John Lloyd Cruz says he’s willing to play gay roles

Source: news.abs-cbn.com

ABS-CBN's leading man for the TV series "I Love Betty La Fea" actor John Lloyd Cruz revealed to abs-cbnNEWS.com that one of his dreams is to play a gay character.

"It's one of the roles na gusto kong magawa...ang sa akin ang dream ko is to be able to portray as many characters as possible yun lang kasi masyadong maiksi ang life span naming mga actors," Cruz told abs-cbnNEWS.com in an interview.

Cruz said that he is really asking for characters that would be considered off-beat compared to his usual roles.

"Yung portrayal ng buhay sa totoong buhay ng 20 or 30 years old kung nage-experiment sila about sex, drugs or marriage, kung anuman, yun ang gusto kong i-portray."

Cruz told the news site that doing a different role like being a gay man, would definitely give him a sense of fulfillment as an actor.

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"Oo everytime pero yun din na-realize ko na madali para sa aming mga artista na humiling or makaisip na mag-portray ng something off beat para maiba. Pero na-realize ko na after doing 'One More Chance,' 'A Very Special Love,' playing these characters na hindi ganoon ka off beat actually parang common people pa nga yun pala yung mas mahirap,” Cruz said.

The actor said that a lot of stars are trying to stay away from doing common characters and would jump into roles like psycho killer or rapist but for him he believed that it's much harder to portray common people’s lives.

According to Cruz, he will be doing a film under Star Cinema with local showbiz’ Star for All Season and current Batangas governor Vilma Santos.

"I think may sisimulan kami by November pero hindi pa tuloy-tuloy. Kailangan lang naming i-shoot 'yung scene sa New York," he said.

Cruz said that in the film, he will be the lover of the gay son of Santos' character. According to one report, Santos' real life son actor Luis Manzano might portray her gay son on-screen.

Upon being told that Manzano might become his on-screen lover for the film, Cruz responded by joking, “Okay naman yung chest niya, mahilig siyang mag-gym, gusto ko yung masarap yakapin."

Cruz said that if ever Luis Manzano will get the role, he will definitely be comfortable working with Manzano--though he believes that at first he will really feel awkward.

"Yung pagiging matapang sabi ko lang yon. But I'm sure kapg nandiyan na ako sa eksena kapag kaharap ko na ang lalaki kakabahan pa din ako, papawisan pa din ang palad ko. Pero gusto ko siyang gawin.

"Ako willing ako to do it kahit sinong lalaki pa as long as alam kong lalaki talaga ako," the actor explained, adding that he welcomes such a challenging role because it would bring out more of his skill as an actor.

Cruz said that with Vilma Santos as his co-star, Star Cinema as producer and Olive Lamasan as director, he is confident that viewers will support the film

"Kahit na mukhang parang off noong nai-imagine ng mga tao--pero kapag alam mong sila ang gagawa hindi ka mae-exploit. Not in anway. Hindi ka magmumukang malaswa because ang Star Cinema ay gumagawa ng pelikula kahit may ganyang eksena hindi para magbigay laswa, kung hindi portrayal yan of life. Yun lang ang gusto naming maihatid," he explained.

Cruz said that the film would be the first time for him to work with Santos and Lamasan--so he expects some jitters in the beginning. "Siyempre first time to medyo shaky ang tuhod kasi first time ko to do a film with Ate Vi. And first time to do a film with director Olive Lamasan. So isang malaking good luck kay John Lloyd," he said.

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