Carlos Siguion-Reyna unleashes again his actor side in Apoy sa Langit

MANILA, Philippines — His creative life often sees him as a unifying force that inspires and collaborates with fellow artists to oversee the mise en scéne. However, there are instances when Carlos Siguion-Reyna dares himself to leave his directorial post and take the actor’s stance in front of a camera.

Audiences of GMA 7’s Apoy sa Langit can attest to it and Carlos, the filmmaker, enjoys the art of embodying a character, under the direction of Laurice Guillen.

“Yes, certainly, the director,” answered Carlos when asked about his reasons for acting in the GMA Afternoon Prime series, which airs from Monday to Saturday at 2:30 p.m., in a recent press conference via Zoom. “And then, the other reason is, when I was still in grade school, nag-join ako ng Dramatic Society (I joined a Dramatic Society).” His early roles, the director shared, ranged from a bishop to a priest. Carlos’ attempt at TV acting was in Helen Vela’s Lovingly Yours, Helen, a drama anthology broadcast on GMA from the ‘80s to the ‘90s, “where I played the son-in-law of Robert Arevalo,” shared he, who also showed his thespic skills in a sequel to Nick Joaquin’s Larawan, staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in 1991. Again, most of the time, he wears the director’s hat.

In 2018, the opportunity to act in A Doll’s House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath and a sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s play, landed in his lap. Carlos embraced the chance to play Torvald Helmer. “It was the biggest role I’ve had,” said he. “It’s a male lead role in the play. I really enjoyed it and of course, I was already, you know, more mature than I was in the earlier roles. Ang dami ko nang huhugutan. It was (like) a review also of, you know, my own experiences to get into those situations.” During the group interview, Carlos underscored that he is still into directing.

“Direk Laurice, I think, brought up, proposed that there’s a show at GMA na ma-cast ako and I got word from it and I was excited,” recalled the director on how his latest acting stint came about. He plays Edong, the sidekick of Cesar, played by Zoren Legaspi, who knows the lead character’s secret. “I didn’t even know what’s the story about, I knew she was directing it and I knew it’s a teleserye. So, it seemed that there was going to be an extensive development of the story of the character and I was excited.”

The artist in Carlos said that he likes both directing and acting. “I really like the team and I want a different set of muscles naman na na-e-exert, although (it’s) related to directing,” added he, “It’s parang mas total immersion ka and you’re lost in the situation when you’re acting. So, it’s fun playing (a character).”

What Carlos the actor appreciates about Laurice the director is, “she knows what she wants and she’s, you know, very specific,” said he. “Tapos, ipaparating niya what she wants sa’yo. And then, at the same time, she encourages you to bring (and) offer what you have to the table, not necessarily in the script. So, there’s that encouragement.”

Years ago, Carlos attended an acting workshop on Eric Morris system, being facilitated by direk Laurice. “In a way, parang na-direct na rin ako nun, but that was in a workshop situation,” he looked back on the experience. “I appreciate that the director knows what she wants and is encouraging and inspiring you to play, parang be free with the choices and commit to it (acting), and she will tell you if you’re going over(board) or if you’re (lacking). I really appreciate (it) and I don’t feel controlled or threatened or anything. In fact, I feel I’m in a safer place ‘pag ganun, you know, if there (are) specific expectations, (there’s) allowance and a permission to play.”

For her part, direk Laurice said that she has known Carlos for a very long time and shared that “maybe out of curiosity, he joined one of my acting workshops.” She added that Carlos was doing the “edge work” and appreciated his braveness for giving it a try. He showed his interest to discover acting and trusted direk Laurice.

Now, they’re working on the Apoy sa Langit set, where Carlos is the actor, while Laurice is the director.

“I saw him in that play that he mentioned, A Doll’s House Part 2,” said she, “enjoy na enjoy ako sa proseso niya, sa pag trabaho (niya), na hinahayaan niyang maapektuhan siya at kung anuman lumabas, ang reaksyon niya, ang response niya dun sa kung anumang stimulus, anuman ang ibabato mo sa kanya, ginagamit niya (I enjoy his process as an actor which allows himself to get affected and he utilizes whatever stimulus that is given to him). That’s the kind of actor I like to work with, he knows what (the director) wants, but at the same time, malaki yung space mo to play and to work. When you play, you discover things that you did not plan. That’s the kind of actor that I’d like to work with kasi pareho kaming natututo (because we both learn from each other).”

As one may put it, the director-turned-actor Carlos and the actress-turned-director Laurice relish the meaningful creative ground they both share in the Kapuso drama series.