It was an opportunity every actor worth his salt couldn’t pass up. Last week, from May 6 to 10, 22 lucky young performers from ABS-CBN’s Star Magic, GMA Network’s Sparkle Artist Center, TV5’s Star Worx and Aktor PH were chosen by a selection committee to take part in an intensive workshop titled “Acting for the Screen and Set,” facilitated by Oscar winner Melissa Leo herself.
The seasoned actress is best remembered by movie and TV buffs for her Academy Award nods (“The Fighter,” “Frozen River”) and prodigious Emmy win (for her single-episode 2013 guesting stint in Louis CK’s comedy series “Louie”).
The workshop, organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in partnership with Fest Film Lab at Ibis Styles Araneta City, is part of initiatives aimed at enhancing the knowledge and sharpening the practical skills of the local talent pool through immersive sessions and hands-on exercises.
Star Magic was represented by “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition” winner Brent Manalo, Gillian Vicencio, Krystal Mejes, Marc Santiago, Miguel Vergara, Reich Alim and Robbie Jaworski. Sparkle fielded Dom Pangilinan, Patricia Coma, Rein Hillary, Zonia Mejia and Gelly Bea. Star Worx sent Abdul Raman, Dom Real, Gab Yabut, Julia Cinco, Kate Yalung, Lienel Natividad and Vienne Luna. And Allen “Air” Salazar, Bon Lentejas and Shun Mark Gomez were selected from the Aktor PH pool.
‘They are the future’
Asked why young actors were prioritized for the project and their need to train, FDCP chair and CEO Jose Javier Reyes said: “Because they are the future! We chose newbies mainly because we want to help the next generation of Filipino performers. We want to develop actors, not mere celebrities. So we’re opening the participants’ minds to the whole magic and complexity, if not the difficulty, of being an actor.”
“In the Philippine setting, one of the biggest setbacks about acting is when an actor goes into autopilot,” Direk Joey, as the FDCP chief is fondly called, explained at last Saturday’s press conference moderated by former “PBB: Season 2” housemate Anna Vitta “Yen” Lim-Galagnara. “For example, if you appear in a TV series, you often get the script the night before taping so you don’t have enough time to understand your character or the situation he’s in. But that doesn’t excuse you from the responsibility of being a good actor. That is why the preparation of an actor is extremely necessary.”
What type of performers does he enjoy working with? “I’ve directed far too many films, and my favorite actors are the intelligent ones,” he said. “Because to be a good actor, you have to understand your role. Which leads me to my second point: You have to understand yourself. There has to be a kind of self-awareness, so that what you’ll show the audience isn’t just another performance but an interpretation of a role. Sadly, some of the greatest actresses in this country are also the same actresses cast in the same roles over and over again. You don’t see nuance or depth of character anymore.”
Real actors never stop learning, Direk Joey pointed out, “There has to be growth. You cannot be the same actor following the same formula all the time, because that means you’re just lazy. I’ve had some sad experiences of having an actor appear on the set not knowing what scenes he’s going to play because he just finished taping a TV show. He’d say, ‘I didn’t have time to study in the car.’ If that’s the case, then I don’t want you. By the time you get to the set, you must know what your role demands.”
‘There’s a difference’
Chiming in, Melissa Leo said: “We have exactly the same problem in the United States. We have lots of actors and movie stars. So, while I love the work of John Wayne, he’s not an actor in my mind. He’s a movie star. I don’t know how to be a movie star, but I do know how to be an actor. I don’t diss movie stars. But there’s a difference between a movie star or celebrity and an actor, who’s there to do the work and enjoys doing it regardless.”
Self-awareness both as a person and a performer also helps Melissa adjust to the boundaries and limitations she faces on set.
“When I play a mother, I am not playing the mother that I am to my own child. I’m portraying the mother as written that will help the story be told,” she said. “It depends on who I’m playing opposite. As a mother in ‘The Fighter,’ I have seven girls and two boys. The two boys are not only very different in their characters, they’re also played by very different actors, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. One is a movie star and the other is an actor. So my character, Alice Ward, their mother, has a different response to each of them. At one point in that movie, there’s an argument about who she loves the most and what her truth is. I actually met the woman I was playing. She loved all of her children equally, but some of them needed her more than others. So you do what you do with any role: You look at the script, find the information you need and, if you have a question, talk to the director or writer.”
