Derek takes off as superhero

MANILA, Philippines - There’s always a first time for everyone. Derek Ramsay, TV5’s hot property, will soon join the league of TV and movie stars who have saved the day in a tight-fitting outfit with that signature cape. It is never too late for dreamboat Derek to get down and dirty. This, however, is a big surprise from someone like Derek who has shown his mettle in the drama department.

“It’s a challenge. And I love challenges,” says Derek of his latest action-drama project Kidlat which is also tapping the ever-growing community of cosplayers. “I think it’s a dream of every boy or every girl growing up to wear a superhero suit. Now at my age, it’s coming true.”

With this turn of events in his career, Derek feels that TV5 has never failed to surprise him.

“I’ve never been so excited for a project,” he says. “It’s funny because I say that for every project that TV5 is giving me. The first (time was when they offered me) The Amazing Race. Wow, it’s a dream project. Then, they’d tell me that I was going to the (recently-held London) Olympics. Now, I get to dress up in a superhero outfit and go fight crime. It’s exciting.”

What makes Kidlat different from other Pinoy superheroes that have captured kids’ imagination?

“He’s not a superhero who has powers or someone who is from another planet,” Derek replies. “He is just a regular guy; something happens to him and his mother which gives him his power. He feels it’s a curse because (having a) special power comes with a lot of sacrifice.”

For an actor who is playing a superhero for the first time, Derek has to deal with the “long and grueling” process of costume fitting. He has to do this to look and feel the part.

“I was covered with slime from head to toe including, you know, my package,” he recalls his most recent costume adjustment session. “(I had) people with a spatula making sure that it got the shape of, you know. It was really a weird feeling. It got even weirder when they covered your face and (asked) you to pause to breathe. (The fitting session usually takes) four to five hours.” By the way, TV5 has commissioned a costume designer who worked on some characters of X-Men and Daredevil.

Derek Ramsay (with Kidlat love interest, Ritz Azul, during the Cosplay Mania ’12 at the SMX Convention Center): ‘I think it’s a dream of every boy or every girl growing up to wear a superhero suit. Now at my age, it’s coming true.’

Aside from being laced with action elements, the TV series is set in a soap opera format. It will also have Ritz Azul and Nadine Samonte as Derek’s love interests. Director Mike Tuviera shares that “what we are trying to do with Kidlat is putting fantastic characters, superheroes and super villains — in the real world. That’s why our approach is (close to) Dark Knight and Superman: Man of Steel.”

According to Derek, a fan of superheroes and action stars like Sylvester Stallone and Liam Neeson, Kidlat is also as endearing as Spider-Man. “What makes Spider-Man endearing is that, despite the fact that he is fighting crimes, he has to worry about paying the rent and helping his family or his ex (girlfriend). And we can relate to him. He has a lot of weaknesses. There’s a lot of drama (in the story). I watched a lot of superhero movies so that I will not copy them. Batman is a bit stiff. Ironman is a bit cocky. I want to separate Kidlat from other superheroes.”

Thus, Derek intends to humanize Kidlat and hopefully, the newest superhero won’t look some caricature cardboard cutout being juxtaposed on the small screen. Action series fans can’t wait to see that and Kidlat’s tale of modern heroism.