He stands 5′9″, and at 20, he’s not exactly a ‘kid’ anymore, but Joseph Emmanuel “Joem” Bascon is the newest Kapamilya on the block.

He was discovered by accident, when his family home in Antipolo was used as the location for the primetime soap Hiram. Although the Bascon family lives in Mandaluyong, they also have a home in Antipolo, and when he was spotted by someone from ABS-CBN, Joem decided to give up on his original dream of playing competitive basketball and pursue a showbiz career.

The Piolo Pascual look-alike recently signed up with Star Magic and has guested on various ABS-CBN shows. At present, Joem is seen regularly in Let’s Go and will be part of the cast of the new teleserye, Walang Kapalit, starring Claudine Barretto and Piolo Pascual. According to Joem, he plays the boyfriend of Piolo’s sister. “It’s a bit of a villain role,” he says with some excitement.

Speaking of Piolo, does Joem find the fact that he looks like the multi-awarded actor an advantage or a disadvantage?

“It’s an advantage in the sense that it gives me an identity and people recognize me because of it,” says Joem. “But in the long run, it becomes a disadvantage, because people tend to put me in a box and think that’s all I’m capable of. I want to show them I can do much more.”

He will get plenty of opportunities to do that, since he intends to make showbiz his career. But Joem’s real dream is to become an action hero like his idol Robin Padilla, but at this point, he is very happy to have been given his breaks in showbiz.