Professionalism in Philippine showbiz is at its peak

With the ever-evolving landscape of the Philippine entertainment industry during the pandemic, another positive shift should be well-noted. That is how our actors and actresses now veer away from becoming too self-centered to ride on issues or create unnecessary noise to promote oneself, or in layman’s terms, become too “pa-showbiz.”

While the upsurge of the Marites is unstoppable, the artists involved are usually nonchalant and are just going on privately with their own lives whilst being busy with their ever important TV or film projects. Whatever they share online in their personal platforms, that is just it. What you see is what you get and it is as it should be.

Covering these stars now gives me the similar feels on how it is when I do cover Hollywood superstars or our Korean oppas. We don’t even have to look so far in the indie scene to catch a good acting piece from our beloved popular celebrities. Even in the mainstream, they do deliver. Case in point is Maris Racal’s viral lengthy scene with Angelica Panganiban on WeTV’s The Kangk’s Show, in which Maris flawlessly embodied the babaeng baklang kanal, making her a hot topic among fans for her talent, besides the fact that we also talk about her love life with Rico Blanco.

One of our patrons at the moment for spectacular acting, minus the pa-showbiz feels, is, of course, our Volpi Cup Best Actor John Arcilla, who also took notice. Yesterday, his film Reroute premiered on Vivamax. He did work with pretty novice drama actors compared to him, Nathalie Hart as his wife, and Cindy Miranda.

“Si Cindy at si Nathalie sobrang parehong magaling,” said he, “magkaiba sila ng mood. Itong si Cindy ‘pag malapit na iyong eksena tatahimik na iyan sa isang tabi, ito naman si Nathalie kahit seryoso iyong eksena sobrang komedyante, very makulit and bubbly. So, nakakatuwa sila kasama kasama, focused sila sa ginagawa nila ‘pag trabaho na.”

Also in the film is Sid Lucero, who praised the up-and-coming actors he gets to work with now in the mainstream, who are at par with his indie film contemporaries.

During our chat, he also did mention that the rise of local streaming had become an avenue for more complex storytelling that pushes the boundaries and has no censorship.

“Oh, I love it! I feel like I’ve been part of the beginning of it,” said he. “When these avenues for filmmakers who usually the big networks or big studios would turn down because they are not part of the formula, they had a voice all of a sudden, which gave way to the actors.”

We can also count on AJ Raval, who has no qualms getting into risqué scenes and being dubbed as Viva’s newest queen of sexy just to deliver a project well. Recently, she did a film, with co-star and close friend Sean de Guzman, titled Hugas. It was a sexy action thriller ala Bonnie and Clyde. She and Sean recalled how they fought behind the scenes before a big take. Sean shared, “Mukha kaming tanga na hindi nagpapansinan. Tapos balak namin pagka-take, doon na lang talaga. Pero buti bago mag-action si direk, nagkatinginan na kami at tumawa. So, nagawa namin iyong eksena ng maayos.”

The backstory of it was provided by AJ. “Nagkamali kasi ako sa isang scene prior. So, nag-sorry ako tapos diniin pa ni Sean na OK lang, it’s your fault talaga. So, napikon ako, so, tinawag ko siya na, ‘Star ka?’ Pero ganoon din siguro ‘pag close mo iyong tao. You can express yourself, pero iyong mahalaga magawa mo iyong trabaho ng maayos.”

As for the chismis and issues outside her acting career, AJ is firm that she churns out and just continues focusing on doing her job in film and online despite the naysayers.

“Sarcasm na lang sa mga tao na hindi na ako babalik ng social media,” said she, “pero nakikita pa rin nila ako sa social media. Bahala na sila.”