Paulo Avelino among Outstanding Asian Star winners at Seoul International Awards

October 10, 2026 | 12:28pm

SUBIC, Philippines — Kapamilya actor Paulo Avelino received the Outstanding Asian Star for the Philippines at the 2026 Seoul International Drama Awards, recognized for his role in "Alibi".

Paulo was one of seven category recipients across Asia that also included Blackpink member Jisoo, for her role in "Boyfriend on Demand", which was partially shot in the Philippines, and Thai star Becky Armstrong.

Other winners were Korean rapper Jaemin of NCT, Japanese artist Jin Akanishi, Chinese actor Yang Yang and Singaporean actress Gladys Bay.

In his acceptance speech last October 8, Paulo shared to the crowd in Seoul's KBS Hall that he was practicing Korean for his upcoming series "Kopino" with Kim Chiu. 

The actor thanked "Alibi" producers ABS-CBN, Dreamscape Entertainment, Prime Video for helping in distributing, and the fans who voted for him. Paulo was 12% clear in the votes head of Kim and nearly double the votes of another actress Anne Curtis.

"Whenever I get a trophy or an award, I don't really think about my performance or what I've done," he also said. "Awards and trophies always remind me of the people who worked behind the scenes... they are the ones I'll remember whenever I see this."

Related: Paulo Avelino to 'step away' from work for 'GTA 6,' 'Path of Exile 2'

Past Filipino winners of the Outstanding Asian Star award include Kim, Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo and Belle Mariano.

Norwegian dark comedy "A Better Man" won the Grand Prize or Daesang; scribe Thomas Seeberg Torjussen won Best Screenplay; and lead star Anders Baasmo shared the Best Actor award with Ryu Seung-ryong of "The Dream Life of Mr. Kim."

The latter show was in three-way tie for Best Mini-Series with another Korean series "My Royal Nemesis" and Apple TV show "Pluribus", and joint winner of Outstanding Korean Drama with "We Are All Trying Here."

The star of the latter Koo Kyo-han won Outstanding Korean Actor while "My Royal Nemesis" star Lim Ji-yeon won the Actress counterpart. The Outstanding Korean Drama Original Soundtrack award went to Anton of Riize's "Close to Me" from "Yumi's Cells."

Vince Gilligan and Gordon Smith won Best Director for "Pluribus"; "Disclosure" from Germany won Best TV Movie; "Unfiltered" from Spain won Best Short-form Drama; and Elizaveta Maximová from Czechia won Best Actress for her role in "Mom". 

RELATED: Paulo Avelino opens indoor playground for families in Cavite

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