Coco Martin credits indie training for attitude to work

CEBU, Philippines - The passion for acting of the Prince of Independent Cinema, Coco Martin, gets more pronounced with each new project—the latest of which is playing the role of a soldier for the first time in what promises to be a star-studded and epic teleserye on ABS-CBN.

The FREEMAN got the chance to interview Coco Martin (Rodel Nacianceno, in real life) during the Kapamilya Karavan of ABS-CBN’s Regional Network Group at Ayala Terraces as part of the station’s events to celebrate Sinulog.

Coco will be the lead actor of “Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin, one of Kapamilya network’s primetime offerings for its BidaBest campaign for 2011.

Coco’s leading ladies are young dramatic actresses Andi Eigenmann and Maja Salvador. Completing the cast are John Estrada, Amy Austria, Boots Anson Roa, Ronaldo Valdez, Tonton Gutierrez, and Ms. Lorna Tolentino. It is directed by Ruel Bayani.

The teleserye tells the story of a soldier assigned to fight rebels yet part of him has a connection with the group he is at war with. This will be Coco’s second leading role for TV after doing “Agimat Presents: Tonyong Bayawak.”

But prior to achieving lead actor status, he made a mark doing supporting roles in “Tayong Dalawa,” “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo,” “Idol,” “Ligaw na Bulaklak” and “Nagsimula sa Puso.”

“Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin” will be airing soon on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, either this month or next month.

Coco revealed that they have really prepared hard for this project and that he finds the role tough and challenging.

“Every role na ginaganampanan ko, iba’t ibang character. Iba’t ibang pagkatao na ang nabigyan ko ng buhay. Sa mga nakaraang soap opera na ginawa ko parang lagi akong bad guy. This time, iba naman. Ito din ang kaunaunahan kong pagkakataon na gumanap bilang isang sundalo,” said Coco.

“Mahirap kasi talagang nag-train kami para dito. Hindi mo ito pwedeng laruin lang or hindi paghandaan ng husto. Siyempre gusto naming ipagmalaki ang mga proyektong ginagawa namin kaya sobra talaga naming pinaghandaan ‘to,” he added.

What challenges Coco even is the opportunity of working with people he never thought he’d be able to work with.

“Napaka-challenging ang makatrabaho sa mga pinakamahusay na mga artista. Kailangan ko lalong pagbutihan. Ang pagiging professional ko sa trabaho, dapat di mawala yon,” Coco enthused.

He is very grateful to ABS-CBN for entrusting him with this big project. “Yong pagkatiwalaan ka ng ABS-CBN na bigyan ng ganitong kalaking proyekto, siyempre dapat wag mong pakawalan at dapat mong paghirapan.”

Training for the role

The FREEMAN also asked about his experiences during his army training, wherein he got scars all over.

“Sobrang hirap ng pinagdaanan ko but it really helped me to portray my character best. Kasi unang-una mahabang training at proseso ang pagdadaanan nila bago sila maging isang ganap na sundalo. Pero ito talaga sobrang pinaghandaan namin kasi para wag kaming mapahiya at maipagmamalaki namin ito,” said Coco.

“Kaya pinagbubutihan ko itong first role ko bilang isang sundalo kasi talagang gusto na kung ano yong ginagawa ko sa mga acting jobs ko, gusto kong makita nila yong karakter talaga at hindi yong si Coco.”

He further shared, “Isa ito sa pinakamadrama, pinakamaaksyon, pinakamabigat kasi sa mga artista pa lang at storya, sobra yong casting, sobrang pinaghandaan. Hindi ito ginawa at pinag-isipan ng maikling panahon, matagal na proyekto ito at ngayon lang sa palagay nila ang tamang panahon na gawin ito.”

Coco is supposed to shoot for another indie film with the working title, “Abu Sayyaf” with Brilliante Mendoza at the directorial helm. Coco has worked with Brillante several times in the past, including the film “Kinatay” that earned the latter the Best Director award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2009. However, due to conflicting schedules, Coco will be able to shoot for Brillante’s latest film only later this year.