Like her young Filipino wards, the Hollywood actress didn’t know what to expect when she arrived in Manila on May 4. “I came over a little nervous,” she admitted. While I do know some wonderful Filipinos back home, I’ve never been to the Philippines before this trip. But I got here not knowing it would be with quite a young group. I’ve been doing this with Filipe (Pereira, director of Fest Film Lab) for several years now, but never with so many youngsters. And then I found out how professional they are…they’re so beautiful!”
The 65-year-old actress then turned to her students and said: “They’ve been receptive and inquisitive, and they’ve followed my directions and suggestions. I’ve seen them grow each day we’re here. And now, I’d like to take all 22 of them home with me (laughs)! But I know they’re better off here at home, and they will have beautiful careers ahead of them. I hope I get to see them on the screen.”
‘From good to great’
Pereira explained the workshop’s objectives and Fest Film Lab’s various other activities in Manila. “There are other groups doing these workshops around the world,” he said. “Our intention is to have people who are highly accomplished in all levels of filmmaking, like acting, cinematography, etc. We wish to help practitioners go from good to great—that’s what we’re trying to do. The same is true with the workshop mentored by Melissa.”
How did Fest Film Lab’s partnership with the actress come about? “As soon as I met Melissa about 10 years ago, I immediately knew she was all about the purity of acting…the other things around it aren’t as relevant,” Pereira said. “We thought this program would be a perfect fit for these actors to evolve in, not only for the Filipino film industry but also for other territories. We conducted five workshops here last year and there are three this year. The next two will be held in November.”
This writer was lucky to meet Melissa as she was coming out of the morning session of the workshop last Saturday and just before the presser attended by CoverStory and select members of the press. She immediately won us over with her simplicity and radiant smile. Clad in a blue floral print dress under a loose denim jacket with no makeup on, she told us she may not have seen our famous beaches on this trip, but meeting the people in Manila, who welcomed her with open arms, was a treat in itself.
We told her how amazed we were by her ability to vanish into every role—on the big screen (“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” “21 Grams,” “The Space Between,” “Prisoners,” “The Big Short” and last year’s “The Knife”) and on TV (“Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Wayward Pines,” “I Know This Much is True,” “Mildred Pierce,” “All The Way” and “The Most Hated Woman in America”).
When we said her comedic irreverence in the TV series “Louie” blew us away, Melissa, who’s known more for her dramatic flair, laughed out loud and said: “You saw that? Was that shown here?”
What they learned
As her students disclosed during the presser, Melissa brought that same easygoing vibe, warmth and larger-than-life charisma to the rehearsal hall. She was firm but soft-spoken, decisive but nurturing.
Gillian Vicencio said the sessions taught her to “go back to basics” and identify what it takes to unlearn the bad habits she got from being on teleserye sets. Dom Pangilinan learned to break down the text after reciting Shakespearean sonnets in an acting exercise.
For her part, Kate Yalung has found practical ways to address the self-doubt she feels from watching her performances onscreen. She said, “I would see how unnatural I was in some of my scenes. But I learned from Ms Melissa that acting isn’t about ‘performing emotions’; it’s about living in the moment.”
To see the bond that this batch of young actors developed with their teacher, check out Leinel Natividad, Abdul Raman or Shun Mark Gomez’s post on Instagram showing Melissa letting her hair down and grooving to Justin Bieber’s song, “Beauty and a Beat,” with her young wards.
Excerpts from the Q&A with Melissa:
What do you think are the biggest impediments for actors in terms of emotional truth and believability?
My immediate answer is the material. As I was talking to the workshop participants today, a not-well-crafted material is very hard to do, so it makes a wonderful challenge for an actor to make it a little better. In fact, that’s a huge part of how my career has worked. I’ve worked a lot in the American television industry, much more than in films.
I really made my living doing television. So I’ve done a lot of very poorly written scripts. I’ve also been able to do some very well-written television shows, so I know the difference between the two. That’s a big impediment.
