Coco Martin was born on November 1, 1981 in Novaliches Quezon City. He graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from National College of Business and Arts. His birth name is Rodel Nacianceno. He was raised by his grandmother and has five siblings. He is a highly acclaimed actor known for his appearances in Independent films thus he was called the Prince of Philippine Independent films. His first cameo film appearance was in 2001, Luv Text where he was credited under his real name. Eventually the project was followed by a number of independent films.
Coco began as a talent of Star Magic being a part of Star Circle Batch 9. Apart from his appearances in independent films, Coco had been active with television commercials. His lead debut independent film Masahista won him the Young Critics Circle Best Actor Award in 2006. In the same year he also starred in Kaleldo. He worked with GMA 7 in 2007 appearing in a number of TV shows such as Daisy Siete and became a member of a boy-group, The Studs. He earned his first Gawad Urian Award for Best Supporting Actor when Martin was seen in an independent gay-oriented film, Daybreak and Jay.
Coco Martin returned to ABS-CBN as one of the regular casts of Ligaw na Bulakla in 2008. In 2009, he was starring in Tayong Dalawa, a drama series that won him the Best Drama Actor Star Awards for Television. Tayong Dalawa was followed by an afternoon soap Nagsimula sa puso.2010 for Coco Martin was a blessing of projects. He was a cast of Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo and received his first leading role through Tonyong Bayawak. In the same year, he starred in his first mainstream film, Sa yo Lamang and the primetime series, 1DOL. He also appeared on yet another Independent film, Kinatay that lead him to a FAMAS Award for Best Actor nomination.
In the year 2011, he was the lead in the highly recognized television series Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin. This TV series lead him to be nominated at the KBP Golden Dove Awards, Golden Screen Awards and Star Awards for TV for his performance as Alexander and Javier Del Tierro. 2011 marked his 10 years in the business where he received the Dekada Award in the Gawad Urian ceremony. Appearances he made in 2012 are Walang Hanggan and his second mainstream film, Born to Love You. More projects await Coco Martin in the year 2013. The Filipino viewers may expect to see Martin in a movie with Judy Ann Santos and Marian Rivera.
