For any Filipino performer aiming for the world stage, securing a spot in the ensemble of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s “Miss Saigon” or Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” is a staggering achievement in itself. But Joaquin Pedro Valdes was never one to just keep a foot in the door; he intended to walk right through it and claim his place in the room.

Since relocating to the United Kingdom eight years ago, the Filipino West End star has consistently proven he is no one-trick pony, trading the safety of a steady ensemble track for a relentless, upward ascent from one marquee production to the next.

His prolific trajectory speaks for itself: 18 productions in just eight years!

Valdes’ latest artistic triumph sees him inhabit the role of the ambitious yet conflicted landlord Benny in the West End’s hit 30th-anniversary revival of “Rent”—Jonathan Larson’s iconic musical featuring the legendary anthem “Seasons of Love.” Directed by Olivier Award winner Luke Sheppard (“& Juliet”), this gritty staging follows a group of impoverished young bohemians navigating love and the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1990s New York. The production, costarring Gaten Matarazzo (of “Stranger Things”), Danielle Fiamanya and Billy Nevers, runs at the Tom Stoppard Theatre in London until May 29, 2027.

‘My gateway’

When Valdes booked Benny for the current revival, he told CoverStory how vividly the milestone transported him back to New Voice Company’s seminal 1999 Manila staging. He recalled how producer Monique Wilson—who also played the activist and performance artist Maureen—sneakily let him into the Music Museum despite his tender age, instinctively knowing what the experience would mean to a very young “Renthead.”

“That production was my gateway,” Valdes reflected when we spoke to him for this exclusive interview after the revival officially opened last Oct. 8. “Monique, JM Rodriguez, Calvin Millado, Ampy Sietereales, Lynn Sherman, Bito Escalante, Ricci Chan, Jamie Wilson, Michael de Mesa, Carlo Ledesma, Triccie Gomez—they became stars to us, in much the same way that the original Broadway cast (Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Anthony Rapp) had become stars to a whole generation of musical-theater aficionados in 1996.”

According to Valdes, the 30th-anniversary staging isn’t a mere exercise in nostalgia; it’s being mounted by a company that fiercely safeguards the show’s essence—honoring what it meant to Jonathan Larson, paying tribute to its pioneers, and celebrating the fans (called Rentheads) who have kept its pulse beating for decades.

“Revisiting the original cast recording has brought back a flood of memories,” Valdes mused. “It confronts me with who I was back then, and makes me quite grateful for the journey that has brought me here. Larson’s text endures because the battle hasn’t changed: People are still fighting to live, love, and create art in a world designed to make all three agonizingly difficult. That defiance feels just as urgent today as it did 30 years ago.”

Time and maturity have granted Valdes a kinder, far more nuanced perspective on Benny—traditionally branded as the show’s corporate contravida. Having lived the gritty reality of a working artist, hustling through bar shifts and front-of-house gigs between acting assignments, Valdes has grown to understand his character’s pragmatism.

“Benny is the antagonist we all love to hate,” Valdes said matter-of-factly. “But having lived a little more life, I no longer see him as a cardboard villain. He represents the ultimate creative tension: protecting your ideals versus doing what is necessary to survive. I’ve stood on both sides of that argument. Larson trapped that conflict between passion and practicality inside these beautifully fractured characters.”

It is precisely this nuanced appreciation for Benny’s idiosyncrasies that has set West End critics abuzz. Reviewers have widely lauded Valdes for rescuing the character from the realm of one-note caricature. 

For example, theater website All That Dazzles commended him for brilliantly humanizing the show’s resident sellout by “tapping into the character’s complexities, showcasing elements of his humanity where it has never been as prominent before.” Concurrently, BroadwayWorld praised Valdes’ stellar vocals and his ability to excavate Benny’s “less avaricious side.” Meanwhile, London Theater Reviews underscored how the actor’s handsome features represent the “corporate weight of America.” 

The performance even reframed the musical for seasoned theater enthusiasts. On his popular YouTube channel, critic Mickey-Jo Boucher hailed Valdes’ Benny as the production’s most radical casting adjustment. “It’s the biggest departure from previous incarnations of the show—one that allowed me to experience the character in a completely different way,” Boucher noted. “Normally, he’s just such a buzzkill. But I found myself paying attention to Benny in many scenes where I wouldn’t have previously.”

