Sese's star on the rise

MANILA, Philippines - Neil Ryan Sese, actor for theater, indie films and TV, was only seven when his parents separated. His father, a radiologist who hailed from Masbate, left their home and he never saw him again. The father had apparently remarried, for years later Neil met a fellow who said they are half-brothers.

Is this the reason why Neil, 30, is seemingly shy and reticent, reserved almost, at least to strangers and those he is not close to?

At any rate, young Neil, an only child, grew up in Lucena City, Quezon, where his mother Rosalinde took charge of his upbringing, enrolled him at Maryhill College, and encouraged him to be well-rounded and to join all the clubs: Drama Club, Science Club, Mathematics Club, etc.

He went to Manila in 1993, wanting to study at the University of Santo Tomas to be with his barkada but his mother told him to enroll at the University of the Philippines, so he took a nonquota course entrance exam (“para mas madaling makapasok”). Freshman year was devoted to general subjects like mathematics, but soon he found himself auditioning and appearing in Dulaang UP plays.

By the second year, he was enjoying being a campus actor, appearing in classic plays like Oedipus Rex and learning a lot from mentors like director Tony Mabesa and the late actor Rey Ventura. And so Neil dropped his plan to take up Mass Communication (“mahaba ang pila dito”) and decided to major in Theater Arts. He has been at it ever since.

Television, however, remains Neil’s “bread and butter,” where he gets to appear in teleserye and play character roles, including that of a rapist. Neil is also a favorite of indie film directors, landing choice roles in acclaimed movies like Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, Mangatyanan, Sanglaan and Huling Pasada.

In the latter movie, he was nominated this year for Best Actor by the respected Manunuri critics but lost out to a deserving veteran, Ronnie Lazaro.

It is in his chosen field of theater (a labor of love) that Neil really gets to test his mettle as an actor. In the recent Amphitryon, a Dulaang UP production directed by José Estrella, he displayed his comic side. And he scored as Stanley Kowalski in Tanghalang Pilipino’s Flores Para los Muertos (a translation of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire), directed by Floy Quintos.

It was a bruising, emotionally draining role made famous by Marlon Brando, and Neil met expectations, squaring off against the formidable Eula Valdes who played the pathetic Blanche Dubois.

Now, Neil is considering an offered role in another indie film but is hesitant, because it entails nudity. Not that he hasn’t bared all before — in the theater. It was another translated Williams play Orfeo sa Impyerno, and the climatic scene (pun not intended) called for him to ascend a stairway to heaven (or something like that) totally nude. Mercifully, it was played out in dim lights, so the audience didn’t see much of the hunk’s assets.

What would be a meaty role (double-entendre not intended) for him? Well, a crazed person (taong grasa, sira ulo) or a gay (bakla), although not a screaming queen.

So here is a hunk, a serious actor who manages to imbue sensitivity as well as manliness in his performances and who is on the lookout for challenging roles. Your move, film or stage directors. But no frontal nudity, please. At least, not under glaring lights.