John Lloyd Cruz on going nude in first movie with son Elias Modesto
John Lloyd Cruz considers telling stories about society as a "cultural duty."
The Filipino actor recently won an international acting award for portraying a fictional police lieutenant who opposed former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
In the Lav Diaz film Essential Truths of the Lake, John Lloyd earned the Boccalino d'Oro prize (Golden Jug Award) for Best Actor for bringing life to Lt. Hermes Papauran.
Did John Lloyd hesitate to do the film because it tackled the Duterte drug war?
"Hindi dahil sa nag-hesitate. Pwede mo siyang tingnan na ganun, na tungkol lang ito kay Duterte. Pero yung pinaka iko-consider mo dito...
"Hindi lang naman si Hermes Papauran o yung issue ng drug war or yung dangers nun, I think yung kuwento ni Direk Lav, mas nagbigay siya ng pagpapahalaga sa mga nadadaanan ni Hermes, yung mga character na ito," explained John Lloyd.
"Tingin ko, more than Duterte, mas sila [referring to characters in the film] ang iniintindi ko: ang maikuwento ang kuwento nila. Kasi kung hindi si Direk Lav, sino ang magkukuwento sa kanila?"
The film, which runs for three hours and 30 minutes, also shows the time in 2018 when Duterte announced his plan to withdraw the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) then asked John Lloyd if he immediately accepted this project during the Q&A session held on November 23 at Gateway Mall as part of the 2023 QCinema International Film Festival.
"Siyempre, aminin ko, as much as gusto ko na lagi akong kagaya nina Hazel [Orencio, the film's assistant director], na laging nandiyan para kay Direk Lav, as much as gustuhin ko iyon...aaminin ko, it takes a toll on myself.
"Gustuhin ko man na maka-oo sa lahat, kung pwede lang because it's a cultural duty."
John Lloyd's character was a police lieutenant who re-opened the investigation into the disappearance of the activist environmentalist Esmeralda Stuart.
Shaina Magdayao, John Lloyd's ex-girlfriend, was cast as Esmeralda.
In the Q&A session, John Lloyd also candidly talked about his nude scene wherein his private parts were shown on the big screen.
When asked if those were his private parts shown on the big screen, John Lloyd asked back with a smile: "May nakita ba? Wala nga akong nakita, e."
Watch the full video below of John Lloyd narrating how his son Elias ended up being in the nude scene as well.
In one scene of the film Essential Truths of the Lake, John Lloyd's character was stark naked as he crawled around on his hands and knees.
Elias, who was fully clothed, held the leash connected to the collar around John Lloyd's neck.
#johnlloydcruz #eliasmodesto #essentialtruthsaboutthelake #qcinema
Video & Interview: Jocelyn Dimaculangan
Edit: Rommel Llanes
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