Born Luis C. Pagalilauan at Cagayan Valley, he was 17 years old when he was persuaded by director Joey Gosiengfiao to join show business.

He was also in the cast of National Artist Ishmael Bernal's 1980 classic Manila By Night, the 1983 heavy drama Broken Marriage and the 1986 melodrama The Graduates.

He worked with Lino Brocka in the 1977 Metro Manila Film Festival entry Inay playing one of Alicia Vergel's children.

In 1985, he did the Peque Gallaga opus Scorpio Nights, which tells the story of a college student (played by Daniel Fernando) who had an affair with an unfaithful wife (Anna Marie Gutierrez).

He appeared in the Aubrey Miles horror-flick Sanib in 2003, and starred with Vilma Santos in Dekada '70 (2002) and Susan Roces in Mano Po 2: My Home (2003).