Third time’s the charm for Dingdong and Dennis
@ritoasilo
Time isn’t something we don’t have a lot of these days. But we were only too happy to catch up with Dingdong Dantes and Dennis Trillo early this week to talk about “Cain at Abel,” the action-drama series about warring siblings that begins its telecast on GMA 7 tonight.
We’ve always held Dennis in high regard because of his consistently textured and diverse portrayals on TV (his performance in “MyHusband’s Lover” remains a high point in his acting career), but his chameleonlike skills as an actor are even more noticeable in films. For the latter, the disparate lineup includes the schmaltzy romance “Blue Moon,” the noirish actioner “The Janitor” and the period drama, “Aishite Imasu (Mahal Kita) 1941,” where he won no less than six acting awards for his career-boosting big-screen debut. But, we were just as thrilled to do the two-on-one interview because we couldn’t wait to tell Dingdong how much growth we’ve noticed from him as a serious actor in his recent forays into intimate bigscreen dramas. Yes, he has a string of acting nods up his matinee-idol sleeve (“One More Try,” “Segunda Mano,” “The Unmarried Wife”), but it was his performance in “Seven Sundays” that truly demonstrated he wasn’t just another pretty face who lucked out when he stumbled into a role that fit him to a T.
And, to prove that his performance in the 2017 family drama was no fluke, Dong recently turned in another award-worthy characterization—this time, for “Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story.”
Great performances
While Dennis prefers to get to the heart of the role he’s tasked to breathe life into, Dong says that liking the story also greatly aids in effective characterization.
“I need to like the story first, because it explains so much about your character and his motivations,” he explained to us. “In fact, the story probably has more to say than any of the characters in it. The actor becomes an accessory in delivering the message, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad. That’s how viewers get to see the bigger picture.
“At the same time, it’s important for your character’s intentions or motivations to be clear. Will the audience draw inspiration or learn lessons from his actions? Although it’s an acting tack that’s probably more ideal for TV, [which is being viewed by people of all ages]. In the movies, it’s more exciting to portray roles that are darker or more offbeat… and unconventional.”
Our talk about characterization and great performances veered off-course when the name of “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Rami Malek was mentioned in passing. After all, Rami’s Oscar-worthy turn in the blockbuster biopic is as buzzed about for its physicality as it is for the actor’s depth. “When I saw him as Freddie Mercury, parang gusto kong mag-banda ulit ( laughs). He is so good in it,” Dong quipped.
When we asked Dennis to describe his experience portraying a transvestite in “Aishite Imasu,” another example of a thespic “vanishing act,” he recalled, “It was gratifying to see how moviegoers reacted to my performance in it, so I thought maybe acting was something I could be good at. Sabi ko, ‘ Ay, puwede ko ‘tong gawin.’ It was my first movie, so I just trusted my instinct and followed what my director (Joel Lamangan) asked me to do—he guided me and I just followed his lead.”
Asked for his thoughts about his growth as an actor, Dong said, “I’m still a work in progress. Looking back at the roles that I essayed when I was younger, of course I also wanted something grittier and more challenging.
“But there aren’t a lot of opportunities when you’re younger. Sometimes, you’ll only know how good you are or what you can do when