Time to recapture and resharpen Coco Martin’s thespic edge

COCO Martin

No doubt about it, with the success of “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” lead star Coco Martin has surged ahead of most of his male contemporaries on TV in the stellar rat race.

To outpace the competition, he’s had to work doubly hard. The fact that the now-extended series continues to do well indicates viewers’ tacit approval of the series cast’s work, with Coco showing the way.

But, how is he doing on the show as an actor? Last week, we focused especially on his performance, and came up with these hopefully instructive notes:

Coco comes up with an “accessible” portrayal, because he doesn’t look as big, tall and tisoy as many other male adult actors.

His lack of height and “western” looks are seen as liabilities by some, but they are in fact plus points, because viewers find it easier to relate to him.

On the other hand, we feel that, as the series keeps getting extended, Coco’s lead portrayal has become less fresh and creative and has, in fact, fallen into a rut.

This isn’t completely his fault, because the show’s extension has led to a distension of its main protagonist’s character arc. This refers to the rise and fall of his key initial conflict and its resolution.

Now that the storytelling has been extended, some of what Coco is doing now feels second-hand—a case of been there, seen that. The series and its lead actor should have come up with fresh conflicts and character issues to develop, pursue and resolve, instead of just banking on new “chapters” and guest stars to sustain viewers’ interest, involvement and empathy.

Also feeling a bit “old” and therefore cold is Coco’s running tribute to Fernando Poe Jr., by way of his extra heroic flourishes during his fight scenes. At first, the tribute came across as warmly affectionate, but it’s occasionally been pushed to exaggerated heights that it sometimes comes across as a running gag.

What about Coco’s dramatic scenes? His early indie-film outings established his thespic skills and insights, no problem with that. Unfortunately, when he “went mainstream,” Coco had to “popularize” his thespic approach for greater “impact” and “effect,” and has thus lost some of his “disturbing” indie edge.

In addition, he’s acquired some acting tics and habits, like the mannered way he moves and shapes his lips and mouth when his character is supposed to be particularly conflicted or enraged.

Genuine feelings are supposed to come from within, and don’t have to be “indicated” by attention-calling “lip acting.”

Incidentally, Coco’s younger sibling, Ronwaldo Martin, is also guilty of the same “indicating” tic. Is it a case of kid brother emulating and imitating his kuya?

Summing up: Coco deserves the success he’s enjoying. But for the actor to not be upstaged by his stellar persona, he needs to go back to basics—and recapture his original thespic edge.