Jericho’s tips on staying faithful

“Lino-loko.”

That’s how Jericho Rosales casually referred to his character Lino in Halik, the ABS-CBN drama series he is starring in alongside Sam Milby, Yam Concepcion and Yen Santos.

Halik centers on marital relationship and, obviously, Echo doesn’t need to look around for an inspiration. He lives and breathes as a married guy every single day of his life after having had tied the knot with model Kim Jones four years ago. What makes the character a bit complicated for Echo is the disconcerting situation of the guy on the losing end of a relationship. Halik veers away from a typical story arched on infidelity with the guy being repeatedly regarded as the adulterous, polygamous, unfaithful figure, and therefore, audience sympathy goes to the female character. This time, it will highlight the man’s standpoint.

“It’s the guy who shows the kind of (emotional) strength here and not the woman we often see in shows,” Echo said of his character. “He shows a lot of struggle from within which is something I’m so interested in doing.

“My character is trying his best to actually know the right thing to do and how to do it. The difficult part is trying to understand why my character is so hell-bent in doing the right thing when all options are there for him. He has a clear stance. He doesn’t want to do foolish things. He is so straight living that it causes him problems. The message of my character is that there’s nothing beautiful in life that can be achieved easily.”

Aside from him being familiar in a situation of having a better half, the actor thinks it is still different from what his character goes through. Thus, he always initiates creative discussions, arguments at times, and healthy conversations on the set to go deeper into the lines and story sequences.

What many people forget, Echo shared, that sexy scenes are the toughest to complete — be they for films or TV dramas. “They forget that there are camera men, staff, audio men, continuity director, assistant director, monitors around, and, it’s hot and dirty.”

The environment is another factor to consider, he stressed, and proceeded to recall how he and Yam felt too much discomfort while they were shooting a passionate scene in a place he called San Bartolome. “Nanlalagkit na kami but we have to show that we are okay. It takes a lot to prepare and I respect my directors for mounting scenes like these that will not come out cheap, ugly or out of context. The hardest love scene that you will do is the kind that is not called for in the story na parang wala sa lugar and you’ll wonder why is it like this.”

Besides, actors should truly display and let the people feel the emotion of love on screen. “I think you have to show that you really love someone and when you want to make love with someone, this (referring to his mind), should get excited first. So, if you have actually something in your head, it will be the context of your love and then the scene would come out easy to do.”

Asked if he had been tempted to kiss someone other than his wife, Echo enthused, “I am looking for different kinds of kiss from my one and only girl. Of course, when I decided to get married, I made sure that I am tough enough (to resist temptations) but I realized later on that I’m not that strong because I become weak when I am in front of my wife.” Kim, he said, doesn’t feel jealous even when she gets to watch some of his movies with love scenes. Truth is, his wife is having a good time “and I even translate them to her.”

What are his top three tips on staying faithful to the wife?

“It’s hard to give only three but I guess the first one is for a married person and it really depends on how long the marriage has been. Like us, we’ve been married for four years and I think it is us who should be given an advice and one of the best pieces of advice to me is do not forget the person you married. And remember the day you married because it will always gonna bring you joy and happiness.

“The next is accept and embrace the person she has become no matter what, except of course not her about becoming evil. Seriously, you have to embrace growth. People grow, don’t they? They do not stay in the same shape — physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually — so just embrace that.

“Number three, for me, is you celebrate the milestones in your life. The things I mentioned are just some of the basic steps to stay long together but I’m sure there are a whole lot more.”