Teen star, ’70s rocker in Tokyo fest

RURU Madrid and Pepe Smith in “Above the Clouds”

TOKYO—It was as if he had to grow up in a hurry.

Ruru Madrid, a GMA 7 artist, was only 15 when he tried out for and won the lead role in Pepe Diokno’s sophomore film, “Above the Clouds,” last year.

“Many actors came to the auditions,” Diokno recalled. “But when Ruru walked into the room, I knew he was the one.”

Pressured

Madrid returned the compliment: “He is a good director,” he said of Diokno. “So I was motivated to do well all the time.”

Diokno said Madrid was initially “extroverted,” the opposite of his character, a brooding orphan forced to move in with his grandfather, played by Pinoy rock icon Pepe Smith.

To help the kid get into character, Diokno played “tricks” on him. “I asked everyone to stop talking to Ruru, to get him to a place of isolation. It worked.” Madrid, who was in the cast of such Kapuso shows as “Dormitoryo,” “My Destiny” and “Seasons of Love,” had to cry the entire day, Diokno said. “By the time it was over, I had nothing but respect for him.”

Death-defying

The actor admitted that the shoot was daunting—particularly the scene filmed on Mount Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak.

“The nine-hour hike was buwis-buhay (death-defying),” he said. “I had never experienced anything like that in my life. I thought the shoot would just be like vacationing in Baguio.”

Boy, was he mistaken.

He recounted: “We walked for hours. It was exhausting. When we got to the top, it was very cold. I brought seven jackets and three blankets, which were not enough.”

But it was “beautiful” up there, he said. “It felt like were were above the clouds. It was all worth the trek.”

No rapport

A challenge for the teen actor was his onscreen rapport, or lack of it, with Smith. Diokno didn’t want them to be extra-friendly at the start of the shoot. “They were supposed to be at odds.”

To convey the simmering tension, Diokno devised another plan: “The staff kept Ruru and Piyaps (Pepe) apart. In Baguio, we had them stay in different parts of the city. So there was awkwardness between them at the beginning of the film.” As the shoot progressed, Smith and Madrid “found their chemistry,” Diokno said.

Madrid admitted that he got star-struck when he met Smith. “I love rock ’n‘ roll, so I am familiar with his songs. I didn’t know that he was also an actor.”

Last week, Madrid, Smith and Diokno hit the road once again. Along with producer Bianca Balbuena, they attended the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival, where “Above the Clouds” competed in the Asian Future section.

Madrid and Smith arrived in Tokyo on Oct. 27, in time for the film’s world premiere. It was also their first time to see the film from the audience’s point of view.

Most of the viewers stayed behind at the Toho Roppongi Hills Cinema 6 after the screening and participated in the open forum.

A Japanese cineaste asked the actors if the “generation gap” made things difficult for them to relate with each other. Madrid said Smith was “like my real grandfather on the set.” Smith agreed: “Ruru looks like my son!”

Diokno described the 66-year-old rocker as “a child at heart … very playful off-cam.”

Throughout the forum, Smith cracked jokes. Kenji Ishizaka, Asian Future programming director, asked if it was all right to introduce him as the “Mick Jagger of the Philippines.”

To which Smith quipped, “It’s okay! Mick is the Pepe Smith of England.”

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