Piolo, Lloydie may be next in line

In an article last week, we detailed how Aga Muhlach’s performance in his current starrer, “In the Name of Love,” has propelled him back to the top of local movies’ pantheon of great screen actors. But what about his younger colleagues like Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz? What can they do to firm up their own game, so that, when Aga decides to retire (not that soon, we trust), they’ll be ready to rise to the occasion and assume his mantle?

In Piolo’s case, he’s clearly positioned himself by relative age, past lead performance and other factors, to be “next in line” as far as “lineage” goes. His solo starrer, “Lagarista,” shot and screened a decade ago, showcased his promising talent.

Even then, however, we weren’t fully convinced. It was a good showcase, but too much screen time was self-indulgently frittered away by scenes that merely showed the actor’s “moody” side.

Piolo’s subsequent screen assignments have added to his luster as a movie star and “hunk,” but they haven’t significantly expanded his range and depth as as performer.

Not that the actor doesn’t want to do better. A couple of years ago, he went the indie route in his search for liberating roles that would allow him to break away from the predictability of big-studio casting.

Unfortunately, that experiment turned out to be a relative failure, because the edginess that the actor was able to summon up was largely visual instead of visceral.

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What Piolo needs is to work with a creative team that will push him past his “Papa Piolo” limits. That can happen only if they don’t handle him with kid gloves, which has been the case in his career for far too long. Can this happen? It should—and long before he hits his 40s.

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As for John Lloyd, he’s also played the rom-com game for far too long to be a serious contender for acting greatness. A couple for years ago, however, his movie with Vilma Santos and Luis Manzano presented him with a choice and challenge that prompted us to adjust our perception of him as a dramatic actor:

In deciding to take on a gay role, John Lloyd put his career at risk. But it turned out that it was a risk worth taking, because his acting cachet significantly improved.

It was still a mite too safe to be overwhelmingly convincing, but it suggested that, in the future, the actor could have it in him to really go for broke.

That’s it: If Piolo, John Lloyd and other younger comers really want to be next in line to drama “king” Aga Muhlach, they have to really dare and bare—not their bodies, but their guts and souls.