‘Fragile’ Vice Ganda chooses to watch only light-hearted fare

CEBU, Philippines — Vice Ganda’s recent intimate chat with the Cebu press inside an SM City Cebu diner was just around 26 minutes, but the comic-host indulged his interviewers with any subject thrown his way that it felt longer and was substantial despite.

Expressing misgivings about whether his cinema audience will still show up after the now three-year-old pandemic upended habits, Vice can breathe easy that he’s still indeed a box-office powerhouse with his film “Partners in Crime” lording over the other eight Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries during its Christmas Day debut.

While horror flick “Deleter” has reportedly elbowed out Vice’s comedy starrer with Ivana Alawi in the #1 slot after the former’s MMFF awards haul, second place and a reported P31 million opening day gross for the latter are still nothing to sneeze at.

Apart from this first collaboration with director Cathy Garcia-Molina making “Partners in Crime” markedly different from his previous MMFF offerings, Vice also spoke about filming without a network franchise, his entertainment viewing preferences, and why celebrities like him can’t be “accommodating” at every waking moment.

On filming challenges:

A lot! Doing any project in this time of a pandemic is really very hard because of the protocol and health issues. Konting kibot, may mga nagkakasakit. I got sick, Ivana, Direk Cathy too. Not necessarily COVID, but these days, inubo ka lang, nawalan ng boses, nagkalagnat, you have to isolate. Also considering the fact there’s no franchise so wala masyadong kinukunan ng pera ang ABS-CBN. Resources are limited.

On his preferred viewing fare:

I like light-hearted stuff. There are so many good films and series but because the story or the ending is sad, I wouldn’t watch. I’m also not advised to because I’m very fragile. I easily get affected, I easily get sad. I want to be happy because I can better provide my purpose and I am quicker with work. And so if I am happy, the audience is happy. So it’s a conscious effort on my part to watch light fare. Yung mga pam-bagets na pelikula, yung campus-campus ganap.

Minsan nagti-trip kami ni Ion [Perez] manood ng horror, pero hindi din naman namin natatapos kasi natatakot kami. Eh si Ion, he usually just watches motorcycle and bicycle videos on YouTube. Documentaries, I also watch. Very random. Inamats ko si Princess Diana bago ko binuo yung ‘The Crown.’ I’m very amazed with royal stories. Inamats ko din ang K-drama for a time, pero gusto ko yung mga kilig lang. If there’s drama, ayoko yung dramang-drama. Those like ‘Crash Landing’, ‘Goblin’…

On his beleaguered “It’s Showtime” co-host Vhong Navarro:

Vhong Navarro for sure will definitely come back on the show. Nagkita kami pagkalabas na pagkalabas niya. [The comic-host was released on bail last month after almost three months of detention stemming from a revived rape case.] First thing he said to me was, ‘Meme, hindi muna ako papasok.’ I told him, ‘Hindi naman kita papapasukin. Nagpunta ako rito dahil yayakapin kita. Take your time.’ So let’s give him the break. Let’s give him all the time to enjoy his house again, his family, himself…

On sports and showbiz stars snubbing fans:

We cannot generalize. Not all athletes are the same. Even in showbiz, magkakaiba ang mga tao, magkakaiba ang pinanggalingan natin, magkaiba tayo ng nararamdaman. May mga oras na masaya kayo, yung iba hindi masaya. May mga oras naman na malungkot kayo, yung iba naman ang masaya. May mga oras na okay kayo, yung iba hindi naman okay. So we cannot generalize that all athletes are like that, that all showbiz personalities are like that…For me, eh kung ganoon sila, kung yun ang makakapagbigay sa kanila ng kapayapaan, give natin sa kanila. Kung ayaw nila magpa-istorbo, eh di ayaw nila paistorbo. Kung ayaw nila kumaway, eh di ayaw nila kumaway.

I cannot judge because I myself, I have not been a perfect example of an artista. Hindi din naman ako kumakaway at ngumingiti all the time. Hindi din naman ako namamansin all the time. Sometimes I even beg – na please huwag muna tayo magkawayan, huwag muna tayo magpiktyuran. Kakain lang ako. Magdadasal lang ako. Magsisimba lang ako. Magmu-mall lang ako, ibibili ko lang ng sapatos nanay ko. But when I can, I will. Pero kapag hindi ko kaya, sorry hindi ko kaya. Hindi niyo rin naman alam kung bakit. Hindi niyo rin naman alam na namatayan ako. Kung makita niyo ako somewhere, gusto niyo ngumiti ako pero hindi ko kaya ngumiti, pero hindi ko naman pwede ikwento sa inyo na ‘Uy hindi ako pewde ngumiti ah kasi may namatay na malapit sa akin.’ Kaya sana ibigay din nila sa amin kung bakit minsan hindi namin kaya. I apologize, because I am just human and I cannot be perfect, I cannot be happy, I cannot be fun, I cannot be accommodating all the time. Because I am not okay all the time.