Why I Always Get Cast as the Priest or the Soldier

When I sat down with Broccoli TV and we talked about my career, I said it plainly: I always play the priest or the military. Whenever there are historical films, my name pops up.

And then I added the honest part: “If they get me or not, that’s another question.”

That is typecasting in one sentence. So let me show you what it looks like from inside the collar and the uniform.

The collar

Look at my Work History and count the priests. I did, and I laughed.

• Padre Tressera in GomBurZa, directed by Pepe Diokno.
• Padre Camorra in Lav Diaz’s Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis.
• A Spanish friar in The Agony and Fury of Hermano Puli.
• Fray Santiago in Amor y Muerte.
• A Catholic priest in Ang Sugo: Felix Manalo, and a deputy priest cameo in Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo.

On stage it is the same story. I played Padre San Vitores in Pedro Calungsod the musical on a national tour. Back then I wrote that I was probably cast because of the looks, my accent and my performing skills. In that order. Haha.

The uniform

Then there are the soldiers, the officers and the men in charge.

• Tenyente Mateo Flores in the GMA series Katipunan. I broke him down in this old post.
• Lieutenant Jose in Ang Supremo.
• Commander Harrison in Sisa, directed by Jun Robles Lana.
• Spanish General Ramon Blanco in Miong for Repertory Philippines, and General MacArthur in Sindak 1941.
• The Gobernador Heneral in I Love You Since 1892.

Why my name pops up

It is not a mystery. I have a Spanish face, a Spanish accent and a Filipino heart. Philippine history has a lot of Spain in it, so when a production needs a friar, a governor or an officer from that time, somebody remembers me.

When I arrived in Manila, people teased my accent. Today that same accent helps get me cast as a Spanish priest. Turn the thing they tease you about into a tool. That is one of my favourite lessons, and I wrote more about it in Life on Tour.

Being typecast is not the same as being booked

Here is the part people miss. My name popping up only gets me into the conversation. “If they get me or not, that’s another question.”

So I prepare like I could lose it, because I could. I research the character and the director before the room, like I explain in ways to prepare for performing auditions. I show up already looking the part, so the director can imagine me. I learned how much the small things matter in what it really takes to get cast in a commercial.

And once I have the part, I do the work daily, even when nobody is watching. Tita Baby taught me that the hard way, in The Toughest Director I Ever Had.

Not every role wears a collar

To be fair to the casting directors, they also let me out of the cassock sometimes. I was Mr. Clarke in Bad Genius, Ahmed Al Juffali in Can’t Buy Me Love and Headmaster Mendoza in He’s Into Her.

I’m proud of every priest and every soldier. Each one is a different man, with a different voice, in a different moment of our history. Same face, new person. That is the job.

Watch the interview

The full Broccoli TV conversation is on my Video page, together with my behind-the-scenes vlogs.

Now tell me in the comments: which of my priests or soldiers did you see first?