Richard Quan: No role is too small

MANILA, Philippines - Richard Quan exudes a certain calm. His happiness is most palpable. You feel that he is very comfortable as the make-up artist covers up his ruggedly handsome face with a concealer. The reason for this touch-up is Quan’s personal pictorial, something that he has not done for quite some time.

“It has been seven years since my last photo shoot,” he says. “This pictorial hopefully will present who I am in a more laidback manner, and that in the end, the pictures here will be totally different from what I portray on TV, film and theater.”

He continues, “So far, the pegs shown to me are worthy of note and I know that the outcome will be interesting. Looking at the rough shots, I’m happy at what I see and I wish people will appreciate them.”

Since his fateful appearance in Saan Ka Man Naroon some 16 years ago with Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta, Quan has played all sorts of attention-grabbing and not so appealing characters, worked with mainstream and independent film directors, and acted with superstars and promising fledglings.

“Giving life to interesting and complex characters, keeps me going. It does not matter whether the role is big or small. I pour all my heart into it. That is how passionate I am with my craft. For me, doing a new role and working with a different set people, is like going back to school. There are always better things to discover and learn.”

During the shoot, Quan talks about his current projects, “I’m working with direk Topel Lee in White House. It’s his latest horror film. This time, I will be acting with Iza Calzado and Gabby Concepcion,” he imparts.

“What is exciting about being Nix is his physical transformation. He ages in the movie, from 30 to 60 years old. Initially, it was supposed to be a very short shoot. However, I think direk Topel was impressed with my characterization so he lengthened my shooting days and gave my character a riveting twist,” reveals Quan.

“I have always wanted to work with him, that’s why when this opportunity came, there were no second thoughts,” he avers. “My first impression of his was parang suplado ito ah, but as the shoot progressed, he warmed up. He was very passionate about this film! Talagang tutok!”

Quan divulges, “We didn’t discuss much on how to attack my character, he gave me the freedom to fully flesh it out and when I did it, after the take, he said, ‘Richard that’s it, yun na yun, eksakto.’ As an actor when you hear that from your director, ang sarap sa pakiramdam!”

Another film he finds very invigorating to do is Laruang Lalaki, which to him is probably the most daring project to date of Jay Altarejo, the director behind controversial pink movies such as Ang Lalaki sa Parola and Pink Halo-Halo.

“The movie will show how an independent gay film is made,” states Quan. “I had no qualms in accepting this gay project because ang ganda ng atake ni direk Jay, para siyang movie within a movie. All the aspects needed to make a film na pang-gay, from pre-production, audition, actual shoot, post production, press conference, hanggang sa supposedly pakiki-paglaban niya sa MTRCB — all of these will be captured and shown. I’m playing the director.”

He elaborates, “When we shot the audition scene, all direk Jay and I did was discuss how he envisions what’s going to happen and then, shoot na agad! Walang script-script, and since I am the director, I was in control of every thing that was happening.”

“Sobrang lupet ng character kong si Jake!” he exclaims. “Everything about the film is so realistic, captured in all the scenes. The other male members of the cast had no qualms about nudity, they were ready to go bare all the way, hubad kung hubad, hubo kung hubo!’

“The whole process employed in this film is so thrilling, and as an actor, with all your faculties opened and heightened and your creativity pushed, paano ka namang di gaganahan sa proyektong tulad nito.”

As the photo shoot and interview come to a wrap, Quan imparts, “I hope that when these films finally come out, they watch and support it. All of us who were involved in it gave our best. We worked very hard to give you films that will surely be memorable. Please extend us all your love.”