Benjamin Alves on why acting hits different now

July 4 ------ Benjamin Alves can attest to that usual small-screen road trodden by an actor. It starts from apprentice, where one learns the ins and outs of the trade, to emergence, where the thespian finally finds his or her foothold in it. There’s a time for doing teeny-bopper roles and also for mature ones. However, the time of progress and transition may vary.

“Honestly, I’ve only really felt like an actor the last five years, perhaps,” said Benjamin, one of GMA’s reliable and versatile actors, in a chat with The STAR, acknowledging the patience and trust of his home network for him to flourish in the profession.

He has been tapped to be part of GMA Prime and Afternoon Prime shows that have made him more equipped and see further the importance of collaboration. His portrayal of Basil, one of the Palacios’ heirs in the successful mystery crime drama, “Widows’ War,” was remarkable. “I knew it was gonna three weeks only,” he looked back on the character’s short yet somehow ubiquitous presence. “Parang kang guest sa isang party, tapos alis ka na bago siya matapos.”

Even if Basil’s French exit was already predetermined, Benjamin came inspired and delivered in every frame. “I only found out that he had that bale (interesting twist in his persona) on the story con,” recalled he. “I’ve only gotten the script only before the story con(ference). I only got two weeks of script, wala siya dun. The revelation would have happened when he passed away. It was a very useful (piece of) information and I just went with it.” “What I didn’t want to happen was that masabi lang siyang revelation for the sake of revelation that he is a rainbow basically,” added he. The “Widows’ War” character may be viewed as bisexual or gay.

A well-crafted character like Basil makes the work of actors like Benjamin enriching, with a creative space for collaboration. Aside from approaching it with freedom, he also gave his two cents on the character’s physical appearance, such as the hairstyle the latter would sport. Benjamin had fun, considering it one of the best scripts (and roles) he has done, but couldn’t hide the bittersweet feeling of playing Basil. “The thing that’s bittersweet about it is the person (the character) is dead,” said he. “You can’t go back to it.”

There was a part of Benjamin, the actor, who wanted Basil to be alive in the end as a big revelation, “but I know where the story needs to go,” shared he. After the character’s inevitable ending, Basil remained present in the recollections of the living characters in “Widows’ War.” Doing the flashback scenes allowed Benjamin to go to work and collaborate with fellow actors. “It was like the character is not technically dead, but knowing your character is dead is like you’ve written the arc already and you’re just filling in the gaps. So, the character development won’t really go anywhere because finite na yung ginawa niya,” shared he. “I can’t insert something hoping he’ll go somewhere else, sarado na siya, eh. So, that was the bittersweet part cuz you’re doing scenes knowing the end. Everyone knows the end.”

Benjamin’s character Wilfred, on the other hand, leads a totally different life and scenario in the intense drama, “Akusada,” which airs weekdays at 4 p.m. Benjamin described the character as “passionate” and “a father figure” in a brief online interview by GMA. “It’s very fast,” said he of the narrative pace and the character development. “This one, paangat pa lang siya, I’m not even in the climax yet, (but) it feels like the end already. So, parang nanduon na siya sa resolution, but week one pa lang ‘to.”

This is a new experience that, again, actors like Benjamin look forward to and enjoy. “The writing is to be sensitive to the new generation,” added Benjamin. “If you let it drag too long, it’s not that their attention span is short, I think you have to keep them engaged. So, one of the ways is just to make sure that your stories engaging, and if you lull or there’s any point na bumaba siya, you have to keep the dial up at 11 all the time.”

The challenge for him and co-artists, as actors, is filling in the gaps since a time jump seems to be a norm. “From one scene to the next, five years (na) siya,” said he. “But it’s great.... if I was doing the same thing every soap, I would be very boring.” Taking on the challenge, too, in telling a teleserye in this seemingly new trend are director Dominic Zapata and the ensemble cast, along with the writers and production team. “I really think we have great material,” said Benjamin, whose English Literature education comes in handy, and it complements acting. “Especially knowing what the writer’s intent is, what is the tone of the scene,” said he. “You can visualize it. You appreciate that when someone is writing, ‘Ah, OK. I know where they’re coming from.’”

Benjamin added that he also appreciates when there’s alliteration in the Tagalog dialogues because “it sounds better. I like that writers keep a lot of the subtexts up to the actors.” There’s room for creativity and collaboration in that case, as one may put it.

Source: philstar.com