Idineklara noon ni Piolo Pascual na huling teleserye na niya ang Since I Found You (Abril-Agosto 2018) kung saan katambal niya si Arci Muñoz.
Read: Piolo Pascual declares: "I won’t be doing teleseryes anymore."
Nang lumaganap ang COVID-19 pandemic, nagbago ang sistema ng taping ng mga teleserye, at ginawa ni Papa P ang Pinoy adaptation ng Flower of Evil (Hunyo-Oktubre 2022) kung saan ka-partner niya si Lovi Poe.
May pahiwatig din siyang magreretiro na sa paggawa ng pelikula. Pero heto ngayon at may bago siyang movie project, ang horror film na Mallari.
Gaganap siya rito bilang si Fr. Juan Severino Mallari, ang unang dokumentadong serial killer sa Pilipinas. Ididirek ito ni Derick Cabrido, para sa Mentorque Productions.
Tuluy-tuloy pa rin ang acting career niya?
“Bukas may pitching ako ng soaps. So, baka mag-soap uli ako pagkatapos. Ha! Ha! Ha!” natatawang sabi ni Piolo sa media launch ng pelikulang Mallari noong Hunyo 19, 2023, Lunes, sa Novotel Hotel, Cubao, Quezon City.
“Hindi ko rin po alam, e. Ahhh masarap, e. Masarap magtrabaho, e, you know. Yun siguro ang dinulot ng pandemic sa akin.
“I just got so bored, you know, doing nothing at home. So sabi ko, after the pandemic, I started accepting everything that came my way.
“And why not, you know — while you’re still in your prime, while you still have the chance to be given this kind of projects na talagang ang sarap lang niyang i-champion, you know.
“So, when I said hindi na ako magso-soap and then tomorrow, I have a pitching. Hindi ko alam, baka mag-soap ulit ako.
“I’m a sucker for good stories, I’m a sucker for good characters. And I always take it one day at a time.
“So now after my last show yesterday of Ibarra, dito naman tayo sa Mallari. So, ang lakas lang maka-bipolar, di ba?
“Pero character lang naman, di ko naman po inuuwi. Trabaho lang.”
PIOLO'S FIRST HORROR FILM
First horror film ni Piolo itong Mallari, na kuwento ng isang Pilipinong Katolikong pari sa parokya ng Magalang, Pampanga.
Sinasabing pumatay siya ng 57 katao sa lugar na iyon noong 1816-1826. Nakulong si Mallari nang labing-apat na taon, bago binitay noong 1840.
Bakit napapayag si Piolo na gumanap bilang Mallari?
Tugon ng 46-anyos na aktor, “It’s not to glorify the serial killers, of course, but to have an interpretation of this first documented serial killer in the Philippines, and that really piqued my interest.
“So I was, like, ‘This is one chance that I do not wanna pass up on.’ Basically knowing that we also have this kind of story na puwede nating gawin in a cinematic level.
“I wanted to be part of that experience. And since the first time it came out, when the poster was revealed… all the more that I felt that it has to be done.
“And people have to know about the story of Mallari.”
Tatlo ang timelines ng Mallari, kaya tatlong karakter ang gagampanan dito ni Piolo. Paano niya ito pinaghahandaan?
“Bahala na si Direk sa akin. Ang dami naming gagawin ditong medyo mahirap. First time na gagawin ko rin,” pagsisiwalat ni Piolo.
“But as an actor, I guess it’s our obligation to always push the envelope and do something different.
“I’ve always wanted to do a horror film and this came at a time wherein we’re just so interested in watching different genres, especially sa mga streaming platforms.
“So as an artist, I guess it’s a welcome challenge for me. And I don’t know what to expect. I haven’t prepared.
“I’ve read the script and it’s gonna be really hard, but I’ll know it once I stepped on the location.
“And portraying three roles is not an easy task especially with three different timelines. Three different periods.
“So I’m just really excited because with the production of Mentorque, I’m just so happy because we’re all, I guess, on the same page. “
And thinking that we have a good film, we have a good story to tell. So I’m just gonna ride away with them.”
DARK CHARACTER
Real-life character si Mallari, at napaka-dark. Paano niya iyon pinaghahandaan?
Natigilan nang ilang sandali si Piolo bago sumagot, “I always appreciate the process of, you know, immersing yourself, and the process of getting to know the character, and trusting your director, trusting the script, trusting the character. “
And I’m always excited to play a part that I know is not me. And playing a character is always a big challenge and… I don’t overthink.
“I go through the journey of each character that I portray.
“But for this, it’s gonna be really hard but good thing is that we’re shooting in three different periods…
“But I don’t know, I don’t know how I’m gonna prepare for the character. It gives me goosebumps but I’ve seen a lot of serial killer type of docus and films.
“As I’ve said, it’s a privilege for me to be doing something like this. So I don’t wanna overthink, I don’t wanna overanalyze.
“Or I don’t wanna have to define the person. I think I would know him the moment I get to play him.
“So I don’t want to kind of prepare, overprepare. I just wanna be there, you know. It’s a fun project, you know. I love the cinema.
“And I can’t wait for what we can… how are we gonna collaborate and how we can bring this to, you know, the silver screen, and see where it takes us.
“But definitely I’m all in, you know. As an actor, I always give it more than a hundred percent of what I can give.
“I’m ready for surprises. I always wanna see something that I have not done before and be challenged, then really step out of my comfort zone and see where it takes me.”
CONQUERING HIS FEARS
Anu-ano ba ang kinatatakutan niya sa buhay? Paano niya kino-conquest ang kanyang fears?
“Ahhh like when I did Ibarra, you know, it’s stepping out of my comfort zone, doing a musical play for the first time,” salaysay ni Piolo.
“Doing a horror film for the first time. I always wanna conquer my fear, and you conquer your fear by facing it head on. So that’s what I’m doing.
“Ahhh this is gonna be different. I know it’s gonna be really hard but it’s what we live for, I mean, you know. The challenges that we face every day.
“And what we fear the most is what defines us. So I guess you always wanna be able to know and find out for yourself.
“And you won’t know it unless you face it.”
Siyangapala, haharanahin ni Piolo ang mga kandidata sa Miss Ormoc City sa Hunyo 23, Biyernes ng gabi. Umpisa iyon ng week-long highlights ng fiesta activities bilang parangal sa patron saints ng lungsod na sina Saint Peter at Saint Paul.
Makikisaya rin sa Ormoc sina Iza Calzado, Seth Fedelin, Bituin Escalante, Frenchie Dy, Chinkee Tan, Marco Sison, Rey Valera, Nonoy Zuñiga, Silent Sanctuary, at Vice Ganda.