John Arcilla, Sid Lucero admire each other’s acting & work ethic

Award-winning actors John Arcilla and Sid Lucero have nothing but praise for each other’s craft as they worked together again and this time in director Law Fajardo’s sexy suspense-thriller Reroute, currently streaming on Vivamax.

Sid plays Dan, a distrustful husband to Trina (Cindy Miranda) with anger management issues, while John is Gemo, a sturdy man walking with a slight limp. Dan and Trina meet Gemo and his fragile-looking wife Lala (Nathalie Hart) while on their way to visit the former’s dying father. Shocking twists and turns begin to unravel in the story with Gemo’s disturbed character as an ex-military man.

When Sid saw the name of John in the script as one of the actors, he immediately called him up and asked if he was going to do it. “It depends daw, hindi pa siya sigurado. And then I was like, OK no pressure but if he’s gonna do it, I’m gonna do it,” shared Sid in a digital media conference.

Sid had worked with the Heneral Luna star before and he said, “(I) really look up to him and he is really, really giving.”

“I love working with Sir John,” he added. “He is a bottomless well of inspiration that you can draw from, especially if he throws himself completely at work. In between scenes, you could see that he is preparing. I like my co-actors to do the work for me. Haha! It’s perfect.”

He shared, “At kung ano yung ibibigay ni Sir John, (I’m like) opo, yes po, ito po, which was beautiful. And the funny thing is although seryoso si Sir John, that’s him at play. Nobody can last this long convincing himself to do something he disagrees with.”

“Mahirap kasi para sa isang tao dalhin ang sarili mo (na) gawin ang isang bagay na hindi mo maiisip kailanman magagawa mo yun sa ibang tao. And Sir John allows himself to explore that dark side of him which is f**k! Super scary. And at the same time, (it’s) beautiful to watch (acting chops),” said Sid.

John’s genius style in acting, according to Sid, is “the whole point why you want to work with that person because wala, tatayo ka lang dun. Pati ikaw, Best Actor ka na rin. Sinigawan ka lang ni Sir John. I’m like, opo. Haha! Thank you, sir for the way you are. It is such a pleasure.”

On the other hand, the Volpi cup winner for Best Actor at the 78th Venice International Film Festival (for On the Job: The Missing 8) and the more recent Metro Manila Film Festival 2021 Best Supporting Actor (for Big Night), John cited the great chemistry of the four characters in Reroute and expressed his respect for Sid’s family legacy in the showbiz industry.

“I’ve been watching their matriarchs since I was young and I became friends with his dad (Mark Gil) and with his mom (Bing Pimentel). Uncle niya si Michael (de Mesa), mga naging kaibigan ko. We respect each other’s work. And here comes Sid, one of the best young actors in the Philippine cinema. I always look forward to work with him. Ganun yung respeto ko sa kanya ‘tsaka dun sa legacy, nandun ever since kahit bata pa ako napapanood ko na family nila,” stated John.

The actor was also happy collaborating with Sid, who won Best Actor at the 31st Gawad Urian Awards for Selda and Best Actor award at the 19th LA Comedy Festival for Toto.

“I’ve experienced him in his different moods — from Ang Probinsyano hanggang dito,” he told The STAR. “Andami mong makukuhang resources, on and off the camera, and he plays around. That’s one of the things in acting kasi being irreverent while you are actually trying to get the center of this character. You have to play irreverent, that’s one of his styles. Andami niyang resources para maging irreverent.”

While Sid admitted that he likewise dreamed of “working behind the camera for the longest time but wasn’t brave enough to do it,” John, on the contrary, couldn’t see himself directing a film. Rather, he is into screenwriting, which was his major course in college. His professor was the award-winning screenwriter and director Roy Iglesias. John also took some classes under highly-acclaimed scriptwriter Ricky Lee and was an ABS-CBN scholar writer for a while.

“Mas nandun yung mind ko siguro. Kaya lang it’s a really lonely work to do. Sometimes, in the middle of the night you have to wake up just to write that middle part of the film that you haven’t started yet. Ganun siya ka nakakain ng oras so that’s why I have a lot of ideas. I have a lot of stories in my mind. I think I don’t have a lot of time to do it because (there are) a lot of (acting) projects coming,” said John.

“(In) directing, I’m really worried unless I can create one beautiful film that I don’t want to be destroyed kaya kailangang ako ang mag-direct. I don’t know when that will happen but right now, I’m really satisfied with being an actor,” he furthered.

Meanwhile, the girls, Nathalie and Cindy, revealed their conservative sides when asked if they were able to do it inside a car. The act is one of the daring scenes shown in Reroute. Cindy said she hasn’t done it and “I don’t think I’m gonna try it.”

“Maybe, we respect na lang people and do it in private,” she added.

Nathalie, on the other hand, firmly answered, “No, thanks,” explaining she’d prefer more romantic settings.

Sid had tried it when he was younger. “I remember, the setting made it perfect. Tapos hindi ako medyo kinabahan kasi sakto yung setting nandun kami sa pinakataas na part ng parking lot tapos biglang umulan ng todong-todo. Tapos walang kotse dun sa pinaka-top ng parking lot. Tapos parang isang oras umulan, so tapos. Cramps, ouch, mahirap,” shared Sid.