November 8 ------ From the silver screen, the musical theater stage, the concert hall, to the world of internet streaming, Piolo Pascual is an artist who continues to evolve and defy expectations. With 25 amazing years already under his belt, there is no stopping the Philippines' "Ultimate Heartthrob" from furthering his artistry amid the ever-changing world of Philippine entertainment. "Actually, I didn't want to necessarily celebrate or kind of highlight my 25 years because it's just a number. Though it's relative, I just want to keep on going," Pascual said in a media conference. "But those 25 years I've been blessed. It's nice to reminisce or look back and just be grateful. But I think the driving force was always to work, to do something, be better, to grow. So that was constantly in my head," he continued.
The 46-year-old heartthrob considers 2023 as one of the busiest years in his entire career. In June, Pascual took on the titular role of Crisostomo Ibarra, Jose Rizal's protagonist in his novel "Noli Me Tangere," via the original Filipino musical "Ibarra." "The stage was my first love. It was an eye opener for me when I started doing theater from grade school to high school and all the way to college. I just had this feeling that I wanted to act. So theater was my way in. My friends in theater were the ones who encouraged me to audition in ABS-CBN with Star Magic," he recalled. "It was like going back to school or training because the discipline is very different. For a month I was in a hotel near the venue, the GSIS Theater, and I just rehearsed everyday, took voice lessons everyday and I hang out with the theater people just to really immerse myself. It was worth it," he added. Then in October 20, Pascual held a concert aptly titled "An Ultimate Night With Piolo" directed by Johnny Manahan at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. He had special guests including Jericho Rosales, Arnel Pineda, Erik Santos, son Iñigo Pascual, and Regine Velasquez as his surprise guest.
It took 15 years for him to hold a concert again, admitting that he feels intimidated whenever he performs on stage. "I can be shy at times, almost bordering on being an introvert. If you don't talk to me, I won't talk back. But onstage, to be able to get your audience engaged for two hours, that is hard because I'm an audience member myself. I'm not the type who likes to be the star or the host." Currently, Pascual is in North America for a five-stop international concert tour in the US and Canada. It started in November 5 and will continue until November 19. He will be sharing the stage with comediennes Ai-Ai delas Alas and Rufa Mae Quinto. "I like singing because I get to express myself in a different way. The way I work the camera for film or TV, it's a different expression. I get to be more personal and that's a totally different side of me when I do a show because I tend to just really get intimate and personal. You want to be as engaging as possible," Pascual related. "I will enjoy the whole two-hour set and yeah, I'm not going to be doing something I'm not comfortable doing. But I'm going to showcase some strong songs that I've done through the years, through the last 25 years of being around in the industry," Pascual continued.
Once he goes back to the Philippines, Pascual will start promoting his Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) official entries. This will be the first time Pascual will be a part of the much-anticipated film festival once again since 2002's "Dekada '70." Pascual will lead "Mallari," a horror film inspired by actual events in the life of the first documented Filipino serial killer. Produced by Mentorque Productions and line-produced by Cleverminds, Inc, the film is Pascual's first ever horror project. In a media conference, Pascual confessed that he initially declined the project because he was doing another movie. However, after discussing serial killers with fellow actors Joao Constancia and Kyle Echarri during the filming of their movie "The Ride," they discovered a Filipino serial killer named Severino Mallari, which piqued Pascual's interest. He then decided to ask pitching of the project, wherein he eventually agreed on and took three characters who are all related from different timelines: the serial killer Mallari in 1812, John Rey Mallari in 1948, and Jonathan Mallari in the present day. "I told myself, 'Three characters? It seems quite challenging. Do I need this now? I'm busy.' But I guess you could say I'm a sucker for good stories," he said. "It is complicated but if you watch the movie, there's a lot of back stories, good narrative that you'll be able to keep up. We did this in less than a month and everyone just brought their A-game," he added.
Source: manilatimes.net
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