KAHIT SIKAT NA, BENJAMIN ALVES AYOS LANG MAG-AUDITION FOR A ROLE

Ni Rommel Gonzales

Walang kaso para kay Benjamin Alves ang mag-audition para sa isang film project.

Sa Heneral Luna pa lamang noong 2015 na unang installment sa Bayaniverse franchise ay nag-audition siya upang maging si Manuel Luis Quezon.

Lahad niya, “Lahat kami nag-audition. I did a film with Jerrold [Tarod, direktor ng pelikula] before that, Sana Dati.

“Nakakatawa doon, lahat kami ng nandun TJ Trinidad, Paulo Avelino, Lovi Poe, kumbaga… tapos nandito si Paulo sa Goyo, TJ was supposedly for Quezon.

“So yun, nag-audition kami. He made me read one of his speeches, lahat kami nag-audition and this…

parang first year ko pa lang sa showbiz nun e, so…I know I did not do well sa audition na yun,” at tumawa si Benjmain.

“So.. but again, yun naman siguro ang magic ng TBA, nila Daphne, [Chiu, TBA Studios President and COO],
na knowing that it’s gonna be a long process.”

Nakapasa si Benjamin at gumanap pa ring si Quezon sa pangalawang franchiose, ang Goyo Ang Batang Heneral noong 2018 at sa Quezon na palabas ngayon sa mga sinehan kung saan si Jericho Rosales ang pangunahing tauhan.

Ano ang pakiramdam na kahit si Jericho na ang older Quezon ay isinama pa rin si Benjamin sa 3rd installment?

“Yeah. That news was brought to me during Goyo, na… kasi nag-ano kami, nag-preliminary reading kami saka costume design.

“Dun ko nakita na may… at that time, si TJ yung naka-ano. So… then I learned na… then I found out na may older Manuel Quezon pala and then, I guess I’ll share it here.

“So we had to…siyempre nagbigla ako, parang I didn’t… actor lang naman ako doon e, so I didn’t know the full picture, I didn’t have the whole path that we’re going for. “So we had to sit down with sila Daphne, sila Joe [Alandy, TBA Studios producer], all of TBA to try to figure out kung ano bang… I guess during that time we were… from management standpoint, we were under the assumption na he [Jericho] would be Quezon throughout the entire team.

“So we sat down, they explained it to me, na ganun talaga yung trajectory and… I guess there was pushback from our side.

“But for me, it was important to do the film because alam ko yung scale and I really enjoyed working with TBA.

“Parang… ganun naman lagi ang attitude ko e, there really are no small roles and yung character ko as young Manuel Quezon, is a main character for those scenes.

“So I accepted it because I really wanted to work with everybody again sa TBA.

“I don’t think I made the wrong decision during that time, I think I made the right decision, kasi with this one, it feels like family.

“Like sa TBA, honestly, they’re taking such good care of us and… I guess I’ll say that, ayun yung nangyari during that time na sa Goyo ko siya nalaman.

“After the meeting, I still decided to do it because… it’s nice to be part of something bigger that yourself, I think that’s what I’ll say.”