Ruru Madrid is game for Lolong’s possible season two

MANILA, Philippines — Among the reasons why Ruru Madrid is smiling these days is that his adventure-serye Lolong ended on a high note. It was a top-rated show in the primetime evening time slot. The actor’s hard work to play the part and patience to hurdle the waiting time, brought about by the pandemic and production delays, did pay off. Lolong’s success is a pat on Ruru and his collaborators’ back.

Since all stories must come to an end, Ruru and the show took a curtain call yesterday for its season one finale. Word has it that a season two is possibly in the pipeline. That’s a music to the ears of Ruru, who is also seen as a cast member-runner in the Philippine franchise of South Korea’s game show, Running Man, shot in Korea and airing Saturday and Sunday nights.

“As of now, what we can only say is, naghahanda na para sa season two, yun pa lang,” said the Sparkle 8 member on the show’s direction in the future. “Kahit kami na cast ng Lolong, yun pa lang rin ang alam namin. Yun pa lang po ang sinasabi sa amin. Kung talagang palarin kami at talagang matuloy po talaga, siyempre, sabi ko nga kahit ito lang ang ginagawa kong teleserye, game na game talaga ako (If we get lucky and the plans for another season will push through, even if it’s the only teleserye I will be doing, I’m really game for it).” Again, it’s a possibility but something is not set in stone yet.

As he waits for another upcoming acting assignment, Ruru will relish the friendships that he has forged with everyone on the Lolong set.

“We’ve really become a family,” said he. “Iba rin yung pagmamahal na inalay namin dito.” Part of his memories was how fellow actors stepped up for their roles and the spots given to them and the way they executed the work.

After doing lock-in tapings, Ruru had a two-month break and participated in Running Man Philippines. “So, I stopped working out,” he recalled and looked back on his preparations for the character Lolong by saying, “I was like more than a year ready, physically ready, I couldn’t afford to be out of shape… Kung saka, sakali man na talagang tuloy na tuloy na ang book two, siyempre dapat better… dapat mas maganda.”

Always wanting to challenge himself, Ruru sounded willing to go through again the physical training he had for the Kapuso show, “like what new martial arts I will learn, sa hitsura ng katawan ko (the look that I’m required to have for my character), yun abangan po natin yun.”

Lolong’s season finale had its own twists and turns like a human being could possess the powers of the Atubaws.

“Somehow medyo nagulat ako na pwede pa palang itawid duon (I got surprised that the story could take such direction), so meaning kung sakaling man magkaroon ng book two, pwede pang magkaroon ng book three, pwede pang magkaroon ng book four kasi ganun kalawak yung storya ng Lolong, ang dami pang pwedeng takbuhin, ang dami pang pwedeng puntahan (If there’s a possibility for a book two, then, having books three and four is also possible because the story of Lolong is expansive. It can lead to many possible interesting directions).”

Given the chance to foresee where the Lolong narrative may head to the next time, Ruru said, “Ang pinaka-problema ni Lolong ay yung mga nangyayari po sa Tumahan lang, sa kanilang baryo, sa kanilang lugar, of course, yung corruption dun. (Lolong has dealt with problems like corruption and events that only happened in his place Tumahan). If ever there’s book two, baka maganda kung hindi lang basta sa Tumahan yung problema, kundi nationwide (it’s nice to see if the story will also tackle problems nationwide, aside from the ones in Tumahan).”

“Pwedeng ganun, pwede magkaroon pa ng mga ibang lahi, yung mga Atubaw na namumuhay sila sa isang lugar na kasama nila ang mga buwaya, baka meron pang iba pang lahi na ganun na ibang hayop naman ang kani-kanilang mga kasama (That’s one possible story focus or about foreign counterparts of Atubaws, who live with the crocodiles, and other nationalities who co-exist peacefully with other animals),” added he.

Those are working concepts that the Lolong creative and production team may explore for season two. Who knows? Ruru’s ideas may be granted.