“Nagkaroon ng conflict sa schedule kaya nga sabi ko marami akong nasa-sacrifice na mga projects kasi sobra kong pinaghandaan ang teleserye na ito. Gusto ko ‘tong bagong indie film na gagawin ko kasi medyo nakaka-relate ako kasi medyo nagkatugma, about the military and the rebels, but it will be done within the year.”

Passion for acting

When asked what other roles he wants to portray, Coco said that he would like to be as diverse as possible and explore different roles imaginable since for him he’s still new in show business (he’s been around for only five years) and has a long way to go.

“Dami pang mga role na gusto ko pang gawin. In every role talaga na ginagawa ko, talagang binibigay ko yung best ko. Hindi dahil gusto ko lang magkatrabaho kundi gusto ko talagang gampanan at bigyan ng justice yung role, at di dahil gusto ko lang kumita,” he explained.

He claimed to be very dedicated to his craft—a work attitude he said he cultivated by starting out in independent films.

“Sobra akong dedicated sa trabaho ko. Yung pinanggalingan ko sa indie, iba ang treatment na binibigay namin sa bawat proyekto na ginagawa namin at sa bawat karakter na ginagawa namin.

“Kaya minsan parang weird kasi sinasapuso ko yong role ko. Kaya minsan kung lilipat ako sa ibang karakter, nahihirapan ako kasi masyado akong nai-involve sa bawat karater na ginagawa ko,” he shared.

Zero love life

When asked about his love life, he had this to say: “Wala munang love life kasi medyo mahirap at hectic pa schedule namin, halos hindi na nga kami nakakatulog minsan.”

But he said he admires his co-star, Maja Salvador.

“Gusto ko kasi yung katrabaho ko, dedicated din sa trabaho niya, and nakikita ko yun kay Maja. Napakagaan niyang katrabaho, napaka-professional. Bihira kasi ang ganun na hindi nagtatrabaho for the sake of money, nagtatrabaho siya kasi gusto niya ang trabaho nya.”

Asked if there were romantic sparks on the set, he said, “Mahirap sabihin ngayon kasi masyado pang maaga. Pangalawang soap pa namin ito together. As of now talagang magbarkada kami, parehas kami ng takbo ng isip. Natutuwa ako sa kanya kasi bukod sa trabaho, makapamilya siya. Nakikita ko yong sarili ko sa kanya, kung paano siya magtrabaho at kung paano niya mahalin ang sarili nya.”

“Si Maja, isa sa mga hinahangaan ko bilang isang tao,” Coco added with a smile.

Coco started out in showbiz as one of the members of Star Circle Batch 9 of Star Magic, the talent discovery and management arm of ABS-CBN.

Indie to mainstream

His first cameo film appearance was in the 2001 film “Luv Txt” starring Judy Ann Santos, wherein he was credited under his real name, Rodel Nacianceno. After that, he took a break from acting.

He appeared in several TV advertisements before breaking into show business anew as the lead in the indie film “Masahista (Masseur)” which won him the Young Critics Circle Best Actor Award in 2006. He also starred in “Kaleldo (Summer Heat)” in 2006. Both were films of Brillante Mendoza.

Early in 2007, Coco became an exclusive artist of GMA Network, and appeared in several Kapuso shows, starting with “Daisy Siete.” He also became a member of the boy group The Studs. He also continued to star in several other indie productions, thus earning the tag as the Prince of Independent Cinema.

In 2008, Coco returned to ABS-CBN as an exclusive artist and was cast in “Ligaw na Bulaklak.” It was followed by the hugely successful soap “Tayong Dalawa,” wherein he won the Best Drama Actor in the 2009 Star Awards for Television even if he was essentially playing second fiddle to the main casts Gerald Anderson, Kim Chiu and Jake Cuenca. After getting notice on “Tayong Dalawa,” the indie actor’s transition to mainstream acting was solidified with successive TV projects.

Last year was his busiest after joining the ensemble cast of the primetime drama “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo,” getting his first lead role in “Tonyong Bayawak,” and doing his bit of singing-acting as he starred alongside Pop Star Princess Sarah Geronimo in the TV musical series “Idol”. In 2010, he also had his first mainstream film, “Sa ‘Yo Lamang,” which was directed by Laurice Guillen.