Sid: I don’t believe in image

"I don’t believe in image," Sid Lucero says when asked if he is not afraid of being identified as an independent film actor.

The son of Mark Gil has been doing projects mostly for indie films. Sid was cast in an eight-hour Lav Diaz indie flick Heremias, Dante Mendoza’s Siquijor and Adolf Alix Jr.’s first directorial film Donsol which was awarded Best in Cinematography and Best Actress for lead star Angel Aquino in this year’s Cinemalaya Film Festival.

"I don’t know why it’s important to have an image. It’s just a job and incidentally the offer came mostly from indie films. What if I do mainstream and indie, what would be my image?" Sid explains.

The ability to give life to the character in any kind of project – on TV or in movies – is what matters most for Sid. It gives him satisfaction whenever he portrays the role well.

Sid delved into commercial modeling before manager Ricky Gallardo took him to an acting workshop with Peque Gallaga and Gabby Fernandez. It made Sid discover his love for acting and harness his skill all the more.

Since then, Sid has never stopped keeping himself occupied with acting chores. He asked the nod of mom Bing Pimentel for him to act and it sustained his schooling at the College of St. Benilde, where he took up a technical theater course. He put on hold his studies for his career.

Sid also got involved with films for schools after his stint in Etheria and before Donsol came to the fore. He has done two films for Ateneo and one for UP.

Coming from a clan of actors, many are confident Sid can do everything called for the job though he’s just a green horn. Sometimes he feels the pressure of being an Eigenmann, of being able to portray any role excellently, the way his dad and the rest of the Eigenmanns do (Michael de Mesa and Cherie Gil). But he has not yet reached a point where he is comparing himself with his relatives.

"What I like to compare myself with is my acting in previous films and now so I know where I’m good at and what needs some improvement," he says.

But Sid always makes it a point to prepare for every performance, like his first lead role in Donsol. He plays Daniel, a heartbroken BIO (Butanding Interaction Officer) who guides tourists in their interaction with the whale sharks of Donsol, Sorsogon. He meets Teresa (Angel Aquino), a beautiful and mysterious woman, whom he falls in love again.

The 23-year-old actor took Bicolano lessons to be comfortable with the dialect and its accent. He also trained with actual BIOs to learn the basics of tour handling and swimming with the whale sharks (butandings). Swimming underwater is not new to Sid since he grew up in the beaches of Cebu where he stayed for four years.

Sid was amazed with the beauty of Donsol and the enormous size of the butandings and says, "The movie is not just another love story. It somehow educates us. I personally didn’t know that we are visited by the butandings, since they are migratory. Most of the people who know about them are foreigners pa. They are as big as a bus. The place itself is beautiful."

Donsol recently bagged the Special Jury Prize in Asian Marine Film Festival in Japan and the Jury Prize for Best Low Budget Feature in the recently-concluded Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in the US. It will also compete in the Monaco Filmfest and will be screened in December at the Cairo International Filmfest, the Dominican Republic International Filmfest and Asian Festival First Films in Singapore.

Donsol, released by Star Cinema, also stars Mark Gil, Bembol Roco, Cherie Gil, Jaclyn Jose, Simon Ibarra, Kenneth Ocampo, Aaron Junatas and Erika Anne Luna. It will be shown tomorrow in theaters.