Dimming light: Rhed Bustamante’s career

Six years ago, Rhed called “Baby Rhed” first shone in “It’s Showtime” in the show’s Bida Kapamilya segment – where she was invited to be part of the family. She soon vanished from the show a few months after, but was seen on television screens and big screens in the shoes of different characters. (Photo: Rhed Bustamante/Facebook)

Celebrities can be compared to the twinkling stars in the blanket of the dark sky at night. Some are small (or scientifically speaking, farther), some are bright, some are dim and there are different colors. Not all stars are noticeable. Not all are seen. Not all enlighten the night.

Unfortunately, the world to stardom is not all about the flashing lights, the screaming fans, and the cues of the director. The path to fame is embedded with the uncertainty of staying in it.

This was probably one of the earliest lessons that the 11-year old Rhed Bustamante learned.

Six years ago, Rhed called “Baby Rhed” first shone in “It’s Showtime” in the show’s Bida Kapamilya segment – where she was invited to be part of the family. She soon vanished from the show a few months after, but was seen on television screens and big screens in the shoes of different characters.

She starred in the Kapamilya show “Galema” and “It’s Showtime” host Vice Ganda’s “Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy” and “Praybeyt Benjamin.” Rhed also touched the horror scene in her role in “Maria Leonora Teresa.”

The opportunities were more dazzling for Rhed as she started annoying and irritating viewers with her sharp tongue and signature eye-roll as the antagonist Liza in the afternoon drama “Flor de Liza.”

Rhed also got awards in her chilling performance in the award-winning Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) horror entry “Seklusyon” where she played the role of an ‘angel’ that healed people and performed miracles, but is actually the devil incarnate.

However, as blinding as this light of opportunities, Rhed’s career also blindingly sunk to the darkness – away from the celebrity life.

In a recent episode of Rated K, the team featured Rhed’s 180-degree-return to her life of poverty.

“Akala ko po kung mag-a-artista ka, maraming mag-o-offer sa’yo, pero ‘di po pala ganun. ‘Di po pala ganun kadali maging artista po (I thought when you are a celebrity, a lot will give you offers, but it is not like that. It is not easy to be a star),” the 11-year old told Rated K.

Rhed, who is presently continuing her studies, said that she still wishes to be back in the limelight to help her family.

She revealed that they are looking for a new place to stay in as they are unable to pay for the rent. As the youngest of three, she and the Bustamante family are relying on the head of the family, but Rhed’s father has an illness that prohibits him to work.

But her father is not the only one who is sickly in the family, as Rhed, herself, has incontinentia pigmenti. It is a skin disease that affects even the hair and the teeth.

“Mahirap po isipin kasi ganun po talaga ‘yung buhay po tapos minsan po di ko na rin po alam kung anong gagawin po para makatulong  sa pamilya ko po (It is difficult to face but this is what life is. Sometimes, I also do not know what I can do to help my family),” she said.

Rhed still hopes to once again step back to the world of the celebrities, not for fame, but for her family. However, she said that she has the resilience to face this life all over again, as she grew up from this before stardom.

If there was one thing that she learned from all these experiences, it is that “‘Wag po tayong mag-expect kasi po masakit po siya kapag hindi nangyari (Let us not expect because it hurts if what we expect does not happen),” Rhed uttered in the same interview.

For now, as she faces these obstacles in her early years, Rhed said that praying to the Lord is one of things that are important to her.