No love teams: Inigo Pascual compares Hollywood audition, production vs Pinoy methods

MANILA, Philippines — Inigo Pascual is having the time of his life now that he is starring in his first American series, the musical drama "Monarch." 

The Filipino singer-actor shared some of the production practices and audition processes he observed and did while staying in the United States. 

He currently plays Ace Roman Grayson, the adopted son of Nicolette Roman (Anna Friel), daughter of Dottie Cantrell Roman (Susan Sarandon) and Albie Roman (Trace Adkins) in the Fox drama. 

1. One can audition via self-tapes

Inigo revealed that he was two weeks late for his auditions for "Monarch." 

He reasoned out that there will probably be more deserving actors who will get the role and he was already happy with his music and acting career in the Philippines. 

But many of his ABS-CBN mentors and handlers as well as his Hollywood agent, Filipino-American Chris Lee, insisted he should submit a self-tape for "Monarch." Lee is the agent of Marvel star Simu Liu and was the one responsible for Kris Aquino snagging a part in the hit movie "Crazy Rich Asians." 

"A self-tape is where you're given a scene from the production, whether two or three scenes from the project that you're gonna do. They give you a small paragraph, sometimes they give you the whole script, sometimes they give you a small paragraph on how you define your character," Inigo explained at the recent virtual presscon for "Monarch," which can now be streamed on iWantTFC with fresh episodes dropping every Thursday at 9 a.m.

So he did a scene where his character was going through a seizure. 

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Lee said that Fox was "obsessed" with Inigo when they saw his self-tape and told him that the role of Ace will be Inigo's if he wanted it. 

2. There's an audition season and, nope, there are no shortcuts. 

Inigo said that one cannot just send a self-tape. An aspiring actor who wishes to land a role in any shows in America needs to have an agent. Even big stars are asked to audition. 

"With the whole process of self-tapes, it felt cool because in America, there's a season for auditions," he shared. 

In many vlogs by aspiring actors in America, they said the audition season traditionally starts around January and runs until April when series pilots are ordered and conceptualized.  

"It's not like in the Philippines where a project is given to you or a project is offered to you. In America, kahit sikat na sikat ka na, you are still asked to audition for certain things," he noted. 

Inigo said that during the audition season, he had some help with his co-stars Emma Milani and Callum Kerr with his self-tapes. He also helped them with their self-tapes. 

He revealed that he heard some of his friends in the Philippines sent their self-tapes. 

"It feels good kasi mas marami na akong naririnig na mga kaibigan ko from the Philippines na actually sending their self-tapes, so expect a lot of Filipino artists in Hollywood," he shared. 

Inigo said that sending his self-tapes was a cool experience because it made him appreciate his craft more. 

3. They only shoot a maximum of four to six sequences, sometimes one, in a day to give artists time to breathe. 

"I guess, working on a TV show is like working on a movie production in the Philippines. We don't do more than four to six sequences a day," Inigo said. 

The cast of "Monarch" shot the first season from September 2021 to March 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. 

He was quick to say that there should be no point of comparison because there are contributing factors that affect the working conditions between the two countries. Extreme weather conditions, he said, affect the Philippines for one. 

"Hindi alam ng maraming tao na we sometimes do 20 to 30 sequences a day whereas... When I was working on the show, I was in Atlanta for almost eight months and we would only do four to six sequences a day. So, grabe 'yung trabaho na ginagawa ng mga Pinoy. Grabe 'yung training na nagawa ko in the Philippines — to be able to memorize and to be able to practice emotions within a day wherein you're mad, happy, crying, sad. Twenty sequences a day in the Philippines is a big training na nakatulong talaga sa akin," he stressed. 

The actor said that there were times he was told to relax and take a break while filming for "Monarch."  

"Siguro 'yun 'yung mas gusto kong makita sa Pilipinas, na mas mabigyan 'yung artist ng breathing time. Kasi minsan nakaka-bipolar. Minsan siguro 'yun 'yung mahirap i-explain ng mga artists sa Philippines na kunyari makita mo sila, wala sila sa mood? 'Di niyo alam siguro kakatapos lang nila umiyak sa eksena. Kasi isang pitik, kailangan mong gawin ang isang eksena. Tapos kailangan mong mag-smile agad sa mga tao as if nothing happened," Inigo explained. 

He said that because filming locations in the United States were more isolated, actors are given more time to relax after. 

4. Love teams are not a thing

In "Monarch," Inigo's character, Ace, has a girlfriend named Ana Phoenix played by Emma Milani. 

"It surprises me that a lot of American culture and other cultures are not as attached to love teams as they are in the Philippines. It was nice to introduce that (love teams) to her kasi syempre sabi ko, 'You know, when they'll binge this in the Philippines, you'll probably understand what a love team is, whether you like it or not,'" Inigo shared.  

The singer-actor shared that he had to explain to Milani the pros and cons of having a love team.

He wanted his co-star to be aware of what could happen, but he stressed that any actor would be grateful for whatever is given to them. 

"We're grateful for whatever project we're put in and whatever happens, happens. Whatever blossoms, will blossom and I guess let's break that stereotype. Let's break that mold," Inigo said. 

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