‘WHEN you love someone, you love them without reason or condition”—that is what the comedy “hugot film of the year”, That Thing Called Tanga Na, wants to showcase with its upcoming theatrical release on August 10. Directed by multiawarded Director Joel Lamangan and produced by Regal Entertainment Inc., the movie ventures to lay bare a different tale of love and romance that aspires to thrive against all odds.
Shying away from most of the narratives of the romcom genre, the film tells the story of five friends—four gay guys and a woman—and their adventure in finding love, losing love and going crazy over love. The film stars Eric Quizon, Billy Crawford, Kean Cipriano, Martin Escudero and Angeline Quinto.
At a press conference held recently at the Majestic Hall of Valencia Events Place, Regal Films, spearheaded by Lily Monteverde herself, introduced the stars of That Thing Called Tanga Na and the unique stories of each of the characters they play.
Ronnie Chiu (or Papa Chiu, played by Eric) is a rich lawyer and a Filipino movie fan faced with the shock of finding out that his young boyfriend, Albie Casiño, is having an affair with another gay guy much younger than him.
Billy, on the other hand, plays the role of Baldo, a closet gay working as a security guard and who has a live-in partner who suffers from an acute illness. This drives Billy’s character to take care of his lover as a dutiful “wife” until the latter’s death. Mourning and grief-stricken with the loss, Baldo tries to cope and mend ties with his partner’s mother who disapproves of their relationship.
C.C., played by Kean, is an online clothing company owner with a boyfriend of five years. He plans to have their marriage held in New York until he finds out that his boyfriend is already engaged to be wed to a Korean girl.
Meanwhile, Martin plays a transgender named Georgette/George, a beautician who supports the family of his boyfriend whom he is trying to build a life with. According to Martin, his character has the most colorful story in terms of love life.
Sole female lead Angeline plays Shirley, a struggling singer, events specialist and largely a witness to her friend’s misfortunes in relationships. Shirley is wife to an irresponsible man who is also the father of her child.
Supporting the main cast are Albie, Nikki Valdez, Jerald Napoles, Vangie Labalan, Ken Alfonso, Luke Conde, Paolo Gumabao, Shine Kuk and Lawrence Yap. Lamangan, who is also the name behind such blockbuster films as Manay Po, Manay Po 2, Happy Together and Pusong Mamon, said, “Martin is a very good actor. I’ve handled him before. This is my first time directing Kean, and he’s a dedicated actor. With Billy, there is no hang-up even though he’s a guy. Eric is always competent, while Angeline has a good grasp of timing when it comes to comedy. She also has rhythm.” The director added, “I think everyone, gay or otherwise, can relate to their characters because we approached telling the story of relationships in the movie in a universal way.”
As for adjustments, Kean, Martin and Eric shared their experiences and some of the preparations they made for their respective roles. “I read the script, did my research, tried to understand the flow. But as we were filming the movie, I realized that it must come naturally to me. The role is challenging, but I think keeping it real and as organic as possible is what made it even harder,” Kean said.
For Martin, “preparation was the longest for me, but the magic began as soon as I put on my wig, makeup and fancy clothes on. As soon as I saw myself in the mirror, it was easy to become this completely different person. I was just like, ‘Who are you? I don’t know you.’” Eric, on a different note, added, “I think the most important thing here is to be confident about what you can do. Basically, it all points out to having fun and, at the same time, being committed to your piece. Somehow, our personalities as actors blended together and we rocked the set.”
More than witty hugot lines and hilarious scenes, stories of heartache, friendship and conquering love is what comprise the DNA of That Thing Called Tanga Na. During the group interview, many got curious and asked the cast: “What lessons have you learned in chasing love?”
“At the end of the day, it’s [heartbreak] all a part of the journey. As much as possible, I try to look at the good side of things,” Ken said. “When it comes to love, you’ll definitely go crazy. You will not be even aware of the ridiculous things that you’re doing,” Kean shared. Angeline, on the other hand, said, “You’ll witness things which over the years, you’ll learn not to repeat anymore.” For Eric, “In love, we should also protect ourselves…it should always be right combination of heart and mind.”
For That Thing Called Tanga Na, the cliché goes: “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” But for Lamangan, it’s always “all is fair and equal in love.”