Piolo’s thrilling journey goes on

“Relief” — and visibly, joy and fulfillment — is what multi-awarded actor Piolo Pascual is savoring in his career nowadays. Devoting 29 years of hard work, not to mention obedience, to building his name and reputation as a worthy and credible artist, he has come to a point where he is free to choose any role, genre or platform he wishes to take on and deservingly so.

Piolo Pascual continues to steel his status as one of the country’s most versatile and prolific actors. 

This much-awaited autonomy in every actor’s life — at least for the serious ones — allows Piolo to explore uncharted territories. And more importantly, without the need to worry about box office returns, love teams, reviews or whether the character he will portray is a fit for his image. After all, he has certainly earned more than just his dues, given how fame has intruded into his life many times over, and often not in a kind way.

Looking his best today — if it is possible for Piolo Pascual to look any better — the 45-year-old’s visibly relaxed aura and easy smile at this crossroads are unmistakable signs he is truly in a good place.

Case in point is how he delivered the full 10-night run of the musical “Ibarra,” from June 8 to 18 at the GSIS Theater. The lone mainstream actor in a cast of veteran thespians, Piolo trained hard and held his own in essaying the difficult lead of Crisostomo in Jomar Flores’ award-winning musical adaptation of Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangre.” The project entailed 10 successive nights of intoning almost half of some 30-plus complex librettos, all because he had always dreamt of crossing over to professional theater.

With Mentorque president John Bryan Diamante (extreme left) and director Derick Cabrido at the contract signing for the movie ‘Mallari.’ 

Ticking this one off his bucket list, who cares about a handful of faceless criticisms about his performance which appeared online? He has nothing left to prove anyway. The bottom line is that he committed and delivered on what he wanted to do without ever tagging his alternate for a respite. Every night, audiences came to see Piolo and it was Piolo they saw, raw and triumphant despite a note falling flat here and there.

That afternoon, he joined Mentorque Production Inc.’s president John Bryan Diamante and the young and award-winning director of horrors and thrillers, Derick Cabrido (“Clarita,” “Purgatoryo”), to signal the launch of a dark and extraordinary three-period retelling of the story of “Mallari,” the first documented serial killer in the Philippines.

Now what business does Philippine Entertainment’s Ultimate Heartthrob Piolo Pascual have to play the role of a serial killer?

You know the answer. Because the man wants to and has every right to. For indeed, Piolo’s decision to tackle such a damnable character [Juan Severino Mallari was a priest who killed over 50 victims in Pampanga, circa 1800s] will not only showcase the immense range he has reached as an actor, but it will also reflect his unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of his craft.

“Actually, I’m a fan of horror movies,” Piolo revealed when he was asked the inevitable question. “But since I got stuck with romantic-comedy movies, I had no chance of doing any. So, when I Googled Mallari as the first serial killer in the Philippines, I told myself, ‘I think I should do this project and be proud of it.’

“I know it’s going to be hard for me, exhausting and emotionally draining portraying three roles [across different timelines], but I’m after the challenge because Mallari is an interesting character,” Piolo explained.

He is also grateful to the streaming platform where documentaries have become popular and abundant, in the hopes that these would have prepared his swooning fans for a thought provoking and possibly jarring movie by the time he finishes “Mallari.”

When The T-Zone prodded Piolo to talk more about reaching this stature in his career, he humbly replied, “I’m privileged to say [that I’m in a position] where you don’t have to worry about what people are going to say or how they’re going to accept you. When your only role is to give it your best and be that role. But given [an] opportunity [like ‘Mallari’] where it already gained traction when we first released the poster, I may not need to think about commercial success, but I’m so much more excited to imagine what more we can do and the [kind of impact] we can still achieve when the film comes out.”

Piolo savors this position just as much as his artistic freedom because knowing that people continue to anticipate what he will deliver from project to project is exactly what keeps him inspired to go on and take risks. It also keeps him grounded and grateful for how lucky he is to live out his passion for storytelling and his desire to explore the depths of human nature for over half his life and counting.

And so, as Piolo Pascual takes on another unexpected role, trust that he will not settle for anything less than delivering a riveting performance. A performance that is worthy of his audience’s unwavering faith in his talent and one that will all the more steel his status as one of the most versatile and prolific actors in Philippine cinema.

Keep ’em coming Piolo. Endure and enjoy.