‘It was just timing and
God’s grace!’
Jericho Rosales was out of the country when he
won best actor for Walang
Forever at the Metro
Manila Film Festival last
month and he admitted he
was shocked when he found
out the results. “I was like,‘Seryoso ba sila?’
That was my initial
reaction. For me kasi
parang yung awards nights,
siguro in this particular time
in my career, at least yung
idea ko ng awards ay yung
it has to be yung mga films
na mabigat, you know what
I mean? Yung mga ganung
klase. And being part of a
romantic feel good movie
slash medyo may comedy
ng konti, hindi ko talaga
ini-imagine yung awards na
ganun.
So I was shocked, it
took me ten, twenty minutes
actually. We were about to
sleep and I couldn’t sleep
kasi nasa Australia and the
awards night was actually
happening in Manila. So
livestream, madaling araw
na sa amin like 3am. So
sabi ko, ‘Oh my gosh what’s
happening’ and people
started congratulating
me and then finally
somebody sent me
a video of Jennylyn
Mercado accepting
the award for me. So
to sum it all up parang
I was shocked and
for days and actually
more than a week,
around two weeks I
couldn’t relax,” he
shared.
Echo admitted that it also
felt like he won all
over again after his
family finally got
to see the movie.
“Actually my wife
and my mom said
when they watched,
‘I think you deserved
to win. You deserve
the award,’ parang
ganun. I’m thankful.
My friends are happy,
everyone’s happy.
I’m happy and I’m
surprised until now.
For me it’s timing
and a little bit of I
don’t know, maybe
it’s unfair pag narinig
ng ibang tao na if I
say chamba but for
me it was just timing
and God’s grace,” he
recalled.
The Kapamilya actor
said that although he was
aware of the controversy
surrounding another MMFF
film Honor Thy Father, he
has nothing but respect for
their competitor film. “So
when we started talking
about it even before namin
matapos yung buong film
and napanuod yung preview
they said, ‘You might win’
or ‘Ikaw yung best actor
for us’ or something like
that. People were saying
that. I don’t know why. But
of course kasi I’m talking
about Honor Thy Father
and John Lloyd’s (Cruz)
performance. I did (watch
it) just a few days ago. I
watched it with Kim and
my manager. The film was
good. For me siyempre yun
yung mga tipo ng pelikula na
gusto kong gawin, parang
ganun,” he admitted.
Even now that he is
celebrating 20 years in
showbiz, Echo admitted
there was a time when
he wanted to quit. “That
happened in 2006-2007.
I got tired. I did music.
After Panday and Pacquiao
I stopped acting for one
year. I did music and the
band scene for one year.
Then came back ano na
yan project na with Sarah
Geronimo, Maja Salvador,
and Rica Peralejo,” he said.
But Echo renewed his
love for acting after doing
an indie movie that helped
him find his passion again.
“(When I went back) for me
hindi talaga na-renew yung
love ko for acting nung time
na yun. It was just I loved
music so much and I still
wanted to do music but my
managers felt like I have to
go back to acting.
So I did the show with
Sarah which was acting
and singing at the same
time but then my heart
wasn’t into it, mabigat pa
yung loob ko. Mabigat pa.
I wasn’t ready yet. Then I
did Bridges of Love yata
eh. It was actually Alagwa
that helped me, parang naconfirm niya yung I have to
be in the scene, I have to be
making movies that I like,
I have to create or produce
or be involved in the music
or the movie projects that I
love or else it won’t work.
So now if somebody forces
me to accept a project just
because they think it would
work parang for me hindi
ko gagawin because I
know that the projects
that would work is
for me yung may
spark, parang ganun.
Yung wholeheartedly
gagawin ko,” he
added.
As one of the
most underrated actors
of his generation,
Echo admitted he also
auditioned for the lead
role in Heneral Luna
but concedes that John
Arcilla was the perfect
choice. Now, Echo said
he wants his career
path to consist more of
quality over quantity.
“It’s not that I don’t
want to do it, it’s just
that I’m pickier now.
I always think about
longevity and I don’t
want that skyrocket
kind of fame na bigla and
then kokontrolin mo yung
aircraft mo habang nagkacrash yun. I don’t like that.
Gusto ko smooth sailing
ako parati. Longevity
talaga, premium quality.
Tumatatak, naaalala,
ganun. I like that and I like
the word underrated. It
means so much to me. Mas
may dating yun,” he said.•
– R. M. Santos,push.com