What to like and admire in a man called Art

It was at the media call of the straight play God of Carnage that we first met Art Acuña. We welcomed the opportunity to interview this man our friend Kelly was to have had her first love scene in the Cinemalaya film Niño by Loy Arcenas and Rody Vera, except that she chickened out.

We recalled telling Kelly (Raquel Villavicencio) she should have done the scene. As partners in crime in Niño and it would have cemented the bond immensely. But she just wasn’t up to it. As it is, Art won Best Supporting Actor for Niño from Cinemalaya 2011, Golden Press and Urian for that role, and we are certain Kelly must have regretted her decision.

Since Niño, God of Carnage (scheduled November in Singapore), and the more recent Posas at the Cinemalaya 2012, Art has slowly crept into the consciousness of the Filipino theatergoer. Then the top-rating teleserye Princess & I with its mass-based youth audience came around, and Art is suddenly mainstream. And now that he has snatched the Best Actor nomination at the International Emmy Awards when no one was looking, Art is big headline material.

Not that we don’t appreciate his performance as Harry Shaw in the Pan-Asian hit TV series The Kitchen Musical for which he got the nomination, but we are constantly amused by the process of how one reaches celebrity stature in this country. The more “tili” one gets from the gallery, the more famous the actor is thought to be. We are certain Art and his partner, the beautiful and intelligent Maritina Romulo, are similarly amused.

There are many things to admire in Art. He is humble, hardworking, understanding of situations, eager to try new things, apart from his already well-known acting prowess. We engage both Art and Maritina in conversation. They are both into theater and acting, with her resumé and accomplishments as impressive as his. They found each other because Repertory actor Miguel Faustmann believed they were meant for each other. Maritina is the youngest granddaughter of the late Carlos P. Romulo and Beth Day-Romulo, obviously one who is carrying on the tradition of excellence.

But it isn’t only Art and Maritina who are into acting. Four-year-old Max, a beagle, has done his share of tricks and acting as endorser for Argentina meat loaf. 

As far as awards and resumé goes, Art has an OBIE award for The Romance of Magno Rubio of Ma-Yi in New York, and a Best Actor award for Lav Diaz’s Batang West Side from the CineManila International Film Festival, as well as Hollywood TV shows including Law and Order, Law and Order Criminal Intent, One Life to Live, As the World Turns, John Sayles’ Amigo shot in Bohol as rebel killer Macario Locsin and Bourne Legacy shot in Metro Manila.

He has maintained close friendship with people he has worked with like Karylle and Christian Bautista from Kitchen Musical and Albert Martinez of Princess & I. He is generous with praise to inspiring young Cheah Chee Kong, the genius behind The Kitchen Musical. Cheek as he is called, is executive producer, creator, co-writer of The Kitchen Musical and Challenger Muay Thai, both nominees at the Emmy Awards.

While he used to straddle the New York-Manila route fairly regularly, Art is now on his longest stay of around 18 months in the Far East. He has been constantly busy, in fact having had to turn down offers mostly due to the nature of Philippine movie and TV that he has learned to accept. We ask him how he copes with the long hours, the unpredictable call time. We teach him to be put “on call” until they are ready to shoot but he refuses. He is impossibly patient and hardheaded that way.

 Of course, he submits that he had to give up a role in the indie The Lam-ang Experiment based on the epic Ilocano poem with Rocco Nacino in the lead, as schedules have been changed. Art and Maritina are now discussing the possibility he might also not make it to the Emmy awards night on Nov. 19 in New York because he has performances for God of Carnage in Singapore.

He likes working in the Philippines because of the tropical climate. Art tells us he suffers all through those winter months he has had to work in the US. As a Filipino, he also likes to contribute what he can.

We had been chatting for three hours and Art had an early-morning call for Princess & I the following day. We waited as he fetched his big bike that he said he used going to and from shooting. We looked at Maritina questioningly, and she gave us a smile and a shrug. We knew at that very moment what we liked most about Art Acuña. And that is Maritina Romulo.

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