Epy Quizon no stranger to offbeat roles

QUIZON taps into his memory bank.

Epy Quizon is no stranger to offbeat roles. Portraying characters “that I’m not,” he said, is one of the things he enjoys most about his craft.

In the  remake of  the 1980 movie, “Angela Markado,” originally directed by Lino Brocka and starring Hilda Koronel, Epy plays someone who couldn’t be any more different from himself. He was cast as one of the five men who physically and sexually torments the titular character (this time, played by Andi Eigenmann), before forcing her into prostitution. The remake, directed by Carlo J. Caparas, opens on Dec. 2.

“I don’t believe in abuse, so that’s definitely not me. What I believe in is mutual understanding. No one should force himself onto anyone,” he told the Inquirer.

For Epy, getting into the right mindset was the challenge. “Trying to walk in the shoes of someone whose actions we don’t understand is hard. It’s tough to imagine that someone could be that evil,” pointed out the 42-year-old artist, who most recently played Apolinario Mabini in “Heneral Luna.”

“But at the same time, you find out from the news and social media that such things truly happen—that evil is around us,” he added. “So, that helps you find a character peg, which is scary!”

Asked about his preparations for the film, Epy said that he began committing to the role the moment he said yes to the offer.

“I start imagining myself in the role and what it requires of me. I tap into my memory bank, my subconscious. With a lot of imagination, you mold yourself into who you want to be,” he said.