Eugene Domingo: You can't do comedy if you haven't experienced tragedy

She is a breakthrough lead actress. For this month’s filmfest, she is seen in three films: the all-out comedy Enteng ng Ina Mo, the family comedy My Househusband, and the horror franchise Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Next year, her film Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank will be the official entry of the Philippines in the 84th Academy Awards. She also starts shooting a movie musical soon with good friend, writer and director Chris Martinez, based on Apo Hiking Society songs. She claims she doesn’t feel “schizo” when taking on so many roles at the same time, quite a feat for someone who did nine movies just this year. Here are 10 things you might want to know about Eugene Domingo.

1. On why and how she became so funny: “I think it’s a gift… I think it’s my face.”

At the Vancouver filmfest with director Marlon Rivera and producer Josabeth Alonso. Photo by michael edillor

I asked her what about her childhood, and how she turned out to be so funny. She says it was nothing specific that led to comedy. She remembers watching everything and reading everything from comics to broadsheets, tabloids to books. She recalls mimicking her teachers back in school, then her classmates would laugh, and she would laugh, too. “Hindi ako aware na joke pala yun. I was just being me!” Neither did she consciously try to hone her comedic skills, it just happened. In time, she learned some techniques, but she never pushed too hard if she knew it wasn’t funny. 

She reveals: “My idea of having a good time is when you laugh, I laugh, too. You don’t laugh at me, we laugh together.”

2. She strongly believes that one cannot do comedy if one has not experienced tragedy. Her biggest tragedy? “My being single! If you can consider it a tragedy!”

Uge explains how ironic it is that as an artista, so many people fuss over you, want to meet you or kiss you or hug you, “but when you get home, you’re in your room, and you’re just a normal person, you’re alone!” She is quick to defend herself saying “hindi ko naman sinasabing nagwa-walling ako!” (A term referring to crying while leaning on the wall, sliding down in agony.) She points out that laughter and tears go hand in hand, saying, “See? Natawa ka!” 

When asked about the pressure of people expecting comedians to be funny at all times, she says: “At first, nakakainis. Sandali, tao lang naman ako.” But after a few years, she realized that you can’t blame the public for having that expectation because you are part of their household. During her “off” days, she just smiles, says nothing, explaining that others don’t deserve to know whatever bad thing you are going through because that’s part of the job. “Then you think of your savings,” she laughs naughtily.

3. Of all her leading men, for her, the pinakamasarap one is Richard Gutierrez.

“Richard Gutierrez! Agad-agad!” she answers within a split second, giggling like a high school girl. “Pinakamasarap na kissing scene din!” she adds. (Her other leading men weren’t so bad either: Dingdong Dantes and Zanjoe Marudo.) In the 2011 movie My Valentine Girls, Uge was Richard’s leading lady in an end-of-the-world setting, where they had to kiss. She remembers Richard intently watching the scene’s playback on the monitor, while she shied away, explaining, “Kahit ako nahihiya for him, lakas maka-Shrek!” Uge shares that Richard was a real-life Prince Charming who made her feel like a princess. “Hindi ko naramdaman yun ever, kahit nung bata ako. Kapag may drama sa school dati, hindi naman ako maka-cast na prinsesa!”

4. She is one of the few actors able to move easily from ABS-CBN to GMA to TV5, but in her own home, she doesn’t watch TV.

“Ayoko na, I want to read my books, I want to listen to music, I want to talk to my dogs!” she exclaims. As to why she has never and will never sign exclusively with any network, she says, “I want to work with anybody and everybody, I enjoy my freedom and I want to go when I want to go.” She says that when she started acting, she was never picky with roles because she just wanted to work and be friends with the stars. But with more experiences, roles and recognitions came the right to “choose” roles. It’s something actors must invest in, it can’t be rushed.

5. Uge does not have a driver or a yaya and does everything on her own. She lives alone with her dogs.

One of her best friends, Sweet Lapus, speaks highly of her being independent, but also describes her as a loner. She has a cleaning lady that just comes to clean her condo, her assistant is present at work only, and she does her own groceries. Her home companions are her three dogs — Praise, Coconut and Mufasa — all Shi Tzus. “Every day I drive myself to wherever, at kung hindi naman ako pagod, I do my own makeup.” She enjoys driving herself around, and even when stuck in traffic, “Kaya kong aliwin ang sarili ko, huwag lang akong maiihi!”

6. On insistent rumors that there is a rift between her and Ai-ai de las Alas: “Maling mali. Wala kaming competition.”

“How ironic it is that as an artista, so many people fuss over you, want to meet you or kiss you or hug you, but when you get home, you’re in your room, and you’re just a normal person, you’re alone!”

