Stereotyping is common practice in the entertainment industry, local and elsewhere. Be it on television or film, actors are not offered or assigned roles that will test their flexibility and versatility. For far longer than we can remember, there is no professional casting unit in most of movie and TV projects, unlike in the advertising industry where professional casters are revered and respected because they have mastered the art of getting the right actors for the right roles.
Even if our country has some very competent actors, this stereotypical way of casting being practiced persists, thus failing actors to maximize their skills that would allow them to achieve their personal satisfaction as artists.
How disappointing it is that we see the same faces repetitively on daily drama programs, playing the same roles over and over again. That is why those who are serious about improving their craft welcome the mushrooming of local independent film festivals and, more recently, the entry of video on demand (VOD) services like Netflix, iWant and Cignal TV because these platforms offer them roles they wont get on free TV or mainstream movies.
Just recently, we caught a new suspense thriller drama on iWant TV that featured Rio Locsin, one of the few iconic actors we admire. Titled Kargo, Locsin plays a foulmouthed grandmother who works as a taxi driver so she can raise her troubled teenage granddaughter.
It is a role that normally will not be offered to someone like Locsin but she gave a truly consistent, on-point performance throughout the episodes. “I am just happy to be given this opportunity to give life to a character that is so different from the roles that I’m often assigned or offered to do, and nowhere near who I am as a person. I welcome these kinds of roles not only for myself but for my colleagues as well, because we as actors grow by leaps and bounds when we go beyond our comfort zones,” she told us.
We were very happy to see the name of Julius Alfonso in the credits as the director of Kargo‘. Alfonso impressed us in his festival feature film Dedma Walking a few years ago.
We were also glad to have experienced the new film of Carlo Aquino, Isa Pa With Feelings, which teams him up with the very popular accidental actress Maine Mendoza. Aquino plays a deaf and mute sign language teacher who falls in love with his student.
Roles with physical disabilities are often prized ones, as proven in a number of Oscar award-winning performances through the years. And Aquino admitted that this is one of his most difficult roles ever. “It’s definitely out of the box, and I have to allot many days to learn about sign language before we started shooting. The commitment level in playing a character like Gali is on a different level. But these roles are what continue to allow me to push further and work harder. The fulfillment is priceless!”