuna campaign to promote vaccination against the virus in August 2020.[90] In the same month, Richards became ambassador for Philippines End Tuberculosis campaign by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).[91] In November 2020, he run a donation drive with AR game live-streaming for victims of Typhoon Ulysses.[92][93]
He established the AR Foundation, Inc. (2021), a college scholarship program that supports low-income students. By August 2023, AR Foundation has 27 scholars and some of them have already graduated from college.[94][95] He became the newest Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) ambassador in 2022.[96] The following year, he participated in Century Tuna's Save our Seas campaign (SOS) for beach and coral reef clean-up drive in Batangas.[97]
Richards became the youngest member of Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund) in September 2023.[98][99] He joined Dingdong Dantes in celebrating Mowelfund 50th Anniversary and were introduced as members of Board of Trustees in March 2024.[100] At the event, his company helped set-up free medical mission with cash raffle prizes to 4,000 Mowelfund members. He donated a thousand McDonald's burgers with portable water alongside hot meals from Kapuso Soup Kitchen to victims of Typhoon Carina in Navotas in July 2024.[101]
Business
In 2016, Alden ventured in his first business and opened a restaurant in Tagaytay, Concha's Garden.[102] From a single branch, the restaurant now has a total of four branches located in Silang, Cavite and Tagaytay.[103] He also opened his very own franchise of McDonald's in Biñan, Laguna.[104]
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.[105]
In 2017, Richards revealed that his late-mother suffered from bipolar disorder all her life.[108] On December 5, 2023, he shared his personal struggles with severe depression for three months and considered leaving showbiz.[109] He also expressed of wanting to deepen his relationship with God whom he neglected during his down time.[110]
Richards, Alden (2016). Alden Richards: In My Own Words (First hardcovered.). Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Summit Publishing Co. ISBN9786214041244. OCLC1183439037.
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