Victor swings from action back to drama

You better believe it. Victor Neri, he of the Notoryus, Ex-Con and Suspek reputation, is turning to drama. For two years at that.

Yes, Victor will shed part of his tough-guy stance to play Joaquin Montenegro, possessive older brother (to lead star Claudine Barretto), who makes her life miserable by meddling in her every love affair, in Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, a teleserye to premiere tonight at 6:30 on ABS-CBN 2.

The new project is a welcome one for Victor, who looks forward to the weekly soap as a way of broadening his audience base to nonaction fans.

"I am an actor who wants to be known for his versatility. Hence, I want to try other genres," he says.

Like comedy and musical, perhaps?

Victor’s bushy eyebrows twitch excitedly. Variety is the name of this recording artist’s (Star Records) game.

Didn’t Victor – a Best Supporting Actor nominee (Film Academy of the Philippines for Utol) try different looks in each of his big starrers to excite moviegoers?

Victor went bald and had his body tattooed for Notoryus. He sported an army hair-cut for Suspek, and asked his favorite barber to fashion two straight lines across each side if his head for Ex-Con.

"Acting is a craft. I make it a point to study my script well and think about how I would look," Victor relates.

That’s why he keeps a mini-library of all his films at home. He goes over each of them, carefully noting how he looked. Then, he thinks of ways to top his performance in his last film, believing, like any serious actor does, that "you are only as good as your last performance."

Of course, not all scripts are good. And this father of four-month old Vito (by a nonshowbiz girl) has turned down a couple of scripts for many reasons. Not blending physically with the rest of the cast is one.

"Acting is an ensemble effort," Victor observes. Translation: the rest of the cast must blend in.

Another reason is that his role does not fit him.

This discriminating attitude is largely the reason why Victor usually makes only one film a year. He wants to give every project his best shot. And not every script offered to him could give Victor an adrenaline rush.

When he played a drug addict in one of his telesine guestings, Victor decided not to sleep a wink to feel how an addict feels, and, just as important, look the part.

"Being an actor is not just about fame, fortune and women. It’s work. Hard work," stresses Victor, who plans to take up a filmmaking course to supplement what years in acting have taught him.

He is happy he is working with a cast of supporting actors in Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan (aside from him and Claudine, there’s Gloria Romero, Robert Arevalo, Boots Anson-Roa, Chat Silayan, Jaime Fabregas, Troy Montero, Mylene Dizon, Angela Velez, Luis Alandy, Justine Cuyugan, George Cruz, Eugene Domingo, Jojit Lorenzo and Ena Garcia).

Young director Wenn Deramas gives them a chance to shine. No one is above the other, even off-camera.

Victor himself had to do some adjusting in his shift from movies to long-running TV work.

"I paid more attention to continuity and I learned patience," he relates.

Unlike in the movies where he can ask his director, Toto Natividad for a long break (he could come back the next day) when he go home and felt sleepy, Victor cannot do so on a TV project. Here, the most he could have is a two-hour nap.

At the presscon of Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, for instance, Victor says he finished taping an episode 10 a.m. the next day, with only a few hours of sleep in-between.

But that’s okay with Victor. No price is too small to pay for his craft. Producers have noticed, and done something about it. They are giving Victor juicy roles he can sink his teeth into with all the passion and the intensity he can muster.