00:28.8
Parang most plays kasi parang di naman...
00:35.8
So, mas alam pa nga natin yung mga productions from abroad like Miss Saigon, diba?
00:41.8
Kasi syempre we have actors playing parts in those productions.
00:48.8
Pero yung locally made, you are part of it.
00:52.8
So, can you tell us about that project?
00:54.8
That will forever be a blessing for me.
00:58.8
Because that's the most successful thing that I've ever been a part of, so far, hopefully.
01:03.8
Sobrang tama kayo.
01:06.8
We barely know a lot of original Filipino material.
01:09.8
Especially when it comes to theater, like mainstream success.
01:13.8
And we were blessed enough to have that discography of the Eraserheads
01:17.8
to be able to use that discography to create this story.
01:22.8
So, how I got in, and I always have some really weird pivotal stories in my life
01:28.8
when it comes to the milestones.
01:30.8
I was doing a production also with the same company, Resorts World.
01:34.8
I was doing a production called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a year before, 2017.
01:38.8
And one afternoon, they asked,
01:41.8
you guys wanna read a script? We're trying to develop the next show.
01:45.8
I'm like, okay, sure, of course. I said yes.
01:48.8
And then I found out it was Eraserheads.
01:50.8
Oh my God, I wanna do this.
01:53.8
So, thankfully, I was able to read it.
01:56.8
And then, you know, it went on the shelf for maybe like three months.
02:01.8
And then they asked me to read again.
02:04.8
They asked me and a couple of other people to read.
02:06.8
So, we were invited to read.
02:08.8
And as it turns out...
02:10.8
What does it mean to read?
02:12.8
To read, you are given the script, and then you do the scenes.
02:16.8
You read through the play.
02:18.8
You are in a round table.
02:22.8
Yes, a table read.
02:24.8
That's what it's called, a table read.
02:25.8
So, we were reading.
02:27.8
And I read for the part of Hector.
02:30.8
And one more reading after that,
02:34.8
it became the reading audition.
02:36.8
Because the thing is, the people in that room,
02:39.8
everyone who auditioned for that part,
02:41.8
they were already familiar with those people.
02:43.8
Because we were already working in the same industry and things like that.
02:47.8
So, the lead characters, they were very, very specific.
02:50.8
What kind of look did they want?
02:52.8
What kind of vibe did they want?
02:54.8
So, yeah, after that reading audition,
02:56.8
and this is where the pivotal moment is,
02:58.8
the day I ended my six-year-long relationship
03:03.8
is the same day that I got the role.
03:06.8
So, literally, one door closes and, you know, a window opens.
03:11.8
So, it's like a pivotal moment over a pivotal moment over a pivotal moment.
03:16.8
So, that's how I got the role.
03:18.8
I got the call after that.
03:21.8
And, yeah, I got to do Ang Huling El Bimbo.
03:24.8
And like you said, you know, the commercial success that we owe to,
03:28.8
of course, the creators of the show
03:30.8
and the brilliant discography of the Eraserheads.
03:33.8
So, it's a once-in-a-lifetime ride that I will forever enjoy.
03:39.8
Actually, one thing about Huling El Bimbo,
03:47.8
I don't know, maybe there's a spoiler alert.
03:53.8
I really loved it.
03:56.8
The best thing about Huling El Bimbo is
04:00.8
the emotions that I felt while watching.
04:05.8
Although I would have to say,
04:08.8
my criticism is that I wasn't really happy with the ending.
04:12.8
How it ended, right?
04:14.8
But the brilliant part of Huling El Bimbo,
04:20.8
because the first half is like, wow, it's so elating.
04:25.8
You hear the soundtrack of your life, basically.
04:29.8
And then you see a lot of optimism.
04:32.8
And, well, being in college, right?
04:38.8
Feeling like it's taking you back,
04:41.8
especially people from my generation.
04:45.8
Those are my college and high school days.
04:48.8
And then, right before, in the middle,
04:52.8
there's a cool twist,
04:56.8
like, wow, where the hell did that come from?
04:59.8
So now, and then Black,
05:02.8
because for those who don't watch the play,
05:05.8
there's something like a break, right?
05:10.8
So that's what it's called.
05:12.8
So after that intermission,
05:16.8
you don't know what's gonna happen, right?
05:19.8
You don't know what's gonna happen.
05:21.8
It's like you were taken, you're so happy,
05:24.8
and then you're suddenly attacked and knocked out.
05:29.8
So without giving way too much of the story,
05:36.8
the thing I didn't like about the ending is
05:40.8
it never, you guys, you.
05:44.8
No, I'm with you.
05:47.8
You didn't get the, what would you call it?
05:52.8
The character wasn't really redeemed.
05:55.8
And you didn't, no comeuppance.
05:58.8
That's the word, maybe.
06:01.8
No comeuppance for those.
06:03.8
And that's the statement that it's trying to make as well.
06:07.8
In life, there are so many things that are unresolved.
06:12.8
And those are the things that happen.
06:14.8
Like, there are a lot of things that happen out there,
06:17.8
you know, in society,
06:19.8
that, nothing, right?
06:23.8
That's the statement that it's trying to make.
06:25.8
That like, the stupid, the coward,
06:29.8
has a story as well.
06:32.8
It's also part of society.
06:34.8
It's the ugly part of society.
06:37.8
It's that mirror that it holds up to society.
06:40.8
So that we can look at it and think,
06:43.8
what can we do so that this doesn't happen again?
06:46.8
You know, and it's, yeah, exactly.
06:50.8
That's exactly what it's trying to say.
06:52.8
So you think it's, from the get-go,
06:55.8
it's that the intention of the writer and the creators?
07:01.8
When we were creating the show,
07:02.8
we were all pretty much involved in it.
07:04.8
You know, the actors were very involved in creating the characters as well.
07:08.8
So, yeah, when we were developing the show,
07:11.8
it's the, that's the thing.
07:15.8
It's catharsis by way of catharting.
07:20.8
Catharsis by way of catharting with those who are left.
07:26.8
That's it. It's the ones we leave behind.
07:29.8
So what we can salvage.
07:32.8
I see. So you have that in mind
07:36.8
when you were playing the parts?
07:41.8
When we were creating the characters,
07:44.8
of course, we couldn't judge the characters.
07:46.8
You know, that's unknown.
07:48.8
You can't judge your character as you're portraying your character.
07:52.8
Because if you do, that would be suicide, right?
07:55.8
You'd already be judging the character,
07:57.8
which means you'll play him evil,
07:59.8
or you'll play him like an asshole, right?
08:02.8
So evil people don't think they're evil.
08:05.8
Assholes don't think they're assholes.
08:07.8
So it should be an involved process
08:11.8
where you really take in, right,
08:13.8
what that person is thinking, what their motivations are.
08:18.8
That's precisely what we had to do.
