Sid: 'My loyalty is to the industry'

MANILA, Philippines - When Sid Lucero got cast as one of the male leads in Amaya, the upcoming epic-serye of GMA 7, the “big leap” was met with surprise. And if the move gave rise to some negative talk, it comes with the territory given that Sid was doing well with another network, getting noteworthy projects.

But Sid says that it wasn’t hard a decision to accept Amaya because for one, a challenging project is a challenging project. He feels that any actor seeking out challenges for himself has to learn to “transcend network wars.”

“It’s like a homecoming because I actually started with GMA (via the 2003 teleserye Narito Ang Puso Ko), although I grew as an actor with ABS-CBN,” he admits. “But my loyalty is to the industry as a whole.”

And this is probably why the guy cuts a picture of excitement when talking about his new project with Marian Rivera in the title role. After all, he isn’t just having a new working environment; the 28-year-old dramatic actor is treading new grounds along with the rest of the cast and the people behind the production.

Amaya is being touted as the first of its kind on Philippine TV, promising to be a sweeping historical fiction that dates back to pre-colonial Philippines.

According to direk Mac Alejandre, who megged the previous big productions of the network like Joaquin Bordado and Totoy Bato, it took a mere 10 seconds for Sid to nail the role of Bagani during the by-invitation-only auditions. Bagani is a son of a banwa (tribe) leader who doesn’t share the philosophy of his father and thus, hates the wars being waged between the tribes.

Direk Mac said, “We wanted someone who has the aura and stance of someone who can live in the past, but has the acting approach and psychology of a very contemporary person. We needed a really good actor to do it – that was the peg.”

For the affections of Amaya, Sid’s character will be pitted against that of newcomer Mikael Daez. So, is he the guy who gets the girl in the end?

“I don’t know. I don’t mind playing support to both of them [Marian and Mikael]. Just like my [mentor] direk Peque Gallaga would like to always say, there are no small roles, only small actors,” answers Sid and there’s a bit of intensity when he says this. It’s the same intensity we sense when he says that he doesn’t want to take it as a compliment when it was mentioned that he proved to be quite the scene-stealer in his movies last year — Emir and Rosario.

But intensity as an actor, this he cannot deny. “Yes, I sometimes get so consumed by the characters I play. My former girlfriend used to say before that everytime we saw each other, it was like she was seeing a different guy each time.” 

Could this intensity have something to do with his recent assault issue, wherein he allegedly attacked a staff of a hardware store, according to reports? He says, “First of all, I am not supposed to answer the issue. But let me just say, I’m not that kind of person, and it’s a hardware store, it’s a big boy’s playground, when you’re there, you’re happy.”

So, how does he reconcile his very public profession with his private life? He says, “I just stay at home or hang out with friends from way back. You’ll know if a person knows me way before I went into showbiz because he’ll call me by my nickname Timmy.”

He’s also forming a band (he’s self-taught on guitar and keyboard playing) and is dating a drummer. What’s his type of girl? “I’m attracted to strong women. I like someone who’s simple and who doesn’t even know she’s beautiful,” Sid says.

Still, there’s that unmistakable, even infectious, sense of restlessness in Sid, wanting to dip his hand into so many things besides acting. That’s why he carries everywhere with him a small notebook where he pours in all his ideas for things he’d like to do in the future. One of his ultimate goals is to direct films although he has tried directing a commercial. Still, but he has been learning the ropes of production work thanks to his long affiliation with independent films. “I studied one year of Philosophy in Ateneo de Manila University but I realized it wasn’t my thing and so I went to the College of St. Benilde for Technical Theater which was more interesting.”

From there, he got into indie productions but behind the scenes. One thing led to another, and since it’s been said that the apple rarely falls far from the tree, Sid of the acting Eigenmann dynasty found himself onscreen, first on TV then films. 

Sid has since been notching acting honors. During the interview, he ticked off a couple of career highlights like Donsol (2006), his first movie which he accepted because he loves the water, but it became the turning point for him to seriously pursue acting since that film gave him his first award. His most recent was winning the Gawad Urian Best Actor for the film Muli last May 17.

Catch more of Sid on Amaya, which is set to debut on the primetime Telebabad block of GMA 7 on May 30.