Not just another pretty face

Excitedly, he relates that he loves the flamboyant anti-hero in the last James Bond flick, Die Another Day.

"I really enjoyed watching him," young actor Alfred Vargas remarks. "Gustav Graves!" And he pronounced the character’s name as if it was a mystical password to a secret society of bad boys.

Alfred Vargas has cornered the market for boob-tube baddies. He has played two bad boys, back-to-back, on two ABS-CBN soap operas. As Dyno in Pangako Sa’Yo and Lauro in Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, he made waves and drew raves.

He doesn’t see himself being limited to contravida roles, however. "We all have to start somewhere," Alfred reiterates. "Now, I am being given a lot of character roles, and I’m not complaining."

It’s because he’s a young actor with a lot of character. "I am happy with the roles I get," Alfred explains. "It’s because there’s always a twist," he says. "Like Dyno was initially a good guy who turned bad, while Lauro was a bad boy who eventually became good. There’s always an interesting character development."

In the first place, Alfred doesn’t look at his roles as one-dimensional contravidas. "It’s not just an anti-hero role, it’s a conflicted character that I see," Alfred elaborates. "It just so happens that bad boys have more problems in life. In fact, I firmly believe that anti-heroes are just as challenging, equally enjoyable, as lead roles. I look at the contravida as just another character that I need to develop fully."

Alfred Vargas is not just a pretty face. He is a serious young thespian, one who prepares for each role with as much intensity as an Olympian devotes to a tournament.

If he is extremely disciplined and professional, it’s because Alfred had his first taste of acting on the legitimate stage. As a sophomore in Ateneo de Manila, Alfred debuted onstage in the classic Filipino play Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas by Aurelio Tolentino. "I had a bit role in that play," he remembers.

But because he worked hard and was determined to shine, he was soon rewarded with plum roles in such plays as Philadelphia, The Karl Marx Play and Anything For You. He also tackled the classics, playing Orsino in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Fabricio in Goldini’s Mistress of the Inn.

A veteran of about 10 Tanghalang Ateneo productions, Alfred is now starring in the one-act play Dilat by Michelle Corea under the Ateneo Playhouse. The acting student, in fact, is enrolled in a workshop (Acting for the Camera) with Ateneo professor Francis Tanglao-Aguas. Prior to this, Alfred took up Basic Acting and Advanced Acting classes under Beverly Vergel of ABS-CBN.

While his contemporaries are not so conscientious in honing their craft, Alfred seems persistent in achieving perfection. So how did he end up in the notoriously flippant world of showbiz – where mediocrity is often celebrated and intensity, ignored?

"My good friend Robbie Mananquil told me about a go-see at the ABS-CBN Talent Center," Alfred looks back. He was, at first, hesitant to try his luck. But since he was free from school at that time, he agreed to accompany his pal Robbie to the auditions.

Before he knew it, he was brought in front of ABS-CBN top honcho Johnny Manahan. "Fortunately, we passed the test," Alfred beams with pride. Alfred, along with Robbie, Dennis Trillo, Bea Alonzo, and Mark Acueza, was soon launched on ASAP as part of Star Circle Batch 10.

That was a particularly scary experience for the theater kid. "I was so nervous," Alfred looks back. "I was not used to it. And we were asked to dance to a girly song that I didn’t like." The day after the big launch on TV, he was showered with all sorts of jokes and ribbings on campus. "That was how I discovered that there were so many people who watched ASAP in Ateneo," Alfred intones.

Initially, he was torn between the two worlds of theater and showbiz. So he prayed hard for the Lord to give him a sign. That sign came in the form of Pangako Sa’Yo. "When I got the role of Dyno on Pangako," Alfred volunteers, "I realized that I could really make a go of this career. That I can seriously pursue acting as my life’s work."

After Pangako finished its run, Alfred was swiftly given a new soap, Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan. "Pangako was my initiation," Alfred asserts. "Sa Dulo is my chance to improve on the lessons I learned on Pangako."

Wasn’t it confusing for televiewers to see him on a new soap so quick in the heels of the old one? "Direk Wenn Deramas made sure that my character in the new soap is totally different from the old one," Alfred points out.

And the no-nonsense thespian that he is, he also made certain that Lauro is worlds apart from Dyno. "Dyno was a model. Always formal and in a jacket. Balot na balot. While Lauro is a kanto boy, Brusko."

Needless to say, Alfred is having a blast delineating such fascinating characters. "I am really enjoying myself," Alfred says.

Pagbabago launch

An all-star album called Pagbabago will be launched today at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati. Contained in the CD are songs like Ako Na by Regine Velasquez, Count On Me by Jaya, Tanggapin Mo Ang Gusto Mo by the APO and many more.

The album was assembled by some of the country’s best songwriters, producers, arrangers, musicians and engineers under the pagbabago@pilipinas movements among them are Trina Belamide, Ryan Cayabyab, Jay Durias, Bob Aves and Grace Nono, Bond Samson, Jimmy Antiporda, Jim Paredes, Jungee Marcelo, Mon del Rosario, Nonoy Tan and many more.

Says pagbabago@pilipnas president Bart Guingona, "We in the movement hope that the Pagbabago album will lead us from talking to doing."