Albie admits that he almost quit showbiz

The young cast of Regal Films’ horror-thriller Pwera Usog, directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, have stories to tell, with those of Albie Casiño and Sofia Andres making the most impact.

The title refers to the Filipino superstition that if you pinch the face of a baby (and you fail to apply a bit of saliva on its stomach), the baby will get sick or suffer some such negative effect.

Usog (roughly translated as “pulled back” in English) could also mean the derailment of something such as what happened to Albie in the wake of Andi Eigenmann’s revelation that she was pregnant a few years ago, with Albie suspected to be the “culprit” until he was vindicated when Jake Ejercito admitted that he’s really the father.

“I lost offers because of that,” Albie told the movie writers at the recent presscon for Pwera Usog, adding good-humoredly, “na-usog ang career ko,” making him seriously consider quitting showbiz which would have been such a waste because, as Albie later proved, he’s one of the few truly talented young actors with a Best Actor award (for his performance as a gay character in Maalaala Mo Kaya) as proof.

The good thing about Albie is that he has no qualms about doing daring scenes if that’s what his role calls for.

“If my director tells me to drop my pants,” said Albie, “then I drop my pants,” and did just that (although not totally) in his post-Andi movies, one of them Die Beautiful (as one of the gang that rapes Paolo Ballesteros’ character).

Still, even if his career is on the upswing, Albie said that he just might decide to quit (temporarily?) showbiz and pursue his studies abroad.

“But there’s no more anger or bitterness in my heart,” qualified Albie who has yet to meet Jake. “I couldn’t care less about that guy; I don’t have anything to do with him. What’s the point? What would I tell him? I don’t have anything to say to him.”

Pwera Usog also stars Kiko Estrada and Sofia Andres who have little issues of their own.

“I didn’t break up with Barbie (Forteza),” Kiko belatedly confessed. “It was the other way around. I want to make to clear that I didn’t cheat on her. I still love her. Wala pa siyang kapalit sa puso ko. It was love at the wrong time.” (Barbie didn’t make any comment, busy as she is with the GMA rom-com series Meant To Be in which she’s torn among four guys played by Jak Roberto, Ken Chan, Ivan Dorschner and Addy Raj.) “She’s a terrific actress and I’m happy that her career is going great,” adding, “she’s still very beautiful.”

Saying that she and Diego Loyzaga, the problematic son of Cesar Montano are “really just close friends,” Sofia admitted that Diego did pour his heart out to her before Diego ranted against his father on social media. “I assured him that I will always support him even as I pray na sana magkaayos na sila ng dad niya.”  Sofia co-starred with Iñigo Pascual in Relaks, It’s Just Pag-Ibig and was cast in the teleserye Forevermore.

Happily, Joseph Marco, another Pwera Usog star, has no issue to grapple with. Some movie writers noticed that there’s something new about Joseph, although they couldn’t pinpoint it, except to say that that “something” has made Joseph look like a young Tirso Cruz III. Take a close look at Joseph yourselves and find out what it is.

But during the Q&A, somebody asked Joseph what “aborted” his budding romance with Alex Gonzaga (they were together in Star Cinema’s Rebound Girl). Joseph explained that he decided to put his plans for his family as priority over his love life.

Devon Seron, another member (with newcomer Cherise Castro) of the cast, recalled that she cried over the big break given her by Regal Matriarch Lily Monteverde and her daughter Roselle who tapped her for the role of a taong grasa (greasy girl) who is turned into an object of a social-media prank by Sofia’s character. Enough said about the story to avoid spoiling the suspense.

Followers of ABS-CBN’s PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) probably remember Devon as the sweetheart of James Reid inside Big Brother’s house. She finished fourth placer in the reality-TV’s Teen Big edition and was last seen in the Kapamilya soap Be My Lady (with ex-couple Daniel Matsunaga and Erich Gonzales) and as one of It’s Showtime’s Girltrends.

Incidentally, Pwera Usog (opening nationwide next Wednesday, March 8) is not direk Jason’s first work under Regal for which he did Love Is Blind (with Kiray and Derek Ramsay) and The Third Party, and (for other companies) the award-winning indies Magkakabaung (which won Best Actor for Allen Dizon in international film festivals) and Babagwa.  

“It’s my first time to do a horror film,” said Jason. “Directing a horror film can be challenging because your direction must be precise, and so should be the timing and the angling of your shots before you execute the moment of horror.” 

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