THE DIALOGUE: On Juggling Many Roles with Paulo Avelino

Over the years Paulo Avelino has transitioned himself from being the “Prince of Pinoy Teleseryes” to being one of the most reputable actors of the decade. These days he takes on many different roles whether he’s the leading man or a supporting role in a high-profile mainstream film or indie films that enhanced his acting range even more.  While Goyo, the Gregorio Del Pilar biopic is underway he has another film coming up called “I’m Drunk I Love You”, A youthful film about growing up and the pain of a one-sided love.

Here, Paulo plays a character named Dio, a graduating student after 7 years and, and a frustrated filmmaker. “May dilemma siya kung mapapatuloy ba niya ng pag-aaral sa ibang kurso or pursuit filmmaking.” In the film he and his friend, Carson goes on a road trip as thei one last hurrah before graduation “at ma-settle lahat ng mga dilemma nila” as he described. We  at Flipgeeks were among the ones fortunate enough to have sat down with him and Direk JP Habac in Cinema 76 Film Society’s theater and TBA headquarters to talk about the film.

When he was approached by Director JP Habac about the project he commented that he “loved the script! Na-inlove ako sa mga kanta – sa lyrics ng mga kanta” and funnily enough he thought that he was going to play Carson all this time when soon enough that was given to co-star Maja Salvador. “Akala ko ako si Carson – yung role ni Maja – kasi di mo mapapalanan kung sino ang lalaki at babae pag nabasa mo yung script. Akala ko tuloy na ako yung kakanta ng Huling Gabi, which ayun yung reason ko kung bakit ginawa ko ‘tong pelikula nito, tapos hindi pala napunta saakin.”

FG: why do you think audiences are so drawn to these kinds of stories about coming-of-age stories and bittersweet love stories?

Paulo: “I think more than the Millenial Thing. I think it would cater to teenagers na nag-aral or nakapag-aral na dahil it’s set in college, halos lahat na ng mga tao ay nagtratrabaho ngayon. Naiimagine yung naglalakwatsa ka or hindi ka nag-aaral ano ang ginagawa mo? For the younger audience there’s this vibe of youthfulness in the film and it’s not all about drinking but also about refinding the younger ones what would you like for yourself in the future, Is it this? Or after you tried this are you sure that you wanna pursue this path of career? So it makes young people think in a way and yung maging mature na audiences na ma-recall yung ganitong feeling.“

Also in the film he gets a chance to sing, even share a duet with Maja at some point as he teased to us, “Ito yung unang movie na pinapakanta ako, may nagawa ako isa pero doon medyo classic ang kantahan – stage-ish – Pero ditto nakakanta ko yung mga kanta na gusto ko katulad ng Parokya at iba pa. Natutuwa nga ako na I get to work with these artists kasi hindi nabibigay pansin ang OPM lately at nakakatuwa na Makita ang pelikula na ganito na-iincoroporate ang OPM sa pelikula mismo.”

Photo By: TBA Productions

FG: What was it like to work with bands or artists in the Indie scene and did you find yourself connecting to some of the songs in the film?

“Working with artists; most nga ng mga songa ay may hugot, you know what they say naman is that they write songs to inspire yourself or to get over the pain you are feeling.”  He gestured to us and said that “parang ang sarap magsulat nga eh! Parang ang sakit ng loob mo and you’re writing about the pain or create something. Siguro nagkataon na bumagay rin sa film. Sayang rin kasi we wanted many other songs sa pelikula. Pero happy naman kami sa outcome ng mga nagamit naming na songs!”

The actor did have a lot to juggle this time around where not only he was asked to act and sing in the film but also be a producer as well. “It’s different when you’re hired as an actor whether you perform or you do what’s asked of you but siguro it’s different din because may ibang part sa sarili mon a nandun sa pelikula kasi pagkatapos ng acting parang ‘what’s next? How can I force myself to make sure that the film will work by getting yourself involved in a project?”

Director JP Habac did say that in some way this script was tailor made for Paulo and Maja, however the idea of Maja being part of the film was put to a reality later on in the film’s early stages and it was Paulo who handpicked Maja to play Carson. “Maliban sa napakaganda at napakagaling siya na actress, tagal ko na siya naka-trabaho at never kami nagka pelikula (where they are the two leads)” when asked about how far their tandem was in 2015’s Bridges of Love to their team-up in this film “Sobrang layo! Salbahe ako nun! At sobrang iba si Maja nun. Dito naman napaka natural, hindi siya yung usually na nakikita natin sa T.V na maabangan ng mga manonood. This is as natural and organic as you can get.” He further praised her performance being “nagulat nga ako kay Maja na everytime kami na magkatrabaha naiiba siya. Para siyang nagtratransform in a good way! Siguro nag-aadjust siya sa character. Mas enjoy na katrabaho ko siya sa mga ganiton klaseng pelikula dahil di katula nung [Bridges of Love], yun nga ang salbahe ko due – kasi ditto relax lang, very natural lang ang ginagawa namin.“

FG: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

Paulo: “Keep the passion alive! Everything’s there if you want to show your art or your work. It’s so much easier now, may social media na at Youtube. You don’t really need a big budget to express your work. You can start it slowly as long as you keep the passion burning.”

“I’m Drunk, I Love You” is set to release February 15, 2017!