Having a conversation with new Nicco Locco is a guaranteed light and easy experience. Not only is he an eye candy, the fact that there is something between his ears, is the icing on the cake that makes the tete-a-tete engaging, if not pleasurable.
His big brown eyes light up, especially when you have obviously piqued his interest. When he smiles, he becomes more charismatic and friendlier. And when he answers your queries, there is no cockiness in his reply, sincere and straightforward.
With Mr. Nicholas Timothy Fowler (his real name), up close and personal, is the real deal.
His idea of a perfect happiness, Nicco begins, “I think everything comes down to a balance in life. Before, I didn’t really understand what balance was but now that I am in my mid-20’s, I think I am starting to get there, to finding that happiness kasi may balance na ako.”
“I think balance is having something that satisfies you internally,” he adds. “So whether it’s to work or whatever you do in your life that sense of balance makes me inspired with my work, the influence to be an inspiration to others especially being a foreigner in the Philippines. When I first realized I can have this impact on people and the younger generation, that really started the inner happiness.”
Nicco emphasizes that we should also have special friends in our life, people we can talk to and share our personal feelings with.
“Without them, all these feelings gets bottled up inside and when that happens, ang daming complications na, and one day, it will just explode.”
Showbiz, of course, easily opens its doors for foreigners like him. What makes him a stand out, he says: “My edge over the others, I think is that I learned the language, Filipino. Learning it got my foot inside the door. I realized as well that I need to have a personality that is relatable to most Filipinos.”
“Siempre ako, maybe if I can look half-Filipino, I made an effort na maramdaman na may pusong Pinoy ko and I believe people feel that. I became creative in letting my audience know that I want to relate to them and they can relate to me.”
The half-Canadian, half-Italian acting newbie, smiles his sweetest as he shares his congenial moments with Pinoys.
“Sobrang masaya! I feel so grateful and blessed every time someone wants to take a picture with me, everyone is so mabait.”
Nicco reveals that he didn’t really know what his purpose in life is. He was a budding actor in the US but somewhere along the way, he lost the passion.
“I went to Asia and dumating ako sa Pilipinas and in this beautiful country of yours, with people who on a daily basis wear a smile, is where I have found my purpose and that is through inspiring other people, contributing a positive way to the Filipino society. Being in Manila gave me the opportunity to prove to myself, and to others that even if you have a broken past history, a point in your life when you want to give up, you can always move forward and be the better, if not the best version of yourself.”
He comes clean about a relationship that ended bitterly and his take home lessons from it.
“You can never take love for granted. I think love is something that you can’t just find that easily. The hardest part was seeing the pain I caused the other person. Seeing hurt and cry. I realized the effect I can have on somebody. Being a foreigner in the Philippines and trying to create a life and career here, parang letting my supporters down was the hardest. People look up to me, when someone says I’m their lodi, it means a lot, parang they look up to me. So when I let them know because of all these nasty stuff, they send me messages, is this true?” he shares.
Since that episode in his life is already water under the bridge, aside from events hosting, modeling, vlogging and acting, Nicco was part of the 2019 MMFF movie Culion, which was awarded Best Ensemble. He also took home a best actor trophy for Sabado, from the GAWAD Sining Film Festival Awards.
Last two questions, for Nicco, which he gamely answers, what happens if a planet woman crash lands on you, what will you tell her about the earth and what will you tell her about you?
“I will tell the woman from Venus that this is a wonderful place but you need to be careful, you cannot trust everybody, you can only trust a few people in your life, that I would tell them firstly. About me, I will tell her that if she needs help getting directions, just let me know. I am a nice guy,” Nicco chuckles.
And when did he realize his good looks?
“Ugly duckling ako in high school,” replies Nicco. “I was a bit chubbier, round-faced, you know. Puberty already hit me by then and I could not care less. I was not body conscious, medyo mabaho ako nun, stinky kid, in junior high school.”
“In college, in my freshman year, something changed, and I did not how it happened. Girls started to approach me. From someone that nobody noticed, when they started making papansin, it was super overwhelming. I know I may be pleasant to look at but not that good looking.”
You may deny it all you want Nicco Locco, but this talent from Team MSB, up close and personal is not only good looking, he has a good heart.
