Iron Heart stars say team and castmates have ‘zero’ attitude
We traversed the mountains of Cebu from Bonbon mountains to Sudlon some two hours away from the city to witness the elevated action scenes of The Iron Heart.
ABS-CBN’s primetime show offering from the Star Creatives division recently had its all-time high in concurrent views last Feb. 27 with almost 270,000 viewers.
Sudlon mountain was where unit one was and where lead star Richard Gutierrez had his scenes taken and we were surprised that it was so cold in the mountain that it was reminiscent of Baguio weather in December!
Richard, whose family hails from Cebu, said that it was also his first time to discover the area even though he has been going home to the province every so often.
“It’s amazing. Who knew that may ganito just one-and-a-half hours away from the city center,” he added.
Going back to the high ratings that Richard and his Iron Heart team achieved that he described as a slow burner since its debut. The production recently had a thanksgiving party because of this achievement that doesn’t usually happen on Philippine television.
The norm is that a show would rate at first and sustain it until the end. But The Iron Heart had another direction. “Parang ang nangyari sa The Iron Heart, habang tumatagal mas gumaganda siya and mas maraming tumatangkilik ng storya at mas nagugustuhan ng mga tao,” shared Richard.
The Iron Heart also has more demanding scenes and elevated action stunts that Star Creatives, the team and brains behind the show, are pushing to champion world-class fight scenes in the Philippines. They have a dedicated action director Lester Pimentel to guide the cast and be consistent with the delivery of the stunts.
Good thing, Richard who plays Apollo is an expert and has zero injuries, a benchmark for a great action star.
He said, “I have been doing martial arts for a long time and very important for cinematic action ay iyong safety. So control is very important and practice.”
Richard further said that The Iron Heart proves that world-class action is also very much alive and can be achieved in the Philippines.
“We try to elevate the action sequences. Talagang gusto namin pagandahin pa dahil naniniwala kami na kaya pumantay ang Pilipino pagdating sa mga action sa ibang bansa!” he added.
Of course, Richard said his team is perfect and his co-actors have no egos present that the vision of the show is just so doable.
Jake Cuenca, who plays Eros, said that his No. 1 priority right now is The Iron Heart in terms of life and projects. “Minsan kahit masakit na eksena, kapag kailangan pa ibigay, gagawin ko talaga kasi ang ganda nito. Pinaka-maganda na nagawa ko na it shows a different side of me.”
Baron Geisler, who has a recurring role as Janus, treasures the brotherhood he formed with Jake and Richard. “We work out together, we have our own programs but we look out for one another. It’s a beautiful experience, especially shooting here in Cebu.”
The women in the show are also happy about how equal the treatment is when it comes to fight scenes. This month, expect elevated action from Sue Ramirez, Sofia Andres and Dimples Romana. “This Women’s Month, dapat abangan nila fight scenes ng women with other women. We are not fighting each other, ayaw natin noon, but we are fighting with one another side by side. At this point, kailangan ang mga kababaihan ay nagtutulungan.”
Dimples is celebrating her 26th year in the industry. Reflecting on her journey, she shared some words of wisdom that younger celebrities could learn from. “The beauty of my journey is, it was never rushed. Iyan ang lagi ko sinasabi sa mga bata na minsan madali talaga, mag-madali na sa mundo natin ngayon. Lahat ay instant. Lahat ng gusto mo, kailangan mabilis kasi kailangan up the ante ka,” she said.
“Kailangan hindi ka mauunahan ng iba but in reality, ‘pag inisip mo, iba-iba rin ang destination na gusto mo. But sometimes, when you feel that this particular star or actor, ang laki-laki ng kinikita pero when you get to where they are, hindi naman pala masaya. It’s because it’s not the journey you were about to take after all.”
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