Dion does better in drama

MANILA, Philippines - Dion Ignacio has the makings of a leading man — the towering height, the good looks and the acting talent young stars lack.

His sterling performance as Abel in the GMA 7 afternoon drama Magdalena proved that you cannot put a real talent down. What makes Dion different from his contemporaries and emerging ones is his enthusiasm to learn more about his craft. Hopefully, this will gift him the longevity veteran actors have been relishing even beyond their peak.          

“I’m just lucky,” says Dion of his decade-long showbiz career blessed with character and lead roles. He recently renewed his Kapuso contract for three years. Showbiz watchers wish to see Dion in soaps that will “guarantee” his leading man status. “Me and my mother always pray. Everything is God’s blessing. I’m thankful that I’m still around and I have been getting projects. This was the second time when I played lead. The first was Saan Darating Ang Umaga? with Yasmien Kurdi. It’s all right with me playing character roles and the way my career is going.”

Cliché it may sound, there are no small or big roles for Dion. He needs a creative venue like TV to feed the artist in him.  

To play Abel succinctly, Dion attended the routinary workshops for character development before taping Magdalena, plus the on-set mentoring of direk Gina Alajar. These made Abel distinct among onscreen characters Dion has played.

“My role was mature,” he recalls. “(Direk Gina) told me to try a technique which was surprisingly possible. I was asked to lower my voice. If my voice was high-pitched, the character would sound young. She instructed me to read the line, ‘Mang Dolpo, umuwi na po kayo, umaga na po,’ in high and low tones. (The latter) did make Abel sound mature.” Dion is using the technique for the Jade Castro movie, My Lady Boss, where he plays Eugene, older brother of Marian Rivera’s Evelyn.

As an actor, Dion would “listen to every detail my director instructs me.” But actor’s director Gina was quick to remind him not to “depend on her because not all directors are like her. She said I should learn how to motivate myself. I would close my eyes and feel the moment; I begin to cry. In Magdalena, I experienced na-umarte na di umaarte (Eric Morris’ No Acting Please technique). When you feel the moment, there’s no need to act it out. You get the feeling as real as it gets. I find it as technique effective. You don’t need to cheat the scene. I have to admit that I would resort to it before. The director would consider the scene a good take. But when I watched it, I saw blank (expressionless) eyes.” Aside from that, Dion is challenged not to let his “Taga-Laguna” accent get in the way.

After Magdalena, Dion will be seen in GMA Films’ Basement, and wishes to try his hand in indie acting, which has paved the way to the careers of today’s most sought-after actors. An indie film with political and social statement might do wonders on Dion’s career and showcase his own brand of drama. “I want to try my hand in all movie and acting genres. I want to do action. If I do comedy, I need to study it well. But I want to focus on drama.”

If Lady Luck is on his side, Dion would love to do another afternoon drama or a primetime soap opposite Magdalena leading lady, Bela Padilla. “People on Twitter say good things about our team-up. I had a great time working with Bela. I was comfortable and at ease in whatever the director asked us to do — be it a heartfelt or a kissing scene.” To complete the Magdalena troika, Pancho Magno should be included in the next Dion-Bela TV starrer.   

After StarStruck, Dion can attest that there’s life after the reality-talent search. He just wrapped up his second big break but looks forward to a bigger one. But Dion remains in his slowly-but-surely mode, saying, “I’m not going to rush things. I feel I got noticed by people in Magdalena where I did heavy drama.” He has also realized that acting is no longer a showbiz wannabe’s play but a mature actor’s profession and he has felt, “I could do drama.”