By Menchu Aquino Sarmiento
During a public conversation at the recent Cinemalaya Campus, four independent film actors talked about their craft to an audience of mostly students (many as young as Junior High) who might conceivably find themselves on both sides of the camera, for their own indie film projects.
Indie films are notorious for their shoe-string budgets, but spouses Liza Diño and Aiza Seguerra agreed unparalleled freedom for actors to express themselves and to evolve their techniques.
“Not to knock the mainstream movie industry, but there it’s hard not to compromise,” Diño remarks. “As an Indie film actor, you are your own instrument. You are not limited by the producers’ requirements or the director’s aesthetic.”
Veteran character actor, teacher and director, Roli Inocencio puts it bluntly, “Mainstream filmmaking is synonymous with the lowest common denominator. Indie goes beyond the usual romcom, superhero or alamat fantasy. It’s like junk food vs. a subtle delicacy, which only sensitive palates can appreciate. There should be more to the dialogue than just words. Even the silences should have meaning. Indie film imperfections just make them so much more real. In mainstream movies, the camera dictates the acting parameters whereas in Indie, the camera serves the actor.”
Ina Feleo reflects, “Acting is not just an art, but also a discipline. The secret of good acting is to act as if you’re not acting, in order to bring out the character’s truth. I don’t judge my character as bida or contrabida but just focus on who she really is.”
Feleo, who is showbiz royalty, actually started performing as a dancer but was coaxed into acting by her late father Johnny Delgado. She practices her craft on-stage, and on both big and small screens. Although her mother Laurice Guillen runs acting workshops, Feleo lightly dismisses it as tsamba lang on her part, when peers and fans alike praise her work. Her fan base is admittedly mostly due to her being part of the Star Magic family.
“Acting in a teleserye is very different from being in a feature film,” Feleo further explains. “In TV soaps, the script always has to explain what went on in previous episodes for viewers who just tuned in. It’s very auditory, almost like radio, because many people watching TV in the middle of the afternoon are multi-tasking, so you have to make sure they get it, even without their giving you their full attention.”
Still she admits feeling more comfortable with film, which allows for more nuanced acting, and the emotional and psychological build-up of tuhog shots. “In film, what impacts the audience is first of all the visual, then the sound. For theater, it’s the other way round.”
Diño declares that acting is still one of the most amazing jobs ever, and advises the young wannabes in the audience to draw from their own vulnerabilities and unique life experiences. They must be unafraid to live their truth, albeit under imaginary circumstances. “When you prepare for a role, you use a lot of sense memory. You don’t actually become or turn into your character, but in acting the character, you access myriad facets of your self. Your pain becomes your fuel.”
Being a natural instinctive actor like her spouse, Aiza is a rare gift. Still all actors should take every opportunity to learn, especially from professional workshops. Contrary to urban legend, those who are sent to the corner sari-sari store to buy suka, rarely, if ever, return from their humdrum errand as movie stars.
Seguerra credits Diño with making her realize the value of professional training. As a child, being an entertainer was just a fun game. But then a three-year-old wouldn’t have the breadth of experience or the depths of pain that mature acting draws upon. “Liza made me understand the importance of honing my craft. Still you have to find your own way; know your own strengths and just keep on practicing. You don’t see acting as just another job. When you’re in the zone, it’s like you live then let go. Otherwise, you just have to keep on working at it. It’s not as simple as, O, maganda ka. Puwede ka nang mag-artista.”
Many Philippine beauty pageant winners enter showbiz, including Diño who was Miss Tourism International in the Mutya ng Pilipinas 2001. On this note, Seguerra deadpans: “I started out in showbiz as a beauty title holder, too. Remember, I was once Little Miss Philippines.”
