Eric returns to an old love

After directing hit shows on GMA 7 like Darna and Asian Treasures, Eric Quizon went back to acting in the hit horror thriller Hide and Seek. He now has a Metro Filmfest entry Bahay Kubo, A Pinoy Mano Po, where he plays Maricel Soriano’s husband. This is a reunion for them as they were together when he was just starting in Super Inday.

“I enjoy directing, but I’ve really missed acting so when the offer from Mother Lily came to revive my acting career, I quickly accepted the offer,” he says.

It was exactly 20 years ago, in 1987, when he won the Star Awards’ Best New Movie Actor of the Year trophy for his first film appearance in Bata-Batuta with his dad, Dolphy. He had just graduated from his biology course at the Ateneo in 1996 and was about to take up medicine because his dream then was to be a doctor. But his foray into the movies led to more acting assignments and he forgot all about being a physician.

Does he have any regrets about the road he has taken?

“Not being able to be a doctor is a big frustration in my life because my ambition was really to be a psychiatrist, but I have no regrets going into acting,” Eric says. “I have won many honors as an actor. In 1989, two years after I was named Best New Actor, I won several Best Supporting Actor awards for my role as a neurotic painter in Ishmael Bernal’s Pahiram ng Isang Umaga with Vilma Santos. I also won Metro-Manila Filmfest Best Actor awards for Juan Tamad  and Crying Ladies. I also won an award for So Happy Together, my last filmfest entry.”

 Will he now win again for Bahay Kubo? “This is actually Maricel’s movie. She’s there from start to finish and she should win as she’s very good. We met in the story nang i-blind date ako sa kanya and she doesn’t know I’m really blind so I can’t see her, but I quickly fell in love with her as I could feel she’s a good person. Kahit dalaga pa siya, she adopted a homeless baby. When we get married, mas dumami ang ampon namin, aside from our own biological child, Shaina Magdayao. Our adopted kids are Marian Rivera, Yasmien Kurdi, Jiro Manio, Isabella de Leon, Rita Iringan and Sam Bumatay. We all live in a bahay kubo in the province and we’re very happy there. Eventually, I regain my eyesight. Our trouble starts when I get rich and we all move to a big house in Manila. Then we all lost our property after I was deceived in a pyramid scheme and I go into hiding. Our children leave one by one, so Maricel goes back home to our bahay kubo. The story ends on Christmas at it’s very touching as we all get reunited. As directed by Joel Lamangan, the film carries very Filipino values about the importance of family and love, perfect for the holiday season.”