MANILA, Philippines – Given the number of local big-name actors she has directed in the past, it is totally surprising to hear director Joyce Bernal saying that she got scared when she was initially approached by Star Cinema execs to helm The Super Parental Guardians with Vice Ganda and Coco Martin starring in it. The movie, which everyone knows by now, is among the “casualties” in the revamp of rules in the selection of the official entries for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
“Natakot ako,” direk Joyce told The STAR. “But it’s hard to say no to do the movie so I accepted it and I was just telling myself na baka may gawin itong kakaiba o maganda para rin sa akin.”
Her worries and fears, the director added, are not about the level of popularity of the actors but on the possibility of altering habits that are hard to break. “Many people know what Vice and Coco are like onscreen; some are even familiar with their nuances kaya ‘yung mga nakasanayan na mahirap i-break at ako pa yung magbre-break? ‘Yun ang kinatakutan ko na what if for the first time di nila ma-gets si Vice? That’s why there’s this fear in me.” Another thing that made her feel hesitant to “touch” Vice and Coco is the fact that both have already created a niche in the industry through their effective acting in comedy and drama, respectively.
But like a soldier ready for any battle, direk Joyce faced the challenge head on. Several meetings with Vice and Coco proved essential in laying on the table all her expectations and fears. “We had a one-on-one to get to know each other well and we did that outside of Star Cinema ‘yung kami-kami lang talaga.
“Of course, I was telling Vice that I am not Wenn Deramas (the late director who handled most of Vice’s blockbuster movies) and I would like to hear directly from him his expectations so that before we start working alam ko na kung paano gumalaw. I also told him that we should be honest with each other; that if he finds a scene not funny at all, then he should tell me right away.”
When it comes to comedy, direk Joyce is not shy to seek help from Vice. In fact, she requested the comedian to give her pointers on his kind of humor that easily clicks with the public. “I told him that I will take care of (executing) the story but help me in comedy because I’d like to know ‘yung bakla humor na pang comedy bar. My kind of humor is very different from him; ‘yung akin pang lalaki na bastos, mga toilet humor. So I need to understand also some gay terms like I really had a hard time one time when Vice was explaining na ganito kasi baklang lapot na tipong yun pa lang yung term di ko na alam.”
Except for gay terminologies, direk Joyce are familiar with most of Vice’s movies since she was able to watch most of them like Praybeyt Benjamin, Beauty and the Bestie and Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy. “So alam ko na kahit papaano kung ano yung acting n’ya.”
Bb. Joyce Bernal says her kind of humor is far different from Vice Ganda whom she has worked with for the first time with Coco Martin in Star Cinema’s The Super Parental Guardians that is set to open on Nov. 30 in theaters nationwide.
One thing she made clear with his actors is to tell to her straight whatever it is they feel not right about her style of directing. She would rather hear comments — positive or negative — directly from them than from others who are not in any way connected to the movie. “Ganun kasi ako kung may comment ako, the actors will hear it straight from me and not from the producers or their managers.”
Asked if she had a hard time getting Coco in his funniest self, direk Joyce cannot recall any instance where Coco became a headache on the set. “Okay po siya coming from Probinsyano (taping) it’s already a given that he is tired but once we started working, especially action (scene) ang kukunan, buhay na buhay siya.”
She, too, cannot deny the rapport Vice and Coco has onscreen. Perhaps, their being friends on- and off-cam makes it easy for them to do even the stupidest thing to each other without either one of them feeling offended.
Is there anything she found “too repetitive” for Vice to do?
“At some point, I told him that he should assume one character because I have this character in mind which I think is gonna be good for him at para lang maiba naman.”
Besides, the director makes it a point to leave a lasting mark to her audience in every movie that she does. She does not take a project without a clear storyline. “My mark is usually character-based yung comedy pwede din na may maiwan kang marka ayoko ng bakla lang. There must be a character development and the conflict (of the story) must be resolved.”
The Super Parental Guardians, the director said, is not an ordinary story of a gay who knows nothing but fun. It tells the story of one tough-talking gang leader named Paco (Coco) who has to raise his orphaned nephews with the help of Arci (Vice), his late sister-in-law’s gay friend. The characters, especially those played by Vice and Coco, take life seriously with flaws and all. That’s why the director was asked during the presscon regarding her view on the MMFF committee decision.
“Change has come. They changed the submission (rules). They changed the execom (executive committee) so it seemed there was really a message that they wanted to send across,” said the lady director who sat as one of MMFF’s jury members in 2012. “When I was part of the jury before, we deliberated on it so meron proseso talaga na sinusunod at lahat ng jury nirerespeto ko po na ginawa nila ang trabaho nila.” Direk Joyce added that if and when Vice wishes to do a movie according to the rules next year, she would be glad to work with him again.
(The Super Parental Guardians opens on Nov. 30 in theaters nationwide.)