Kyle Echarri honors late sister through ‘The Ride’

For 22-year-old actor-singer Kyle Echarri, landing his first lead role in an action film — “The Ride,” where he stars opposite Piolo Pascual as his onscreen father — was a bittersweet career milestone.

While he was filming the Thop Nazareno-directed movie, his younger sister Isabela was battling, and later succumbed to, brain cancer, in April 2023. She was only 12.

“During ‘The Ride,’ my sister was going through cancer po. So, while we were shooting, I was going through a whole mental battle,” Kyle recalled, thanking his co-star, Piolo, for helping him stay focused and finish the shoot despite what he was going through off set.

“I don’t think I would have ever been able to strive out of it without a brother like Piolo who was helping me through the whole process.

“Only a couple of people understood what I was going through the time. If there’s anyone who really understood, it was him because he was there and I’ll always appreciate him for it.”

Looking back, Kyle described his “The Ride” experience as nothing short of a rollercoaster ride — having to pull off intense stunts while also dealing with the emotional weight of a film about an absentee father caught in a life of crime, but who wants to break the cycle with his estranged son.

“I think (the action and drama scenes) were both equally as hard. To be honest, I was very new to either and when it came to the emotions, talaga may karga naman din na po ako. I think every actor will say this, you have to put a little bit of yourself into your character.

“Actually, the story, once you’ve seen it, may malapit na part, sa nangyari sa akin,” said Kyle on how his acting performance was fueled by what he was experiencing in real life.

The hardest part particularly came in the final days of filming, which also happened during his sister’s last moments.

“She was in the States,” he opened up, “but I already had an inkling… My mom told me na anytime now mawala na yung kapatid ko. That was what the doctors told us. She was already bedridden for several months and it was just a matter of time that she was going to say goodbye.

“Nung tinanggap ko yun, I was already on the last two days of ‘The Ride.’ The day before she passed, we did the last scene of the movie at makikita niyo ang emosyon ko dun, grabe!”

He continued, “Then, the next day when she passed, I was asked by my mom, ‘Do you want me to tell (my management team) Cornerstone para hindi ka na pumunta sa set and makapagpahinga ka? But I said to myself, this is not what my sister would want me to do. Ayaw niya maging malungkot ako at hindi ako magtrabaho dahil don.

“My sister was so strong the whole process, she didn’t even want to tell me actually about her cancer so I can work and ipagpatuloy ko yung buhay ko.

“So, I took it as a chance to honor her. Even though she passed, I went to work. I didn’t tell anyone on the set, except my manager, who I asked not to inform the production para matapos ko lang yung trabaho ko na hindi ko siya iniisip. And then when it was done, pagka-cut, pagkauwi, dun ko binuhos lahat.”

When asked how he is now, Kyle said: “I always say, when it comes to grief, you never move on from it, you move with it. You learn how to grow with it.”

“She was my everything,” he further described his younger sister. “She is my everything to be honest.

“I like to tell myself that I understood the fact that, you know, it was her purpose in this world. She held her purpose, she told her story kung anong gusto ng Diyos para sa kanya at kailangan ko lang tanggapin yun,” he said.

Her memory continues to inspire him, he said. “Now, I just want to continue telling her story. I just wanna remind everyone that there was an angel on this earth and her name was Isabella Rae Echarri, and I’d like to feel like she’s living vicariously through me and through what I do.”

He has also turned his grief into a personal advocacy. “Actually, I’ve partnered ever since… actually before she even passed, with the Kythe Foundation, which is for kids with cancer. Lagi ‘pag birthday ko, lagi ako pumupunta sa kanila. It’s hard to understand that kids go through these kinds of things and still have to have faith.

“Honestly, na-test talaga yung faith ko. But if anything, my sister taught me to strengthen my faith.”

Kyle shared how he came across his sister’s diary, where she wrote all her prayers.

“Up to the day she passed, she was praying to God… may mga nabasa din ako sa diary niya na nagso-sorry na nga siya sa Diyos dahil nagiging impatient siya. So for my sister to go through all of that and still think that God is there for her and believe in Him no matter what — who am I para isipin na hindi, di ba?”

These days, Kyle sees every song, performance, role and project, including “The Ride” which is now exclusively screening in SM Cinemas, as a way to honor his sister’s memory.

“I like to use her as my inspiration in life and whatever I do. I may not see her, I may not be able to feel her anymore, I may not be able to touch her anymore but I still feel her presence in everything that I do. And I try to make sure na, maging masaya lang siya sa lahat ng ginagawa ko ngayon.”