Benny’s ‘messy, complex humanity’

Asked to react to the raves he’s getting, Valdes admitted that he had “learned to avoid reading reviews and online boards.” He added: “So, most of the great feedback was given to me by my agent, or yourself. The response has been deeply affirming because I advocated hard to bring a messy, complex humanity to Benny. Luke (Sheppard, the director) gave me the space to fight for what made sense in my voice and body, and I’m incredibly grateful for that trust. I love this show deeply, and I wanted to honor Jonathan Larson’s writing by filling the silences between the words he did write with life, history and meaning.”

At his root, Benny is a friend, Valdes explained: “He used to be one of the Bohemians—this was his family, and he shared in their lifestyle and joy. He simply made a different choice. He wanted financial stability and social security, even if achieving them meant leaving that life behind. I told Luke that it would be too easy to paint Benny as an outsider—because he isn’t—or simply as the villain. The text gives him a shared, almost familial history with the group, and I fought hard to retain that.”

He continued: “I don’t need audiences to forgive Benny or agree with everything he does. He can be arrogant, controlling and cruel. But I hope they recognize that he isn’t attacking this family from the outside; he’s a former member who still believes he belongs to it. If viewers leave thinking, even briefly, ‘Benny has a point,’ then I feel we’ve found something human about him. His tragedy is that he chose security but, in doing so, lost the place where he once felt most alive—and perhaps never realized that was the price he was paying.”

So, does Valdes have Benny all figured out? “As an actor, it’s far more satisfying to play people who are dysfunctional, complicated and unfinished—characters whose contradictions cannot be neatly resolved,” he said. “With Benny, redemption and reconciliation remain possibilities rather than certainties. We never receive hard evidence that he will change, only glimpses of the man he was, and the man he might still choose to be. That uncertainty is what makes him so satisfying to investigate.”

This profound capacity to explore a character’s psychological terrain didn’t happen overnight. It was meticulously cultivated over years of heavy lifting in Manila’s theater circuit, long before Valdes ever set foot on a British stage.

Well ahead of his UK success, Valdes built a stellar reputation in Philippine theater, with credits including “The Last Five Years,” “Red,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” and “Kinky Boots.” I also had the privilege of directing Valdes in New Voice’s 2007 staging of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” and, two years later, in the straight play “The Male Voice.”

Nonstop work

Arguably the most prolific homegrown Filipino actor in the UK today, Valdes has worked nonstop since 2018. He even forged ahead during the bleak summer of 2020, starring in Nick Winston’s queer production of “Fanny and Stella” when it opened that August. The show made history as the very first musical to open in London following the strict Covid-19 lockdowns.

“Fanny and Stella” chronicles the true story of Ernest Boulton (Stella) and Frederick William Park (Fanny), two 19th-century drag queens arrested for conspiracy to commit sodomy. In it, Valdes portrays American diplomat John Safford Fiske, Stella’s lover—a role traditionally reserved for Caucasian or West End-bred actors.

This breakthrough reflects his adaptability to color-blind casting, a track record that spans a versatile array of stage credits. He has starred as Luke Castellan/Ares in “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” Stephen in “Then, Now & Next,” and Michael/Officer Deitz in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” helmed by the legendary John Doyle (“Sweeney Todd,” “The Color Purple”). His comedic and romantic range also worked in his favor as Herakles in “The Frogs” and Prince Chadley in “Cinderella.”

Valdes’ trailblazing trajectory began with his West End debut as the high school jock Ram Sweeney in 2021’s “Heathers: The Musical.” Thereafter, he earned widespread acclaim for anchoring major musical revivals, portraying John Manjiro in Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” and Dominique in Stephen Schwartz’s “The Baker’s Wife.” 

Notably, his performance as Simba in Elton John and Tim Rice’s “The Lion King” made him the first homegrown Filipino actor to portray the lead character in the iconic Disney production. But his most high-profile milestone to date remains his star-making turn as Light Yagami in Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy’s cult sensation “Death Note: The Musical.”

If his track record is any indication, Valdes has no intention of slowing down. Having conquered everything from Disney royalty to cult anime antiheroes, stepping into Benny’s designer shoes is naturally the next logical leap in his boundary-pushing career. 

Fortunately for theatergoers, there are still thousands of those 525,600 minutes left on the clock to witness this Filipino actor breathe life into Benny’s “messy humanity” before “Rent’s” lease runs out next year. To catch this trailblazer who has spent nearly a decade shattering glass ceilings to make musical theater history, there truly is no day but today. CS

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