Veteran actor Arcilla is in-demand as ever

From an exclusive interview by The Sunday Times Magazine Editor Tessa Mauricio-Arriola from this section’s online program “The Manila Times CSI: Celebrity, Style, Inspiration,” available on The Manila Times official website, YouTube and Daily Motion channels and Facebook Page.

With an illustrious career spanning more than three decades, multi-awarded acting genius John Arcilla still considers himself a late bloomer in mainstream entertainment.

He is not ashamed to say this though, and nor should he be, since the time it took for him to land his most memorable movie role thus far and a box office hit was extremely well spent, honing him into a legend of sorts in among his peers and the public eye.

Arcilla recalled to The Sunday Times Magazine that he was only seven years old when he began having vivid fantasies of performing on stage and in front of large audiences. Come high school, his dreams slowly began to come true when he accepted his calling and actively joined the Philippine Educational Theater Association-Metropolitan Teen Theater League (PETA-MTTL).

Gifted indeed with an immense acting talent, he was soon taken in as a scholar by the Actors’ Workshop Foundation, under revered actor-directors Laurice Guillen and Leo Martinez from 1987 to 1990.

Thriving as a thespian, he then chose Tanghalang Pilipino to be his first professional theater company, and landed lead role after lead role for many of its most significant plays.

Through the ‘90s, his passion for theater fueled him to keep going until he realized he can supplement the humble earnings of stage actors as a TV commercial talent. He became a hit in fact in his first venture outside theater work via a now classic bacon advertisement where he made famous the phrase, “Coffee na lang, dear.” Within no time, mainstream entertainment came knocking on the dusky and handsome actor’s door, resulting in an impressive filmography that counts over 80 titles both in movies and television.

A formidable actor no doubt, it was only in 2015, however, when this seasoned thespian landed the role that catapulted him to the top of his game. Reaping critical acclaim and box office status, he was anointed general by his peers and the public for his brilliant portrayal of Philippine hero Antonio Luna in the breakthrough historical drama, “Heneral Luna.”

Since then, John Arcilla became all the more in demand whether on television, the movies and comeback stints on stage as an A-1 actor whose mere presence in a cast would command respect for any series or movie.

Five years since this self-proclaimed late bloomer hit the big time, Arcilla finds himself in a similar predicament when he released Heneral Luna. An official entry to the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, the actor pulled a huge surprise when he finally drew the masses to watch a historical piece in the cinemas. Until then, biographical period movies never became a commercial success in the country, and this December, Arcilla returns to the MMFF for another shot at what he does best.

Road to healing

This time, Arcilla brings to life “Suarez: The Healing Priest” and is very optimistic the movie will hold its own amid a bevy of contemporary entries.

In his interview with online program“The Manila Times CSI: Celebrity, Style, Inspiration” on December 10, the 54-year-old actor recalled in detail what led him to do another biopic and accept the role of the late famous healing priest, Fr. Fernando Suarez, who also had his share of controversy in his colorful public life.

“I was personally handpicked by Fr. Suarez to portray him in his biopic,” Arcilla shared. “I was asked to meet him and it was then that he told me that he was a fan of ‘Heneral Luna.’ He said he even organized a private viewing for his seminarians as a gift to them.”

Arcilla knew at the time that Fr. Suarez still had a pending case at the Vatican for sexual harassment (he was vindicated in Rome on January 2020 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and was a little anxious about accepting the part.

“But when I was talking to him, he turned out to be a very simple person—not the priest I see on television or YouTube. There was this positive air around him as he told me his stories about his life with no drama,” the actor continued.

What struck Arcilla was how the priest remained calm and without spite even if he was falsely accused.

“No matter what happened in his past, ang lakas pa rin ng confidence niya toward his faith na hindi siya pababayaan ng Diyos,” he recalled.

Then and there, Arcilla felt right about taking on the humbling request of a simple man to portray his life to the public, and embraced not his issues and controversy but Fr. Suarez’s total surrender to God and his faith.

Sadly, Arcilla’s first meeting with Fr. Suarez was also his last. Save for phone conversations, he never saw the priest again until he went to see him at the morgue when the man of God passed away on February 4 this year.

“When I saw him the first time, I felt we could be good friends, but besides our phone conversations I really got to know him by putting myself in his shoes, and delivering lines from the script that came straight from Fr. Suarez. That’s how I got closer to him.”

The healing priest died from a heart attack while playing his favorite sport, tennis, just three days before his 53rd birthday. For Arcilla, the time of his death was very significant because the night before, he had just watched 95 percent of the biopic Arcilla after only a month since the Vatican issued a hands down ‘not guilty’ verdict on his controversial case.

“That’s why I consider his death a miracle because he was in the middle of telling his story to the world, he was vindicated habang patapos na yung film. The night after he saw 95 percent of the film, it was only the ending he didn’t get to see, though he knows the script well. Imagine, he dies the next day, three days before his birthday. For me that is very significant—that he rose again after three days, symbolically through his birthday. Ang lakas ng tama sa akin noon.”

Born and raised a Catholic, Arcilla is honored to portray the life of a simple man with an immense faith. Apparently, his father comes from a family of priests and his mother was a Carmelite novice before she decided to married his father.

“I’ve always had faith in the church and God, but to be able to do this movie is so moving for me because I’ll be able to share Fr. Suarez’s message with everyone,” the actor explained. “It was the last line that he gave me and I always remember this: Ang pinakamagandang regalo na ibinigay sa kanya ng Diyos ay ang kanyang resposibilidad bilang isang pari na kailanman hindi niya tatalikuran or tatanggihan dahil iyon ay isang bokasyon na naging instrumento siya para ilapit ang tao sa Maykapal. For him, healing is bringing back people’s faith in God, and that is so important especially today.”

Arcilla said Filipinos, who are predominantly Catholic, are very fortunate to have their faith amid the ongoing pandemic.

“If we didn’t have this faith, imagine how easily all that’s happening will devastate everyone of us. But because of it, we can cling to God and overcome this challenge as we are already doing today.”

Sought after

Meanwhile, as he eagerly awaits the MMFF’s opening day on December 25, Arcilla continues to be busy with a host of other commitments.

Before this Zoom interview, he had just come from a promotional online event for the second season of the Philippines’ first original animated series, “Barangay 143” on GMA Network, and completed filming the much awaited sequel to celebrated director Erik Matti’s critically-acclaimed 2013 hit movie, “On The Job.”

Unable to contain his excitement, Arcilla said, “This is one of the best films I have ever made. Ang gamut kasi ng crisis sa mind ni Erik Matti ay ibang klase, patong-patong pero at the same time maiintindihan mo. For me as an actor laging sumasakit ang ulo ko kasi ang dami kong puwedeng pangalingan in tackling character against every scene. It’s really a huge challenge as an actor and I love those things.”

With only some dubbing left to do for “On The Job 2,” Arcilla has multiple projects in the pipeline for television and the movies, even possibly one that is written by him and he will direct.

“Sobrang saya ko over how my career is going,” he enthused. “One of my idols and ginagawa kong peg is Liam Neeson because he became a superstar in his 60s because of the triology ‘Taken.’ So I’m really very happy and thankful to God and everyone who are helping me with very good projects on offer.

“I don’t know if you can say I’m a late bloomer but siguro nga because there is so much more I want to show and express to people and the world about buhay Pilipino, which is also why marami pa akong gustong i-extract sa buhay,” the sought after “Heneral” of Philippine Movies happily ended.

Support “Suarez: The Healing Priest” and the rest of the 2020 MMFF entries via watching them on the globally accessible Upstrean platform from Christmas Day to January 7, 2021.