Piolo Pascual, 2 other Asian actors mull over ‘the new normal’ in entertainment after lockdown

With everyone talking about how the “new normal” would be like after lockdown, three actors—Piolo Pascual (Philippines), Nicholas Saputra (Indonesia) and Rhydian Vaughan (Taiwan)—believe that it’s now more important to take on roles that will provide for them an “emotional connection” to their viewers all over the globe.

During the third session of the online panel discussion titled, “Actor’s Cue” held on Monday night, the three actors tackled, among other things, the kinds of roles they hope to take on in future projects.

Piolo Pascual

Piolo predicted that with the current situation, “there will be a lot of changes in terms of how we’ll be working with each other. Film viewing will now be via livestreaming. It’ll be more intimate, because we can’t go to the cinemas anymore,” he said.

Now, attention should be focused on character development, Piolo pointed out. “For me, it’s important to take on a character who is going through a journey, because I want to be able to embark on that journey with him,” he explained.

Piolo added that in the last few weeks, he has been watching a lot of foreign language films and that “it’s been teaching me a lot about different cultures. I realized that we are all connected; that we are one as a race. It’s also important to ask ourselves questions like ‘How do we adapt?’ ‘How are we going to present ourselves to the world now?’”

For Nicholas to agree to a project, it has to have “a good story; it has to be something important. It has to be made with the goal of making (social) changes,” he said. “But really, for us actors, it will all depend on what’s coming to us, unless we’re also the producer of a particular project.”

Nicholas Saputra of Indonesia

The Indonesian actor added: “Right now, we’re all jobless. It’s really difficult to think of all the possibilities beyond this. But of course, I take this time to rediscover myself, my house and my pets; to reconnect with friends from high school. We would use Zoom for hours—something that was impossible before, because we had no time to meet since we’re all busy.”

Rhydian, meanwhile, said it’s hard to pinpoint exactly the kind of projects he would like to do because “my passion for acting grows by the day,” he explained. “I realized now how much more there is that I have yet to explore, in terms of sharing stories and connecting emotionally. It’s a tricky time to be answering this kind of questions.”

Rhydian Vaughan of Taiwan

Rhydian further said: “I’m fortunate enough to be in Taiwan and to still have work lined up for me by the second half of the year. But I can relate to Nicholas. This is a time for reflecting. I’m really enjoying this time, when we don’t have so many goals to fulfill in a day. Now, I reflect on what I want to do. Ideas come when I’m at ease. I have more time to develop my own stories.”

He added that he would soon open an acting studio in Taipei. “I won’t be teaching. I’m just lucky to be tagging along. Now is the time to train. I feel that this is a gift. It’s time to adjust in terms of what we want to do.”

The “Actor’s Cue” panel discussion is part of the “#ExtendTheLove” initiative, which aims to raise funds for Filipino film workers who were displaced by the lockdown ordered by the government to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19). INQ