In Coco’s footsteps

RONWALDO Martin and Gabbi Garcia

New actor Ronwaldo Martin said his brother, Coco Martin, might have paved the way for him to join show biz, “but the hard work and dedication were all mine.”

Ronwaldo first appeared in the indie movie “Ari: My Life With the King,” by Carlo Enciso Catu. He’s also in the cast of Louie Ignacio’s “Laut,” as well as other films currently in production—“Kabisera,” “Tuos” and “Pamilya Ordinaryo.”

“It was Kuya Coco who suggested that I try acting. I wasn’t interested at first. I just did it to obey him. After making ‘Ari,’ I realized that it is something I really enjoy doing,” said the 18-year-old in Filipino.

Ronwaldo added that he didn’t mind working for long hours under extreme heat when they shot the movie in lahar-ravaged areas in Pampanga. “What proved to be most difficult were memorizing my lines and delivering them without stammering,” he recalled. “Kuya’s advice was not to act, but to just be natural in front of the camera so that my performance will not look fake.”

In an earlier interview with the Inquirer, Coco said he told Ronwaldo “to simply enjoy what he’s doing.”

The ABS-CBN  star said: “I don’t want to spoil him, so I let him go to auditions on his own. People told me to include him in the ‘Ang Probinsiyano’ cast, but I refused. I want him to experience what I went through when I was just starting.”

Coco said that, like him, it was important for Ronwaldo “to feel pain and disappointment as an actor. They are part of the learning process. These emotions will make him strong. Show biz is a tough business, with all of its intrigues. If he is not strong enough emotionally, he would not last long in this industry,” he pointed out. “I know how it feels to be rejected during auditions. Even though I started in indie films, I kept trying to make it in the mainstream. He has to go through what I went through.”

This, however, does not mean Ronwaldo did not get any help from his big brother. “He would have someone drive his car to bring Ronwaldo to work,” Ferdie Lapuz, the younger Martin’s talent manager, said of Coco. “He also lent Ronwaldo clothes. He then gave his brother lots of  Bench gift certificates to buy new things for work. He told me to inform him if Ronwaldo was being difficult.”

Lapus added: “This is Coco’s dream for his brother, but Ronwaldo also has his own strengths. He is a sensitive actor. His looks (appearance) also suit a lot of roles in indie movies. I likewise see in him the willingness to learn.”

Ronwaldo admitted that he still has a lot to learn about show biz. “I realized that acting involves a lot of hard work. Going to casting calls makes me nervous, as well as answering questions during press interviews. I know I have to get used to doing these things,” he told the Inquirer during the recent screening of “Laut” at the 2016 Singkuwento International Film Festival at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts building in Intramuros, Manila.

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