By PABLO A. TARIMAN
THOSE romantic moments may look easy and spontaneous on the TV and movie screen but there is more to doing love scenes than meets the eye.
“The truth is it is doubly tough for the actor once you face the cameras. The work starts before the shoot. First, you need good rapport with your co-actor and you need to trust your director,” says award-winning actor Coco Martin who is appearing in a new teleserye, Ikaw Lamang with Kim Chiu.
“First, you have to trust yourself, trust your co-actor and your director who has the final say on how those love scenes would register on screen,” adds Chiu who plays Isabelle in the new teleserye that highlights love and passion in the 70s. “True, you need good chemistry for the love scenes to look real. Otherwise, they would look too studied or contrived. I do my best if I know my director will not do anything that will violate good taste,” she further says.
Martin says good chemistry doesn’t happen overnight. “You have to work hard on it, you have to be really comfortable with your co-actor and then you give it your best shot once the cameras start rolling. I am not the kind of actor who can project ‘kilig’ in one setting. I need time to work on it to make it believable. For another, I need to connect very well and make sure she has no reservation when the director shouts, ‘Action!’ When the cameras roll for the love scene, she should feel that I have high respects for her and that I am not taking advantage of that intimate moment before the camera,” he shares behind-the-scene moments.
Chiu admits projecting the ‘kilig’ moments doesn’t come easy. “It is good that we already know each other before so that the initial scenes should not look awkward. We exchange inputs and we discuss how we can make it look good on screen. We had such a scene on first shooting day. Indeed we worked hard to make it look very spontaneous. If it looked good, there is real hard work behind it.”
The new teleserye has the looks of Behn Cervantes’ Sakada and Peque Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata with much of the scenes shot in the sugar plantation in Negros and Batangas. For the new project, the production team made sure they capture the looks of the 70s from production to costume design.
From what the trailers indicate, the teleserye highlights love and passion between the class divide, between members of a landlord family on one hand and the working class. Martin and Chiu share common expectations on what they look for in their leading partners.
“Of course the good looks is a given and Coco (Martin) has it. But more than good looks, I expect a good actor in my leading man especially in a teleserye which can run from months to years. Coco has all that qualities and it can add pressure on you to do just as well because his awards are proof his work is generally recognized. The pressure is twice as compelling because I will be working with other awardees from Cherie Pie Picache to Cherie Gil, among others,” says Chiu whose latest film, Bride For Rent, was a big hit.
The old star system where stories are woven around box office stars obviously no longer holds true. Says Martin: “The project started with a concept and the casting followed later. I guess I work better in love stories with heavy drama.”
A production man from the network said there is more sense of ensemble work in this project which doesn’t give importance on whether you are leading or support actor. “All the actors from lead to support have equally important roles to play in making the characters look alive. We have chosen the actors strictly on the basis of their ability to do justice to the part and we give due importance on how they will interact with the entire ensemble. As they say, no such thing as minor role in this project. We’d rather that they help each other help realize the flow of the story rather than be preoccupied with being lead or support cast.”
That they do rather well in drama is probably because the private lives of Chiu and Martin are by themselves materials for another teleserye. Chiu unburdened her unusual family situation in the teen edition of Pinoy Big Brothers while Martin had his share of struggling days before the top-rating teleseryes came to be. “Yes, my own life is material for another teleserye but that is beside the point. What many don’t realize is that we have sleepless night doing the project. You can get sick from too much fatigue and I worry a lot about that. But we go on because we value our televiewers who deserve good entertainment after the day’s hard work,” Martin quips.
Ikaw Lamang directed by Malu Sevilla and Avel Sunpongco airs on Channel 2 on March 10.