Bo Vicencio who?

Philippine STAR Travel columnist Christine Dayrit had invited me to attend the awards night of the CineManila (she is with the execom) the other Wednesday, except that I had to decline because I had already said yes to another commitment previously. Besides, the awards presentation was held at the Aliw Theater and I had already overshot my quota for my trips to Manila this 2005. (I see to it that I travel to Manila only five times a year because of the traffic.)

However, I was still interested to find out who won in the CineManila and I glued my ear closely to the TV set while watching the news the next evening to get the results.

When I tuned to GMA 7, I distinctly heard the name of Ana Capri winning Best Actress. For Best Actor, the name that registered in my head was Bo Vice and I began to wonder if the American Idol second placer had shifted into film acting – and with an entry to CineManila at that.

During the commercial break, I flicked the remote control to ABS-CBN and the report was also about the CineManila. Again, I heard the name of Ana Capri bringing home the Best Actress trophy and I was sure that was our Ana Capri (of Pila-Balde fame) and not the Hollywood starlet of the mid-’60s. For Best Actor, it was Bo Vicencio (for the digital film A la Verde, A la Pobre). Bo Vicencio who?

I turned off the TV set after that and went on with my usual nightly chores and totally forgot about anything related to CineManila.

Then, some three hours later, the name Bo Vicencio suddenly hit me again and this time I was able to finally connect the name with the person. Goodness, I know the guy. But his name is Alex Vicencio. He only became Bo because friends began calling him Bolex as a term of endearment and eventually he got stuck with the name Bo. But has he become an actor? I thought there was something strange going on in this world.

It must have been in 2002 when I first met Bo Vicencio. We were never formally introduced. But I would see him every Saturday afternoon in the GMA 7 dressing room right before Startalk because he was the makeup artist of Rosanna Roces. He and Celeste Tuviera of Symmetria salon were partners (with Chona de la Cruz assisting them). Bo took care of Osang’s makeup, while Celeste (a Vidal Sassoon graduate) fixed the actress-host’s hair. That was always the sight I would see every Saturday afternoon when I reported for work. There would always be three people surrounding Rosanna Roces and Bo Vicencio was one of them.

Since he was a regular fixture there (he was difficult to ignore because of his bleached hair), I would say hello to him while giving Celeste, a good friend, a buzz on the cheek.

Then early this year, Susan Aquino was giving me a haircut at Symmetria salon when Bo Vicencio approached me. He asked me how my sister Celi was and I said she was fine. It turned out that his sister Cherry and my sister Celi were classmates in high school. Of course, I remember Cherry because she even helped out in my sister’s wedding many years back. But I didn’t know that Bo and Cherry were siblings. That was my first and last lengthy conversation with him because he resigned from Symmetria after that to go freelance.

Today, he does makeup and prosthetics for movies and his most recent project is Vic Sotto and BJ Forbes’ Ispiritista, which is doing very well at the box-office (wow — P10-M on opening day!).

Bo Vicencio is also starting work on Enteng Kabisote II. Last year, he won best makeup in the Metro Manila Film Festival for the first edition of Enteng Kabisote.

He actually trained in this field— having been sent by the very kind and generous Mr. Tony Tuviera (producer of Eat Bulaga!) to Hollywood a few years ago to study makeup and prosthetics at the school of Joe Blasco.

Before he became a makeup artist, he also underwent rigid training in dancing at the Manila Metropolitan Theater, where he studied all types of dances – from ballet to folk dancing. For a while, he also taught dancing to entertainment workers being sent by Marissa Delgado to Japan. He is proudest, however, of his stint as a Hotlegs member.

It is in the field of acting where his training is nil. Prior to A la Verde, A la Pobre, he had a small speaking part in Dreamboy. He was only cast in the film because he was also the makeup artist and was just there hanging around on the set.

For A la Verde, his original function was again to serve as makeup artist. But on the first day of shooting, the villain didn’t show up and the director, Briccio Santos, asked Bo to take over what originally was just a small part.

The director obviously was impressed with Bo’s strong screen presence and decided to expand the role. From then on he performed a dual role on the set. When he wasn’t acting, he was doing the makeup of the other actors.

He failed to make it to the awards night of CineManila because he was doing the makeup for Enteng Kabisote II. When he was informed of his Best Actor win via text, he didn’t believe it at first. The only time he was convinced it was true was when he joined the victory party later in Malate.

With his Best Actor trophy, he is now a certified actor. Okay, let’s make that actor/makeup artist. No, it’s actor-makeup artist-dancer. Still not quite.

We’re forgetting his one other profession – dentist. Yes, he is a dentist by profession. Bo Vicencio took up his pre-dentistry at UE and finished his dentistry proper at CEU. In 1986, he passed the board and for a while practiced this profession. What an incredible person!

Now, I don’t know what Bo Vicencio will do next. But I’m sure he will also excel in it and if he gets lucky – like he always does – may even win an award for it.