Tom tries action

MANILA, Philippines — Tom Rodriguez has revealed how long he’s been waiting for an offer to do action either for film or TV. Thanks, to his latest GMA primetime starrer, The Cure, Tom will be seen in a role that requires him not just to display his dramatic prowess but also his ability to do action stunts.

In the series, Tom plays family man Greg Salvador who works as a clinical research associate in an international pharmaceutical laboratory known for creating effective medicines. He is successful both in career and love as he blissfully lives with wife Charity (played by Jennylyn Mercado) and daughter Hope (Leanne Bautista).

Greg’s life begins to take a miserable turn when his mother (Irma Adlawan) is diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. Desperate to find a cure, Greg sneaks in the laboratory to take the experimental drug that kills cancer cells. He injected it to his dear mom, clueless that its side effect causes a deeper problem — the mutation of a dangerous and highly contagious virus called the Monkey Virus Disease wherein anyone infected begins to have seizures and becomes rabid and violent. His mom becomes the root of infection and what follows is the spreading of the virus in the city. 

In an interview with The STAR and other members of the entertainment press, the Kapuso actor said that his character Greg is shown as nerdy and weak in the beginning of the story. But as the plot progresses, his character takes the courage of helping save people from getting infected which leads Tom to some action stunts like running, kicking, jumping off pitfalls and firing gun.

“It’s my first time to do action in a series. I’ve been praying for an action role because I’ve been fond of this kind of genre since I was a kid,” said Tom, who, in an earlier report, shared that he enjoyed watching Star Wars and E.T. as a kid.

...with leading lady Jennylyn Mercado

No wonder, Tom doesn’t mind getting hurt during his action sequences. He even secretly showed a contusion on his upper right arm, worried that director Mark Reyes might decide to get him a double should he see it.

“My rib, I also just had it checked and fortunately, there’s no fracture. I didn’t tell anyone about it. I guess, it cannot be avoided (from getting scratches and bruises)…freak accidents happen. The best thing we can do is to be careful but at the same time we can’t also compromise a bit of scare to deliver.   

“I’m having too much fun and so what I do is aaralin ko muna yung mga dangers then you just have to feel like outside mapping where you at then you’re free to move.  Or if I can do an analogy, this is what I do in virtual reality (game), there’s this what they call as companion bounds so before you start to play, you must set your limit for you to move freely so when you are there, you know your limit. It’s the same here, dapat automatic na alam mo na kung saan may sasabog, ayaw mo naman yung takbo mo dun ka matamaan.”

Tom considers everyone in The Cure as his family “that’s why, I go hundred percent all in — new family, new adventure.”

Tom smiled upon learning that Jennylyn described him as very energetic and he said, “I never sleep on the set, pang-marathon (laughs). I take naps when I am super tired otherwise, I love to memorize (dialogues) and I can’t seem to stop, parang diesel ang utak ko, ako ang nahihiya sa kanila kasi para kong malikot na bata. My energy lasts until 3 a.m. hahaha.”

Asked if his girlfriend Carla Abellana doesn’t get jealous every time he has a sweet scene on the show, especially now that he is being paired with Jennylyn, Tom answered in the negative. “Not at all, I guess there’s nothing to be jealous about here as compared to my past projects in movies. Besides, she’s not the jealous type so (referring to Carla) please don’t change and I promise I’ll never give you a reason to be one hahahaha.”

Set to air on April 30, The Cure also stars Jaclyn Jose, Jay Manalo, Glenda Garcia, Ronnie Henares, Mark Herras, LJ Reyes, Diva Montelaba, Ken Chan and Arra San Agustin.