Tirso Cruz III
In the less-enlightened past, moviegoers and televiewers dismissed “old” actors as used-up has-beens, fit for the retirement shelf or for insignificant grandparent roles in productions that focused mostly on their pluperfectly beautiful and youthful leads.
But, both the TV-film industry and its audience appear to have learned their lesson, and senior players are busier than ever on our multifarious and multiplatform screens.
A good thing, too, because they provide the texture and tensile strength that younger and shallower “stars du jour” can’t, for the life of them, summon up. It’s all about experience and insight, which takes years to rack up.
On “Wildflower,” for instance, the ostensible lead star is Maja Salvador, with Aiko Melendez, Joseph Marco and RK Bagatsing supporting. But, many of the big thespic “moments” bank on the seething thespic chops of formidable senior players like Tirso Cruz III, Sunshine Cruz, Bodjie Pascua, Christian Vasquez, Isay Alvarez, Malou de Guzman, etc.!
Indeed, the show’s need for “senior muscle” has just been amped up with its recent extension, so the “ferocious” Zsa Zsa Padilla has just been stellarly conscripted to add even more “zzzzz” to its sizzle as its latest and fiercest kontrabida!
The presence and contributions of senior thespians to this season’s Cinema One Originals film fest are even more pronounced, with “matured” or “maturing” stars doing full justice to major roles:
In “Si Chedeng at Si Apple,” the protagonists are played by Gloria Diaz and Elizabeth Oropesa, who used to topbill sexy dramas decades ago, but now play old friends who “become accidental criminals.”
The lead star of “Nay” is Sylvia Sanchez. In “Paki,” the “fearless senior citizens” are portrayed by Noel Trinidad and Dexter Doria—who not only act up a storm, but also engage in “28 seconds of torrid kissing” (somebody actually timed the osculatory orgy)!
And “Changing Partners” casts the “maturing” Agot Isidro in a bittersweet depiction on the diminishing returns of a “May-September” affair.
Other vividly visible senior stars in ongoing teleseryes include Susan Roces, Lito Lapid, Mitch Valdes, Jaime Fabregas, Eddie Garcia, Joel Torre, and Shamaine Buencamino in “Ang Probinsyano.”
On “La Luna Sangre,” Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo are ably boosted by older players like Gelli de Belen, Albert Martinez, Noel Trinidad, Debraliz Valasote, Dennis Padilla, Meryll Soriano, Freddie Webb, Sylvia Sanchez, Victor Neri, Nikki Valdez, William Lorenzo, Romnick Sarmenta, Teresa Loyzaga, Francine Prieto, etc.!
And “The Promise of Forever” is topbilled by Paulo Avelino, but he’s backed up by many older stars, because his character lives multiple, “eternal” lives that take the series’ storytelling from 1886 to 2017!
The show’s “more senior” (sequential) cast members include Tonton Gutierrez, Susan Africa, Amy Austria, Cherry Pie Picache and Eva Darren.
So much for senior stars being laid out to pasture, they’re now making profitable thespic hay while the show biz sun blazes on them again!