Rob Gomez taps into his daring side in ‘Strange Frequencies’

MANILA, Philippines — “With what I’ve done, yes, (I feel) very lucky that I’ve done them.”

That was Rob Gomez speaking of the small and big screen roles and projects that he forayed into so far in his young, promising career in a chat with The STAR.

“Of course, I would love to do more roles, diverse roles,” added he, who is part of this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital.”

The local adaptation of the Korean box-office hit “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” has, in a way, tapped the daring and brave side of Rob in playing a character who is himself and stepping into the premises of Taiwan’s Xinglin Hospital, where an eerie atmosphere and unusual manifestations are commonplace.

Rob as Rob is entering an “unfamiliar territory,” along with Enrique Gil, Jane De Leon, Alexa Miro and MJ Lastimosa as amateur ghosthunters and themselves.

Enrique is the group’s leader with tarot reader Raf Pineda and content creator Ryan “Zarckaroo” Azurin in tow to navigate their way in and out of a most haunted place.

Asked when such a unique project landed in his lap, Rob answered, “I think (it came at the time when) I just wrapped ‘Tadhana’ and then we got a movie.”

Rob (topmost, left) with fellow amateur ghosthunters Enrique Gil (center), Jane De Leon, Alexa Miro and MJ Lastimosa discover for themselves the ‘strange frequencies’ that inhabit and lurk inside a haunted hospital in the movie, a Reality MMS Studios’ official entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.

The Virtual Playground artist, who has done guest appearances in the GMA weekend drama anthology about the inspiring stories of OFWs “Tadhana” and another weekend program, “Regal Studio Presents,” was sold on the idea of filming what is described as the first meta found footage horror film in the country.

Yes, there are ways to explain and explicate such a genre. What makes it a meta film or cinema is that the actors are portraying themselves within a well-crafted script as a guide and reminding everyone that they’re actors of a particular movie. Footage captured from the cameras with them also forms the basis for the narrative, which has a feel and feature of a documentary.

There’s an intersectionality, character- and genre-wise.

For Rob, he loved the pace of last year in terms of work.

“With the pace, I would love to have the pace of last year,” said he. “I did two movies, two series and a lot of guestings. Parang andun tayo ulit sa first year ko ulit (it feels like I’m in my first year again in the biz) in terms of pace. (There’s) a lot of me time.”

Last year, Rob recalled that he was shuffling with four to five scripts in a week. He was happy to see himself making great strides and thriving in memorizing the lines fast and getting into work pace and space.

“Sobrang hirap ng trabaho (the work is not easy). (That’s why) I have so much respect, especially to the big ones, the respected ones na sobrang dami ng projects (the actors who had so many projects in their hands). They still did their job, they finished the job,” said he.

But he also takes the me time as an opportunity to do and revisit other interests.

“Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of basketball, I play golf sometimes. Mostly, I bond with my family. I’m trying to learn a lot of different skills now, business-wise, investment-wise,” shared he.

He also continues his business management studies and wishes to earn the college degree this time. Rob remains all eyes on his acting career.

“Luckily, binigay siya ni Lord (He has given it to me). It’s a childhood dream. We worked hard for it, we waited for it and now we’re here,” said he, who wants to make movies “that matter, movies that make you (the audience) cry, that move you, that give you hope.”

Rob also sees himself doing a superhero movie.

Although he has found his footing in acting, Rob said that the idea of taking the role of a film producer, director and writer “would be so cool.” Enrique also serves as producer of “Strange Frequencies.”

“I wanna do it,” said he. “I wanna learn to do a film. To write a small short film, I would like to do that first. When I’ve written it, I have the chance to direct it and star in it.”

His participation in “Strange Frequencies,” produced by filmmaker Erik Matti and producer Dondon Monteverde under Reality MM Studios and in partnership with Enrique Gil, has offered Rob valuable insights prior to foraying into these areas of filmmaking in the future.

(“Strange Frequencies” will be screened in cinemas starting Christmas Day, Dec. 25.)