TomDen: MHL is ending ‘gayly’ ever after

Will Eric and Vincent live happily ever after?

The eagerly-awaited answer to that intriguing question will finally be revealed tonight on the final episode of the smash-hit GMA series My Husband’s Lover (MHL).

Will Eric (played with impressive credibility by Dennis Trillo) return from New York and haul Vincent (played by Tom Rodriguez with equal passion and intensity) to the altar? What will happen to Lally (with Carla Abellana as Vincent’s finally conceding wife)?

Stay tuned.

Now we know why Dennis and Tom click as Eric and Vincent — yes, because they are straight playing gay, which is not possible or credible if the actors were really gay and therefore playing themselves. Dennis and Tom are convincing because, like Eddie Garcia and other macho actors playing gay, they are secure with their sexuality and have no fear that the reel might turn real.

As they say, if you are, even if the whole world says that you are not, you still are. But if you are not, even if the whole world says that you are, you still are not.

Funfare asked Dennis and Tom to take a misty-eyed lookback at the landmark series that radically changed not only the audience’s TV-viewing habit but the way they look at gays.

Now that MHL is ending, what will you miss most about it?

Dennis: I will miss everybody involved in the series because all of them, all of us, were hardworking. The success of MHL is not the success of just one person but that of everybody involved in it. It’s team effort, so I will miss the whole team at siempre mami-miss ko si Tom bilang ka-trabaho. He has become an important part of my life.

Tom: The bonding of the cast and crew. Halos araw-araw ang trabaho namin so it has become a routine with me since the series started in June. You wake up expecting to see all of them on the set, sina direk (Dominic Zapata), and suddenly you won’t be seeing them as often as you used to.

How did MHL change the way you look at life, especially where gays are concerned?

Dennis: It’s my third time to play a gay character. The first was in Ashite Imasu (as a cross-dressing spy who has a love scene with Jay Manalo) and in a GMA special. But in MHL, since Tom and I were doing it almost every day, mas malalim ang dating kaya mas naunawaan ko ‘yung ganoong relasyon, why it happens and how it happens. It’s an extraordinary kind of relationship.

Tom: It did change my life in a lot of ways, most especially the realization that people are created differently but they are all created by God. Although we may be different on the surface, sa unang tingin maraming pagkaka-iba, but when you look closely pare-pareho lang tayo ng nararamdaman regardless of whether you are a man, a woman, bakla o tomboy, we all feel the same pain, the same joy and the same love.

For more than four months, you lived the role (no wonder you were so convincing as a couple).

Dennis: Siguro nasanay lang kami. At first, medyo nangangapa pa but then we had our workshop and it helped a lot. Who’s my peg? Nobody in particular. Eric is a composite character based on my study of gays in real life. Pinagsama-sama ko ‘yung mga traits na na-obserbahan ko sa kanila.

Tom: We were credible in our roles, thanks to our preparation and in the way we interpret them. It’s so flattering that the audience appreciated our performance. It was medyo mahirap because our characters are far from what we really are. Ang sarap ng feeling when people tell us na makatotohanan ang aming pag-arte.

After MHL, what?

Dennis: Tom and I will be busy promoting our album and with the preparation for our US shows in November. We also have mall shows.

Tom: I’m in the cast of Bekikang (as the lover of Joey Paras who’s playing the title role, directed by Wenn Deramas) which is showing on Wednesday, Oct. 23. I’ll be promoting my MHL album with Dennis and we’re preparing for the MHL US tour in November. 

What aspects of your character do you identify with?

Dennis: Eric’s closeness to his mom (played by Chanda Romero). In real life, I’m close to my mom, may pagka-Mama’s Boy ako. Some of my scenes with Chanda reminded me of some real-life situations with me and my mom. Am I open to my mom about my love life? Oo naman. Medyo nagtatanong-tanong siya. Ganoon.

Tom: His love for his kids. I love kids; I’m close to my nephews and nieces. Sobrang close ako sa kanila. I look forward to having my own family and having lots of kids. Lahat ng nakaka-trabaho kong bata nagiging attached ako, like Antone Limgenco (as Diego) and Elijah Alejo (as Hannah) who play my kids in the series.

What are some of your unforgettable moments in the show?

Dennis: Marami. One of them was what Tom and I were supposed to do during the recent MHL concert at the Araneta Coliseum — yes, lips-to-lips kiss. Mabilis lang naman. But it was edited out at the last minute.

Tom: Actually, the whole show is memorable. I learned a lot from it not only about life but also about acting from my co-stars lalo na kay Dennis at kay Carla.

Is it possible for you to fall in love with another man?

Dennis: Lumawak ang pag-unawa ko sa mga ganoong klaseng tao, that kind of relationship. But I guess that if you are a (real) man, mahirap mangyari ‘yon, imposibleng mangyari ‘yon. Pero I’m not against that kind of relationship. Has anybody ever made that kind of move with me? None so far, maybe because people can see that I have earned a kind of respect kaya hindi nila ginagawa sa akin ‘yon.

Tom: As Vincent, yes. But as Tom, mahirap masabi because in all my 26 years of existence I never felt that kind of urge or a crush on another man. So far, sa babae pa lang ako nagkakaroon ng attraction.

Would you play another gay role?

Dennis: Sa ngayon, rest muna sa ganyang roles. There’s a possibility for an MHL Book Two pero siguro pass muna ako. I’d rather play another kind of role na muna.

Tom: If it’s a role as memorable as Vincent, maski hindi exactly katulad ng MHL, why not? ‘Yung role na hindi talaga maaalis sa utak mo at sa mga manonood, whether it’s a gay role or not. Basta tumagos sa puso ko, basta tamaan ako.

If you were to play another gay role and had three choices of actors to have love scenes with, who would they be?

Dennis: Local or foreign? Siguro kung foreign, si James Franco at si Gael Garcia Bernal (the Spanish actor). I can think of only two. Wala akong maisip na local.

Tom: Hmmm, mahirap pumili. But I would choose those who I look up to, ‘yung mga hinahangaan ko…There’s John Lloyd Cruz (who played a subtly gay character in In My Life in which he had a tender kissing scene with Luis Manzano). I saw that movie in my research for MHL, sobrang convincing ang acting ni John Lloyd. I asked myself, “Kaya mo ba ‘yon, maski baguhan ka? Kaya ko bang ipakita ’yung ganyang klase ng truth?” Another is Sid Lucero (who did torrid love scenes with Cogie Domingo in the indie film Muli). And, of course, Christopher de Leon, one of my idols.

You and Dennis have become very close. Did you give each other “parting” souvenirs?

Dennis: I gave him comic books. Mahilig siya dyan, eh.

Tom: During the cast party, all of us had gifts for one another. I gave Dennis video games. His favorite is Beyond Two Souls. It’s the same gift I gave Aiza (Seguerra, who played Tom’s best friend with whom he has a love child in the ABS-CBN soap Be Careful With My Heart).”

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