Boy in a hurry

On the surface, he looks like any other ordinary child. At 12, he’s devoted to his parents (mom is a housewife while Dad works in the US), plays Counter Strike (a computer game), loves swimming and feels the stirrings of puppy love.

But look again and you’ll see a difference – a whale of a difference. You’ll see a boy in a hurry, an adult comfortably trapped in a child’s body.Maybe because he’s the only child in a household of grownups. Or maybe because he had his exposure in showbiz early – at seven.

Whatever it is, Bryan Homecillo turns out to be not just any other kid. He was recently honored with Cartoon Network’s Mayor’s Award for Excellence as one of six outstanding Filipino youths in the field of arts.

He has two Best Child Performer trophies (for Munting Tinig) and has become award-winning director Gil Portes’ signature actor.

In fact, the dusky La Salle Greenhills sixth grader stars in Portes’ Metro Filmfest entry. The Homecoming. Bryan’s is the heartbreaking role of a SARS patient.

As an only child, Bryan lives in a rose-colored world shielded from heartache and the deprivation kids less fortunate than he is go through. But he is the first to deny that he is spoiled.

He doesn’t expect to win all the time and accepts defeat gracefully.

"I even applauded for Jiro (Manio) when he won. No hard feelings," says Bryan. Jiro, Bryan admits, happens to be his strongest competitor as an actor.

The no-frills stance extends to schoolwork.

"All of us are treated equally, no matter whose son you happen to be," reports Bryan. When shooting forces him to be absent from class, he makes it a point to catch up by calling classmates about the day’s lessons.

"Yes," says Bryan. "I love acting. But my priority is still my studies.

What will happen to your future if you don’t finish school? Actors can lose their popularity, you know."

Are these the words of a 12-year-old boy? Surprise, surprise! They are.

Bryan’s school activities (yes, he still finds time for them) prove he is always raring to outdo himself. It also establishes beyond reasonable doubt that he is to filmmaking born and attached. He wrote and directed a play entitled The Ring Terminator, which depicts the dangers of drug abuse.

He even won a contest on extemporaneous speaking.

Thus, no one is surprised when Bryan declares "I want to be a director someday and follow in the footsteps of my idol, Direk Gil (Portes)."

So bent is he on saying, "Lights, camera, action!" that Bryan already has a first movie in mind.

"I want to do a dramedy strongly anchored on realistic situations," he reveals.

But Bryan won’t stop there. He wants to go beyond the visual medium and dabble in an allied but different world that fascinates him equally: voice dubbing.

"I did that for the Astroboy animation and how I loved it," Bryan, a ramp model before he was discovered for the movies, gushes.

The boy’s eyes glisten, the way only the eyes of children with bright futures can, and do.

In Bryan’s case, it’s not just because his parents can very well support him in whatever he plans to be. It’s also because his is the talent and the gung-ho stance that make dreams come true.