The difference is Yul

Yul Servo’s face seems forever frozen in a smile. He doesn’t talk much, the way you’d expect a showbiz guy like him to. But what he lacks in verbosity, he more than makes up for in the way he observes people with the clarity of a magnifying glass.

"I love to observe people; to look into their situation," confirms Yul. And that’s how he comes up with stirring performances at the very start of his career. Yul’s resumé would put more veteran actors to shame. He has six best actor awards, two from the Brussels Filmfest for Batang Westside in 2002 and Naglalayag in 2004. And he has acted with someone more experienced actors can only dream of working with: Nora Aunor, his leading lady in the critically-acclaimed Naglalayag.

Yul’s manager Maryo J. delos Reyes saw the magic in that unassuming face he first saw at the Regal studios in Valencia one day. A friend brought Yul to Regal after his former manager, Tony Viloria, had to attend to other things and couldn’t handle the guy’s career anymore.

"He can be anything and anyone," direk Maryo describes Yul’s versatility. "He can swing from good to bad. That’s his edge over the others."

Could it be that Yul has been watching so many movies of his idols Johnny Depp and Edward Norton he was able to incorporate their styles into his and form his own?

It’s too soon to tell. But one thing is sure: Yul, as his manager himself says, is like a sponge. Unlike other actors who rely on formula and plunge into performance-level acting all at once, Yul would rather sit still and survey the terrain first.

Maybe it’s the Bulakeño in him, the probinsyano who would rather keep to himself than strike up a conversation with total strangers. Yul observes first, then makes his move. Actors and directors call it internalizing.

That’s how Yul was able to play a taxi driver from the slums who fell in love with a widowed judge (Nora) much older than him (Naglalayag) and a Filipino teenager who gets involved with a gang in the US (Batang Westside).

"His is a fresh approach, a rawness in acting. When he cries, he doesn’t contort his face the way other actors do. The tears just fall naturally. And he learns fast," adds direk Maryo.

That’s what you get when someone who never imagined himself an actor enters showbiz. Yul has no expectations, no emotional baggage to taint his acting with studied gestures and unnatural moves.

He wanted to be a cop and even got a Criminology degree from the Philippine Christian University in 1998. Movies never figured in the equation except as a form of R&R.

Yul was at the right place at the right time. Regal was then looking for a fresh face to cast in Laman, and Maryo J took one look at him and knew he found the guy. Laman won for Yul a Best Actor trophy at the 2003 Star Awards.

Now, all Yul can’t wait to sink his teeth into his dream role: a blind man or a Filipino superhero. The Pinoy superhero part must be an offshoot of Yul’s penchant for watching those Lito Lapid movies of old where the good guy defends the powerless and wins over the baddies.

Now that he has worked with Nora, Yul is eyeing a film this time with her archrival, Vilma Santos.

Meanwhile, direk Maryo has big plans for the guy whom he describes as a "developing actor." One of them is a Sharon Cuneta starrer called Idlip. The vehicle is a drama thriller calculated to put moviegoers at the edge of their seats.

The observer in Yul will again come to the fore.