(From left) Dolly de Leon, Clint Ramos, and Lea Salonga. Image: Instagram/@cpatofficial
Both award-winning actresses in their own right, Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon rose as leading figures in theater, film, and television — where they reached the point of having their talents speak for themselves.
But while Salonga and de Leon are aware that “innate talent” is crucial for an actor to make an impression, they believe that going through building one’s technique through training is a factor in an actor’s longevity.
“If you don’t have the talent, why are you doing this? The innate talent and this raw thing where somebody can sing, act, and dance, but the technique and the training in combination with that — that’s the stuff that enables us to do eight times a week,” Salonga said in a “Conversations in Spotlight” talk in Makati, where she was joined by de Leon and Tony Award-winning costume and set designer Clint Ramos.
“To be able to call upon your technique so you don’t lose your voice and you’re warmed up. Those warm-ups are so important. Those two have to happen in synergy. Sometimes, talent is not going to take you to the next stage. But your training will,” she continued.
Meanwhile, de Leon noted that some actors didn’t go through formal training but they managed to “do well” in their chosen field. This is due to their effort to go through workshops and equip themselves with the “right foundation.”
“There are some actors who never went through any kind of training but they’re doing well… you don’t have to take the four-year course in college. Just go through workshops, find an acting coach, and find a really good teacher who will guide you and give you the foundation,” she said.
Touching on her own experiences, de Leon admitted that she couldn’t have survived in the industry without having the right foundation. For her, applying what she learned in her training was the “fun” part of her career.
“I don’t think I could’ve survived without the foundation and the training. I’ll be totally lost and I’ll be faking it the whole time. It’s not fun,” she said. “What makes it fun is that you’re equipped with the tools and check if you can apply what you’ve learned. It’s easy for you to go to school and learn these things, but can you apply them when you’re at work?”
Generational shift
Salonga and de Leon were then asked to share their two cents on how the younger thespians have a “shift in perspective” towards developing their skills, knowing that their generation was “slammed into a wall” due to the yelling and harsh training from their teachers.
For the “Miss Saigon” star, she was able to survive with a mindset that the yelling was not personal. “There are a lot of younger artists who want to get into this industry and, probably, find themselves slammed into a wall, not anticipating how hard it is.”
“I would like to think because of how hard we had it at the beginning of our careers where we had Bibot Amador yelling at you,” Salonga continued, referring to the late theater stalwart and Repertory Philippines co-founder Zenaida Amador.
“The yelling was real. There was something about her [where] I didn’t take it too personally… I’ve heard the yelling so much that maybe, some calluses have been built up at some point,” she said. “It’s not personal. It’s yelling to get the best out of you.”
Meanwhile, de Leon admitted that she is not fond of an environment where “making anyone feel small was the norm.” She, however, had her own share of the yelling, which shaped her into the actress she is today.
“I don’t welcome an environment where there’s name-calling, screaming, insulting, or making anyone feel small. I can’t. Even if I grew up in a world like that,” she said. “That was a huge part of shaping us into the people we are today. I can’t say that was the best method, but it was the method that I went through. It made me strong and manhid.”
The “Triangle of Sadness” star also shared that while being called “b*ba, t*nt*, g*g*, [and] pangit” made her stronger, seeing younger actors going through the same experience still throws her off.
“I don’t like how it feels. Now, what do I do — if malakas ang loob ko — I call them out,” she said. However, de Leon noted that these experiences nonetheless helped her grow. “I can’t say that those experiences were bad [for me] because I think I’m really strong because of that. And I’ll still be forever grateful for that.”
Despite this, de Leon hopes the younger actors would grow up in an industry that doesn’t thrive on fear.
“If you’re working in a space where fear is the commodity, it curtails the creative juices from flowing out. At least that’s from my experience. When I’m in a state of fear, I just tend to clam up and shut down,” she said.
Salonga and de Leon are set to be the alternate leads in the Manila run of the play “Request sa Radyo” which will run from October 10 to 20 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater.