Alien character still needs to be empathetically depicted
Jennylyn Mercado (left) and Gil Cuerva
One of the luckiest stellar discoveries this season is Gil Cuerva, the overnight sensation who copped the plum male lead role of the Pinoy remake of the hit Korean TV series, “My Love from the Star.”
He won the prized, career-making part over many other hopefuls, so viewers have been wondering what his unique advantage was over the hustling, bustling competition.
The way we saw it, even before the show started telecasting, the male model looked the part, an alien from outer space who lived on our planet for centuries, without suffering the onus of age and decrepitude. He was tall, “regional”-looking, had a mane of trendily long hair—what was not to like?
But, that was the packaging. How would he fare when he had to vivify and portray his otherworldly persona, move, say his lines and interact with his costars, led by the well-established and experienced Jennylyn Mercado?
Well, the show has finally started telecasting, so we can less speculatively come up with these initial observations:
At first blush, Cuerva lives up to expectations in the looks and projection department. Despite his relative lack of experience, he passes muster as an extraterrestrial who pretty much lives in a world of his own, and is only waiting for his now imminent return to his home planet or star.
“Backstory” snippets show his interactions with a few people through the centuries, including a turn-of-the-century Filipino woman with whom he could have gotten romantically involved.
When that didn’t pan out, he withdrew even more into his private world—until he met a self-absorbed star (Mercado).
She initially turns him off with her brash, loud and pushy ways—but, they eventually make a sort of combustible and contentious connection that changes both of them in increasingly deeper ways.
So, what’s the initial verdict on Cuerva’s portrayal? He’s well-cast in his starmaking role, but falls short of making a major mark (thus far), because the character he plays is so inaccessible and lacking in energy, charisma and dynamism.
Yes, he’s an extraterrestrial who’s pretty much living in a cocoon of his own, but the show’s viewers are human beings, not aliens, and the new actor’s character falls short of the mark because he can’t effect an emotional and empathetic connection with them—and they with him!
That’s the big problem that Cuerva has yet to resolve, with the help of his series’ writers and director. He has to find a way to make viewers understand how his character thinks and feels, even if the alien isn’t supposed to be capable of strong emotions.
It’s a difficult combination to figure out, so the new actor needs all the help he can get, so he can do better in the series—as soon as possible.
We hope that he can figure the dodgy thespic combination out in time, so he can go on to a long stellar stint in this and other shows.
What about Jennylyn’s performance? For quite a number of days, we generally found it too “big,” lush and loud, pushing her character’s “self-centered diva” persona too hard.
But last week, in a hospital scene, she more judiciously changed pace and “attack” and brought out the character’s sensitive and vulnerable side more—so, there’s hope for her portrayal, as well!
