No regrets having gone ‘bold’

He may be known as a bold actor but Seiko resident stud Rodel Velayo gets fan letters even from coeds of sectarian schools like UST, Sta. Rosa College, and St. Paul. They want to know why he joined the boldwagon when he could have been launched as a wholesome actor.

"That was also my original goal when I joined showbiz," he says. "But my manager and Seiko‘s boss Robbie Tan explained to me that wholesome matinee idols are already a dime a dozen and it would take me a very long time to make a name for myself if I’d compete with them in that category. I joined Seiko in October 1998, at a time when their contract actors like Leandro Baldemor and Anton Bernardo wanted to do films with other companies. Boss Robbie promised to build me up along with Leonardo Litton, kaya pumayag ako. I was introduced in Pisil, which starred Leandro with Klaudia Koronel, and I played the title role in my next movie, Burlesk King, which was shown in the Toronto, Chicago and Berlin Filmfests and has been bought for exhibition in several countries abroad. The movie gave me the chance to travel abroad for the first time. At the screening in Toronto, I realized that viewers don’t regard me as just a bold actor. I’m an actor, period. I’m only doing a role and they told me they liked my performance as a male stripper who is looking for his missing mother."

Wasn’t there a time when Robbie Tan got mad at him and almost kicked him out?

"That’s true. When the film was about to be shown in Berlin, I was supposed to go with him. But it so happened that I was doing some shows for the Filipino communities in Japan with JC Castro and we got stranded there when some of our shows were cancelled. He was very angry with me and took Leonardo, instead of me, to Berlin. But he later understood that I had a valid reason for not being able to come home on time, and now, we’re in good terms again."

After more sexy dramas like Mapagbigay, and Arayyy!, Rodel now plays another very challenging role in Kangkong.

"Just like in real life, I play an orphan who grew up with my lola, Odette Khan. From childhood, she has made me serve as an altar boy in church, with the understanding that I’ll eventually enter the seminary to become I a priest. But before get to enter the seminary, I meet a pretty balikbayan by chance, Brigitte de Joya, and we fall in love. We live together but my lola intervenes and threatens to eject Brigitte and her relatives from the land where they live, which lola happens to own."

Born on Feb. 1, 1980, Rodel is Archie Abala in real life. His parents broke up when he was still a little boy and he stayed with his paternal lola on Sales St., Quiapo.

"My mom went to Germany and eventually married someone else, a German. I have two half brothers there. One experience I can’t forget is when my mom came home here with her husband and she told me not to call her mama because her husband thinks I’m just her nephew. My father was a cab driver who looks like Rudy Fernandez in his photos. He had several women in his life, kaya marami akong half-brothers and sisters. He was killed by holduppers while driving his cab, but some say he was killed by the relatives of a woman he had deceived. After my lola migrated to Australia, I moved from the home of one aunt to another, from Tuguegarao in Cagayan to Fairview and then back to Quiapo. There were times when I’d cry by myself as a child because I don’t have my own parents. I had a very lonely childhood."

He is glad he has finally found his own niche in the movies.

"Eventually, I want to be like Albert Martinez. He also does bold films, but is a respected and award-winning actor. I want to do more movies with our respected directors and actresses. I‘ve learned to love my profession and want to improve my craft as an actor. In Kangkong, I have some very daring scenes not only with Brigitte, but also with Sofia Valdez, who plays our housemaid na pumikot sa akin. But I also get to do some demanding dramatic scenes with Odette Khan as my domineering lola. The film carries a relevant message about people who are supposed to be very religious but has no qualms in oppressing their poor neighbors. My lola here is a usurer and she is forcing me to be a priest to compensate for her own sins. I’m so thankful to Boss Robbie for giving me very good roles. My next film is with Direk Jose Javier Reyes and it will be about the greed for money, with jueteng as background of the story."