Playing gay wrestler in ‘Fuchsia Libre’ no laughing matter for Paolo Contis

John Arcilla (left) and Paolo Contis on the set of “Fuchsia Libre”–MARINEL CRUZ

“I’m taking this role seriously,” said comedian Paolo Contis of his part in the film “Fuchsia Libre,” where he plays a gay man seeking the acceptance of his authoritarian father, played by Venice best actor John Arcilla.

As if the discourse on traditional masculinity isn’t problematic enough, Paolo’s character is a professional wrestler while John’s is a military man in this drama-comedy project directed by RC delos Reyes and written by Tonio Rodolfo.

“I promise you, this will not be a caricature. First of all, I agreed to do the project because of its serious take on the role of the LGBTQIA+ community in our society. I want to help broaden people’s understanding and acceptance of their group. This is the main challenge of the movie for me,” Paolo told Inquirer Entertainment. “I recently received materials that I’m supposed to study for this role. I intend to take this seriously because I will be representing a huge group. I don’t want to fail them.”

Paolo is once again familiarizing himself with the rules of wrestling, he said. “I used to train with some fighters when I was younger. I stopped because I had to focus on work. Most of the teleseryes I did for GMA 7 were action, like ‘Sugo,’ where we got to train with Chinese fight and stunt coordinators. Also, whenever Dingdong (Dantes) did his action teleseryes, they would automatically call me to be his kontrabida. The two of us shared a lot of training sessions related to fighting.”

He continued: “I just need to refresh my memory on the discipline of wrestling. I don’t think there will be a problem. I didn’t join the war totally clueless, so to speak. Of course, we have to make sure the fights are cinematic enough because they are also among the selling points of this film.”

Character’s struggles

Meanwhile, John tried to explain the struggles of his character, a parent who may or may not end up rejecting his child when the latter eventually discloses his gay identity. “My character grew up with a military orientation. Suddenly, he discovers he has a gay son. We’ve heard of stories like this before … gay men joining male-dominated sports, so I did my research. One important thing that came up was that some parents blame themselves for what happened to their children. This is because they think being gay is an abnormality and that their kids somehow got this from their fathers. They would ask, ‘What is wrong with me?’ Actually, that is the most painful part of the whole situation,” the actor explained.

‘Very relevant’

Apart from the opportunity to work with Paolo again—they were together in “Sugo‘’ in 2005—John said he liked that the story is “very relevant. It’s good that issues concerning the LGBTQIA+ community are now being discussed in detail. We used to treat them so dismissively—‘Bading ka? Tapos.’ Now, the pain and struggles of parents of gay or lesbian children are at the forefront. It’s true that we still have no idea how to properly accept them. Are we able to truthfully accept or are we merely trying to tolerate them? As for the gay son, will he still be happy with his identity if his parents reject him?” John told Inquirer Entertainment during a visit to the “Fuchsia Libre” set in Fairview, Quezon City.

Paolo, who also has a list of successful comedy films to his credit, promised that humor would be an important part of the film. “While we’re talking about a serious topic, sometimes it’s easier to make people listen if we also make them laugh. Of course, we have to make sure the jokes are not offensive. These days, you have to be very sensitive about these things,” stressed Paolo, adding that he is “open to doing kissing scenes” if necessary.

“Fuchsia Libre” is a production of Mavx Productions.

“It’s up to the producers if they will take me up on that offer. When I read the script, I actually saw one such scene. Parang kulang,” he quipped. “To be honest, the kissing scene is not a selling point of the film. It’s there because we are trying to show what the two characters are like as father and son. It is part of the father’s acceptance to see his son with a romantic male partner,” Paolo explained.

The actor, who is also the main host of the noontime game show “Eat Bulaga,” said he expects to learn a lot from working on the set with John. “The last time we were together was 18 years ago. It was a happy set; that’s why, to me, it felt like I was just playing. I never really paid much attention. I’m very excited to see him in action this time around. During our first meeting, he asked a lot of questions about the story that I never even thought about. Iba pala siya talaga,” Paolo said.