Jake Cuenca plays a transvestite

CUENCA

Actor Jake Cuenca said he was seriously losing weight and growing his hair long for a very challenging role—a transvestite.

“It’s my first time to play a transvestite,” Jake said of his new movie project with filmmaker Quark Henares. “I’m excited. It will be fun. I’ve done gay roles before, but never a transvestite.”

Jake said the film is something similar to Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” which was released in 2013. “It’s a slasher comedy. It’s something new for me. I find it challenging. I have yet to test myself in comedy. I don’t limit myself to any role. When this was offered to me, I said I needed to do it. I won’t be able to live with myself if I let the opportunity pass.”

Jake was recently in New York City for a 22-day trip. While there, he took acting workshops, saw some Broadway plays and set up test shoots for possible modeling gigs. “I kept myself busy. I was there to learn how I could still improve myself as an actor. It wasn’t a vacation,” he said.

Jake is currently seen in the drama series, “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” where he plays Jonas, a man trading illegal drugs. His team targets huge clubs and victimizes young customers.

He is part of the program’s “Ligtas Tips: Paalala Mula sa Probinsyano” campaign, which empowers viewers and helps them avoid falling prey to crime syndicates.

Other participants are the show’s lead stars, Coco Martin, Maja Salvador and Simon Pineda, who have also shared tips in clips aired during the series to warn people against the modus operandi of kidnappers, suspicious taxi drivers and gangs like “budol-budol.”

“Be smart,” advised Jake, when asked by Inquirer to react to stories on the sex videos of his colleagues now  proliferating on the Internet. “I’m curious why these videos are coming out all at the same time. Is there a group behind all the videos?”

“I’m confident that I’m not one of them,” he declared. “Taking a video of myself has never been my fetish. Also, I have never been to any of those websites promoting online sex. TV personalities should really be careful. I read that even the photos you save on  iCloud could be made public by hackers.”

Jake also said he would support efforts to improve the working conditions of people employed in film and TV production.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently released a labor advisory urging TV networks to uphold the law on working only for eight to 12 hours per day.

“It’s a problem that every actor dreams of fixing. If you’re already too tired, your performance suffers. It’s better if the actors are left to decide on whether or not to extend their work hours. Most of the time, they are not given that choice.”