Fil-Am gymnast Levi Ruivivar vaults her way to PH show biz

While her priority in the next four years is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Filipino-American artistic gymnast Levi Ruivivar believes that it wouldn’t hurt to enter show biz and do some modeling here and there.

“Honestly, I’m the kind of person who loves to be busy. When I get settled in a routine, if I find myself busy, that just makes me happier. I enjoy it,” she told the Inquirer at her contract signing with Viva Artists Agency.

The 18-year-old athlete represented the Philippines at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She also competed in the 2024 Asian Games, where she won a bronze medal on the uneven bars.

“I want to make the most out of my time. Training is vital, of course. And show biz is work. But I look at it as something that will make me happy and fill me up,” added Levi, an incoming freshman at Stanford University.

While her life practically revolves around sports, her interest in entertainment shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Levi’s parents are both accomplished actors in the United States.

Levi’s father, Anthony Ruivivar, starred in numerous television shows, and is best known for playing paramedic Carlos Nieto in the popular medical-crime drama “Third Watch,” which ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2005.

He also voiced Bruce Wayne/Batman in the 2013 animated series “Beware Batman,” and starred in a number of films, like “Race the Sun” (1996) opposite Halle Berry and Casey Affleck.

‘Passion for entertainment’

Anthony is also friends with Martin Nievera because their respective fathers, Tony Ruivivar and Bert Nievera, were bandmates in the 1970s in Hawaii-based musical group Society of Seven.

Levi’s mother, Yvonne Jung, is an actress-producer. She and Anthony met in college, and later on worked together in the final two seasons of “Third Watch,” where their characters ended up being each other’s love interest.

“I have always had a passion for the entertainment industry. Perhaps it has something to do with my parents being actors,” Levi said.

The gymnast isn’t a total stranger to acting herself. In 2017, she starred in the short film “Girl Power” and was a guest voice actor in the animated kids’ series “Doc McStuffins.”

“I have had some experience. And obviously, my parents can give me tips!” she said. “I feel very comfortable in front of the camera.”

Levi is also into content creation and hopes to boost her social media presence and establish her brand personality. Needless to say, competing under the Philippine flag prompted an influx of Filipino fans and followers.

Larger following

“It’s truly incredible and satisfying to have a larger following on social media because I love making content. It’s fun. I shoot, edit and put it out there myself. It takes a decent amount of work, and I love the fact that people are watching,” said Levi, when asked about her newfound popularity in the country.

“Since I was a young gymnast, I have always made it a point to post more consistently and put myself out there,” she added.

Movies and television series are “definitely in the cards” as well. But more substantial roles and projects will have to wait until after 2028, because gymnastics training is rigorous and could take up to 34 hours a week.

“The issue with doing film or TV is that it will take a lot of time away from training. It would be impossible to do both at the same time. But short commercials, anything that’s not too time-consuming, I would be up for those. If there are little projects that would fit my schedule, I would discuss that with Viva and figure things out,” she said.

Besides, her Tagalog still needs work, she admitted, laughing. “But I plan to take classes and get more involved with the Filipino club and community at Stanford.”

“I hope signing with Viva will help me achieve my goals and reach a wider audience in the Philippines,” she said.