Another one is the misunderstanding of what acting is. You’re portraying humanity in acting. It doesn’t mean that every girl onscreen must be the prettiest you’ve seen and every boy must be the most handsome. We get too involved in the way we look, but that has nothing to do with acting.
Some of the most interesting actors have very odd-looking faces. It’s not about your appearance, it’s what you can bring to the role. I said to these young actors today that they can take all this information and bring it with them as they work. They could change the face of Filipino acting from here on in.
Chekhov did it in Russia many years ago when he wrote his plays and changed what acting is. This opportunity makes you not just be subservient because you’ve been hired. “Thank you so much for the job and I have something to offer”—and that’s what I’m trying to instill in them, to find the truth in themselves.
Would you turn down a character whose decisions you strongly disagree with?
I would not turn down a character because of the decisions they’re making. At this point in my career, I would turn it down because of my great success with “The Fighter.” For 35 years, I had played all kinds of parts—police, mothers, etc.—but never the same role.
Then I got a very fancy American award for doing a job in a film (she bested Amy Adams, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jacki Weaver and Fil-Am actress Hailee Steinfeld for the best supporting actress prize in 2011). And now, everybody wants to hire me as a nasty old lady! And I’m like, “Sorry. First of all, I don’t think I played a nasty old lady. I played a woman who is the mother of nine children. You go try that!”
And so I will turn down a role if there is a disrespect to me as a woman. I think that’s a responsibility I have now, and those are the parts I will not do. I am going to play somebody who is deeply religious soon—and I’m not religious at all! I have no problem playing her. As a matter of fact, my lack of religion is helping me fill in the details for this character.
You are a chameleon. Is it a conscious decision for you to look very different from one role to another? Because even your acclaimed mother roles are very distinct, from “Frozen River” to “The Fighter.” They’re also very different from the detective in “The Knife,” the woman who goes on a blind date with Louis CK in “Louis,” for which you won an Emmy, and as former US first lady Lady Bird Johnson in “All The Way.”
That’s the most interesting thing about acting. What I was told long ago by a great Russian acting teacher is that, to play a role, you have the character and you have the actor, and what you’re trying to do is make them one. So I will come along with every role I play. Try as I might, I cannot make Melissa disappear… I’ll show up there somewhere.
Sometimes, it’s my voice. People go, “Oh, I knew it was you, because of your voice.” One time, my father did not recognize me in a role I played. I was like, “Daddy, that was me (laughs)!” I don’t do it to be different. I do it so I can become the character. And that’s the reason why you do it.
Your question makes me think of the great American actor, Robert De Niro, because his hairdresser told me once that in all the many films Mr. De Niro has done, his hair was never the same. He doesn’t have much hair, and he’s never had the same hairdo! Yes, for actors to transform themselves is part of acting. That’s why it doesn’t matter how pretty or how ugly or how fat or how thin you are, you transform to become the character.
I remember long ago I shot a film in Pakistan (for 1992’s “Immaculate Conception”), where I played a woman who becomes pregnant. As I put the fat suit on, somebody made a comment to the costume designer about what a good job she did to make me look pregnant. And the very nice costume designer said, “Well, I only did this much. Melissa did the rest.” I had been pregnant. I know what that feels like in my body.
If somebody will ask me to play a murderer, I’m going to imagine what would compel me to seek vengeance and kill someone. Because I’ve never murdered anybody. If you don’t have the life experience, use your imagination.
What lessons does she wish to impart to her 22 acting wards?
Acting is hard. It’s more difficult than it looks. I’ve had a marvelous life on the back of acting, but it’s also a hard life. I hope that these actors will come away knowing they have every right in the world to speak up for themselves when they’re right about something. And they probably are because they’re inside the character playing it.
I’ve given them suggestions on how to handle those more difficult circumstances concerning their need for a little more time to see the whole script. To filmmakers and TV directors, trust me, if you give these actors the entire script, you would get a better product from them. Just give them the scene…because the more you know about what you’re doing, the better you’re going to do it.
Actors don’t need to be on a big pedestal. I don’t need actors to work all around the world. You can work here in your own backyard. And you don’t ever have to win an acting award. But you have to be good. A good actor should have the respect of the people they’re working with. That’s what I’m hoping to leave behind. CS
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