Tommy Abuel recalls working with film masters

ABUEL. From stage to screen.

Tommy Abuel is a treasure trove of information about the country’s film, TV and theater communities. He’s been there, and done that—name it, the iconic performer has seen it all. Onstage, he was in great demand as a leading man long before the movies began knocking on his door.

How did he end up in the movies? Abuel recalls, “I got my start because of the people I worked with onstage.

“My first movie was Lea Productions’ ‘Crush Ko Si Sir,’ directed by NUT, which was significant, because it was also the debut film of Walter Navarro and Laurice Guillen.”

Bragging rights

Impressively, Abuel’s first six films all starred either Vilma Santos, Nora Aunor or Hilda Koronel. (He was also the lead actor of Mike de Leon’s “Itim,” costarring Charo Santos, now ABS-CBN’s head honcho.) —How’s that for bragging rights?

The seasoned actor added, “At the time, people from the theater were seen as elitists. It was Danny Zialcita who brought me closer to the masa.”

But, even as he became more “marketable,” he continued to reap praise for his performances in Zialcita’s witty ‘dramedies,’ including “Palabra de Honor,” “Gaano Kadalas Ang Minsan?” and “Karma,” for which he won his second acting award (after Brocka’s “Maynila, Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag”).

We asked the actor to share his recollections about getting directed by the masters.

Abuel shares, “Lino was an actor’s director—tutok s’ya sa mga artista. He focused on the emotional aspect of scenes.

“I clearly remember how he brought his actors to the mountain of garbage in Tondo, then to the BIR construction site—where we spent the whole day for immersion!

More cerebral

“Bernal was more cerebral—he didn’t like too much emotion when he presented his scenes. If Lino preferred to show what happened during a storm, Bernal exposed what happened after!

“I remember Mike’s brilliance and how meticulous he was—especially in the way he prepared his shots. He wanted his actors to deliver the lines the way he wrote them—you couldn’t paraphrase!”