GORGY RULA
Maliban sa FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, may bagong pelikula si Albert Martinez. Pero maghihinay-hinay na raw siya sa showbiz.
“Actually, I already declared semi-retirement,” pakli ni Albert nang nakapanayam namin sa nakaraang look test ng pelikulang The Lotto Winner ng Mavx Productions.
Namimili na lang siya ng mga proyektong gusto niyang gawin, dahil mas priority na sa kanya ngayon ang kanyang pamilya.
“It’s similar to what’s happening in the narrative [ng pelikula]. I wanna spend more time with my grandchildren.
“I wanna spend more time with my kids, which I missed during the time when I’m working day in, day out.
“So, I told myself, even my management, sabi ko, ‘From now on, I’m just gonna do one project that I believe in. Then the rest, I would enjoy my time with my family and friends.’
“Then, this came about, I read the material. Sabi ko, 'Sige, this is something I wanna do.'
“It’s so close to home for me. It’s a journey that I went through similarly,” pakli ni Albert nang tanungin namin kung bakit niya tinanggap itong pelikulang The Lotto Winner kasama si Kylie Padilla.
“Ang difference lang because, yung kanya, he got into gambling," sabi ni Albert tungkol sa kanyang character sa pelikula. "Yung sa akin naman, I focused more on building a family, and make sure it’s okay.
“So, you missed so much time with your family. To a point na yun nga, you missed special moments. And before you know it, ang laki na nila. You don’t even remember their birthdays.
“Yeah! Ang dami, e… I spent most of my time, my birthday on the set,” dagdag ni Albert.
Committed si Albert sa FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, dahil sa magandang samahan nila ni Coco Martin.
“Batang Quiapo is more of my commitment with Coco. Because I really told him I’m semi-retired. As much as possible, I really want to pick lang yung mga short na…
"But because of our friendship, 'Sige, I’ll do it for you.' And you know, I’m just enjoying it.
“We’ve been together naman for so many projects, and yung bonding namin as friends is there,” sabi pa ng premyadong aktor.
“Basta ako in my mind, I just wanna do it. Something that... it’s not because of money or anything, it's just yung passion ko for my craft.
“Ayoko pa rin naman kasi mag-total… kasi it’s in our system, e. Hindi naman puwedeng parang… at least you need that. So, sabi ko, I’ll go semi-retirement.
“I don’t consider this as work. Sa akin, it’s form of kumbaga, number one, it’s passion, art… parang it’s part of healing also.”
JERRY OLEA
Wala na rin daw sa isip ni Albert na magdirek ng isang pelikula o kung ano mang proyekto.
“Oh, I’m done. It is very tedious, so much time.
“I did once, so okey na ako dun. Saka wala naman akong intensyon to be… talagang mainstream director. It’s just... as an artist, you want to do something like that,” ani Albert.
Aminado naman siyang hindi na siya bata, at kailangan na rin niyang pakinggan ang katawan niya.
“Kasi, di ba? If you have a regular soap opera, you spend three times a week away from your family. And then… siyempre, di ba? We’ll start at 9:00 o’clock, we finish at 12:00 midnight.
“When you get home, 2:00 o’clock, the next day, half of the day you’ll sleep. Parang… what quality time now do you have?
“Siguro naman hindi naman sa… the only reason I’m like this, because — number one, my age; number two, it’s just I really want to spend more time with family. And, of course, me,” sabi pa ni Albert.
NOEL FERRER
Pero ang isang malaking realization daw kay Albert ay noong pumanaw ang kanyang asawang si Liezel Martinez.
“The realization happened to me when my wife passed away. Dun ko na-realize so many things pala I missed. Dun pa lang I started na rethinking everything. What will I do, what are my plans?
“Kasi, all of a sudden, I don’t have any plans anymore. Kasi, my plans are connected with her. So, since wala, what do I do?
“Kasi dati, my main reason is to put my family, kumbaga, sheltered and so on and so on. But right now, since wala na, and all of my kids are married, I’m alone.
“Nawalan na ako ng… hindi naman purpose, pero parang nawalan na ako ng drive to exert more. So, naiwan na lang talaga, passion. Yun na yung pinaka-main drive ko, yung passion,” saad pa ng aktor.
May pamilya na ang tatlong anak ni Albert, at nae-enjoy na niya ang pitong apo.
Pero bukas naman daw siya sa posibilidad na baka dumating ang araw na may makikilala siyang babaeng muling magpapatibok ng kanyang puso.
“Hindi ko naman naging priority yun e. Parang in my mind… but I’m not closing my doors, if it happens, it happens. But then again, my priority is more of my kids.
“Kasi, sino ba naman..? Really older, 'tapos parang... I don’t wanna start from scratch. But then again, if it happens, it happens,” pakli ni Albert.
Sa July ay sisimulan na nina Albert at Kylie ang shooting ng The Lotto Winner na kukunan sa Canberra, Australia, sa direksyon ni RC de los Reyes.