The future drama kings

A couple of weeks ago, I came out with a list of names of young female celebrities I feel would be the next movie queen of Philippine entertainment.

Now, if there is a queen, there should be a king. The late beloved Fernando Poe Jr., however, held on to the title for so long and had created such a deep impact in the lives of movie fans that three years after his death, he is still Da King.

But there is a vacancy now for the position of young drama king. Movie fans, of course, do acknowledge the late Eddie Rodriguez as the original drama king — a title held for so long by Christopher de Leon (and he still is drama king to this day).

In the ‘90s, Aga Muhlach and Richard Gomez shared this crown that was also worn by Piolo Pascual in the new millennium.

And now that we have all these talent searches, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are a lot of candidates vying for the position as the next drama king. Here are my bets:

John Lloyd Cruz — A sensitive young actor, he clearly was heir-apparent to Piolo’s throne, but something seemed to have gone wrong along the way. Is it because he is aging way faster than he should? I have no idea with regard to the working conditions he and leading lady Bea Alonzo were put through, but they matured way ahead of most of their contemporaries. Maybe John Lloyd should be given a makeover to put him back in the running.

Richard Gutierrez — He was very impressive in his dramatic scenes in Let the Love Begin, but his dramatic talent had been sidetracked by the more physically challenging Captain Barbell and Lupin. But in time he’ll return to drama and am very sure he’d be crowned drama king.

Sam Milby — Early on he already displayed his acting potentials in his movies with Toni Gonzaga. But he has to learn his Tagalog — otherwise he’d forever be trapped in superficial balikbayan roles in the movies.

Dingdong Dantes —  With his height and good looks, he is perfect for drama and had proven his worth in the drama movies Moments of Love and Eternity. With his daily soap, Marimar, he gets to polish his craft even more and is definitely top contender as the next drama king.

Jericho Rosales — Another one who should have been drama king a long time ago, except that he suffered career setbacks. But it’s not too late for him to catch up, especially since he is so talented as an actor.

Alfred Vargas — As far back as Bridal Shower in 2003, film reviewers already knew he had a great career waiting for him in the field of acting. But I am sure he has even more to offer given really challenging dramatic roles in the movies and on TV.

Jake Cuenca — He’s still too boyish-looking at the moment, but wait for his face to mature a bit more and he should be on his way battling it out as the next drama king.

Patrick Garcia — Already a Best Actor winner (Batang PX), his problem is his voice that still cracks as he speaks — like he has never gotten over the stage of puberty.

Rafael Rosell — His Best Supporting Actor award (for Rome & Juliet) from the Gawad Urian suddenly gave him this image as a serious actor (and he does have the potential), but he still has to polish his Tagalog if he wants to be the next drama king.

Marky Cielo — He has the height and the very Pinoy looks to become a dramatic actor, but I think he’d do better in action roles — if action movies returned to the scene soon enough.

Mark Herras — Slight of build, he still has to put on a little more weight and may need to have the little imperfection around one eye corrected because that would be distracting to moviegoers once he does his dramatic arias — in close-up.

Gerald Anderson — His foreign good looks may work on teen audiences now, but I don’t know how he’d look in very serious dramatic movies. Well, you can never tell.

JC de Vera — He has a face that seems malleable enough to be cast into different types of dramatic roles. All he needs is polish his acting some more.

Mike Tan — I believe that he can still be developed because he has the height and the looks that make for top leading men. His problem is that he has slanted eyes that are not exactly acceptable in dramatic movies. Unless of course, he goes to Korea and tries his luck there. Maybe he can do his dialogues both in Korean and in Tagalog. At least, when his Korean telenovela is shown here, they no longer even have to dub his lines.

Dennis Trillo — Already an award-winning actor, he is this close to becoming the next dramatic king. No doubt, he is my top bet for the position.