MANILA — Piolo Pascual, local showbiz's "Ultimate Heartthrob" who is also a film producer, was due to start work on four projects this year — until the coronavirus pandemic signalled a screeching halt to the industry.

"I was so booked. I had so many pending work," Pascual said on Thursday during a Facebook live stream of Sun Life Philippines, a life insurance company which he endorses.

Pascual, who co-founded the independent film production outfit Spring Films, did not specify which of the four films he was set to star in, or to produce, or both.

On top of those film projects, Pascual was scheduled to film an episode of "an ABS-CBN special" in New York. His concert tour, too, has been postponed.

"It was unprecedented. Nobody was prepared for it," Pascual said of the global health crisis.

Pascual, 43, admitted he has been "really so anxious" to return to work amid the months-long lockdown, but stressed that everyone's safety was the paramount concern.

Since the mid-March start of the quarantine, Pascual has nonetheless found ways to keep "productive" as an actor, aside from his successive participation in virtual programs like fundraisers and online versions of ABS-CBN shows.

"Even when I was in quarantine, I was still trying to read books, learn, evaluate what I did before and how I can be better as an actor," he said.

Development of his film projects have continued, Pascual said, through "close coordination" with his directors and writers.

"I'm just excited, because when we get back to work, it's like starting again. It's like being a new actor again, and I'm looking forward to that," he said.

Pascual, who once considered retiring early from showbiz, has since marked new goals in the industry. The lockdown has afforded him time to assess his career, he said.

"I just keep on growing as a person, as an artist. Iyon 'yung reflection. Ano pa ba ang puwede kong gawin? How can I reinvent myself? How can I evolve?"

"You have to quiet down. I would spend so much time alone just meditating, praying, sometimes just thinking nothing, just looking out at the horizon. We all need that," he said.