“I have respect for her, she came first,” Uge shares. Though she took many roles as the “sidekick” of Ai-ai, it was never an issue for her. She explains that they come from very different backgrounds, she comes from theater and Ai-ai from live comedy shows; and that they even look so different, her with a round face, and Ai-ai with a long face, saying that these are the reasons they complement each other and work so well together. Uge reveals that their friendship has a strong foundation because it was tested many years ago when they were starting out as friends. “Nagkamali ako ng sabi, nagkamali siya ng interpretation, pero hindi ko pinatagal.” She apologized and explained right away, they cried, and to this day, they text each other almost every day.

7. Eugene Domingo in numbers:

2: Number of years ago that she became conscious of her diet and physique. “Tumaba kasi talaga ako sa Kimmy Dora,” she shares. She doesn’t eat meat, does the treadmill, bikes or plays badminton when she can. On the thought of having cosmetic surgery, she says, “No! I love my eyes, my nose, I would miss it!”

59.5: Height in inches. “I’m not even 5 feet!”

400: Square meters of the house she is currently building in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

20: Number of years in the industry.

62: Number of films made, for which she has won eight awards, including the Bert Marcelo Award for Comedians in 2009.

8. The best advice she knows for actors is that it is not enough to be talented, you have to know how to do PR.

Who gave her that advice? “Myself,” she chuckles. “That’s firsthand experience.” She says you can’t just be very, very good, you also have to talk to and get along with the people around you, and you have to get to know the people who came before you. “You don’t have to kiss their a**es, but give them respect,” Uge shares.

To those that think all comedians do is make people laugh, Uge dispels that notion by sharing her process as an actor. “You study your material, your character, you ask your director for his vision, and you understand the relationship of your character to the other characters.” It is very important to her that every job she accepts is different from the previous one so that she doesn’t get bored.

On what she hates most about “showbiz” as a business: “That you have to be controversial, talked about, and you have to open your life. I don’t believe in that. I just want to be an actor.”

9. Uge will do anything for Piolo Pascual.

“Yeah, like right now,” Uge laughs. They became friends years ago but the friendship solidified after Piolo and his partners in Spring Films produced Kimmy Dora. “The fact na nagsugal sila for my launching movie, I will never forget that,” Uge reveals. He also gave her the freedom to choose the script and writers she wanted, when and where they would shoot, and she says she will appreciate that forever. 

Piolo says this about Uge: “I always believed in her talent and versatility. I always knew she was going to make it big and we were blessed because she gave us her trust to produce her first starring role.”

Uge says this about Piolo’s current controversy: “I admire his being quiet. I don’t believe that he’s really in trouble, and I don’t think I have to protect him.” She goes on to share how she always jokes with Piolo saying, “Tinatanong ko siya lagi kung gusto niya ako anakan.”

. At the age of 40, when asked what she wants more at this point, a baby or a man, she says “Pwede both?”

She never really thought about having the baby before the man comes, but she does share that if given the chance to be a mother (“kung may chance pa, kasi malapit-lapit na din,” she jokes) she is sure that she would be a really good mother.

On finding a man, I gently suggest to her the thought of making time to meet men and date around. She says that she has seriously considered that, but on the other hand, deep down she is still a hopeless romantic who believes that if you are meant to meet someone, it will happen. “Eh kung si KC (Concepcion) nga na ang ganda-ganda naghahanap pa din ng true love, ako, naghahanap din ng true love. O, di tie lang kami!”

On what qualities she is looking for in a partner, she says, “I really hope that he’s taller than me! Ayoko ng ka-height ko siya, hindi nakaka-love team!” She says that they don’t have to be extremely good looking, instead, “yung nababagay lang sa ganda ko.” She adds this scenario: “Yung pag nagising kami at titingin kami sa isa’t isa, we’ll say, ‘I deserve you, we deserve each other.’” Most importantly, she really hopes he can talk. Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s left.

On her need for physical intimacy, she says: “I-gy-gym mo na lang, i-dasal mo na lang, buti na lang I’m really tired when I get home.” When was the last time? “Hindi naman masyadong matagal, hindi din naman masyadong recent!”

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“Uge is proof that you don’t need to look like Anne Curtis to be a star,” says director Jose Javier Reyes, who has directed her in six films. “She is the triumph of talent over mere applause.” Actress Toni Gonzaga, who has worked with her in two films, says, “I love working with Ate Uge because she is not a selfish actor.” Looking through her filmography, watching her morph into one character after another, and seeing her simplicity in person can change whatever notions you have about Philippine actresses. So the next time anyone dismisses artistas as self-absorbed and all-looks-no-talent, or the next time anyone assumes that only tall, model-esque women with long flowing hair can be leading ladies, think again. There are brilliant, game-changing, very human actors like Eugene Domingo.

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