WE always love it when underdogs are recognized.
Take, for instance, the big win of Anthony Falcon when the esteemed Young Critics Circle (YCC) announced recently their annual list of the best in local cinema.
Falcon won the Best Performance award, the lone winner in the acting category, over a roster of performances that included Jana Agoncillo (Nervous Tanslation), Noel Comia Jr. (Kiko Boksingero), Mon Confiado (Those Long Haired Nights), Desiree del Valle (Medusae) and Elora Españo (Baconaua). The organization also nominated the duo performance of Comia and Yayo Aguila for Kiko Boksingero and the lead ensemble of Mga Gabing Kasing Haba ng Hair Ko, which also included Falcon and his coactors Rocky Salumbides and Matt Daclan.
The YCC, unlike other award-giving bodies, just hands out a lone winner for the performance category, and they go through a list of outstanding lead, support, duo or ensemble performances. So it’s a huge victory for Falcon to have bested all the other nominees for this great honor.
“I was pleasantly surprised and very elated when word got to me that the YCC chose me for this honor. The members of the YCC are film critics and academicians from two prestigious universities—Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines Diliman. I will forever treasure this recognition, and it will definitely serve as a reminder that this is the career that I will continue to pursue, despite the many continuing challenges that ‘actors who are not deemed stars’ face in this industry.”
Falcon is probably referring to the star system that has been prevalent in the industry for many decades now. With the mushrooming of many local festivals that give actors the roles that quench their thirst for their acting passion, Falcon and company certainly get the big breaks that will definitely be a long shot for them in mainstream cinema and the big film outfits.
But then again, many producers and even the indie players still don’t compensate these brilliant and hardworking actors fairly. Moreover, filmmakers and producers who have won both local and international acclaim have started to develop a sense of twisted entitlement that actors need them more than they need these actors to breathe life to their characters on the big screen. Sad, isn’t it?
At the moment, Falcon is finishing a movie, titled Mina-Anud, with filmmaker Kerwin Go calling the shots. Set in the beaches of Real, Quezon, Falcon plays a surf instructor and pits acting skills with the likes of Dennis Trillo, Jerald Napoles and Marc Felix, a promising discovery from Bicol.
He is also busy rehearsing for a play, titled Pilipinas Kong Mahal, an entry to the annual Virgin Labfest of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Falcon’s first performance is scheduled on June 29. The theme this year is billed as Silip (Peek) and Falcon makes sure that he continues to make time for theater work. “I love acting for theater. It’s a totally different discipline and the preparation necessary excites me as an actor. Consistency, alertness, being instantaneous, focus—these are the goals I set for myself when I do theater work. The fulfilment is indescribable,” he shared.
If you want to check out Anthony Falcon after reading this, you can catch Si Chedeng at si Apple where he plays an important role. The movie is part of the lineup of PelikuLaya, a project of the Film Development Council of the Philippines that runs until June 28 only in select cinemas in the metropolis.
Anthony Falcon is one actor that we will put our bet on. He will definitely go far because he is a brilliant actor and a good person.