Paulo goes with the flow

MANILA, Philippines - “Parang ’di naman kami nag-away. Hindi lang kami nagkikita talaga. We had a chance when we were in London,” replies Paulo Avelino when asked about meeting KC Concepcion, who was romantically linked to him, in the UK ASAP tour. It could have been a perfect time for them to renew the romantic ties that their followers were hoping to happen.

“Right now, I’m busy with a lot of things. I think she’s out of the country. We’re just focusing on what we’re doing.”

After his successful primetime teleserye Bridges of Love, also starring Jericho Rosales and Maja Salvador, Paulo will be seen on the big screen via the Regal Entertainment Inc. and Reality Entertainment’s latest movie Resureksyon which will open on Sept. 23 in theaters nationwide. He is busy attending promotional sorties.

“I’m Javier, who is a police officer in his hometown,” says Paulo, who has an impressive list of varied roles like the stalker-college student Marlon in Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, the hired killer Daniel in Aswang and the young Tirad Pass hero Gregorio del Pilar in Heneral Luna. “May isang  kababalaghan na nangyari sa lugar nila. (Something unusual and supernatural happened in their place). At hindi maalis sa isip niya na alamin kung anong nangyari sa bayan niya. (The incident haunts him and he can’t take it off his mind.)”

Paulo’s Javier is placed in a fictional milieu a year backward from present time. Nothing has changed as many Filipinos, especially those “trapped” in the single-parenting norm, have trodden the diaspora path to find greener pastures for their families.

The arrival of the more than 800 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in coffins will shake everyone’s rustic life and their parochial mindset. Part of the statistics is Mara, played by Isabelle Daza, who worked in a Serbian household in Myanmar. Wanting to get away from the vicious cycle of poverty, she left her maternal duties over son Migs (Raikko Matteo) to sister Aila (Jasmine Curtis-Smith). Mara’s “resurrection” from death will keep Paulo’s Javier on his toes, particularly when “all hell breaks loose,” as new director Alfonso “Borgy” Torre III describes the plot’s turning point, in which no one can turn back time and turn back on the present. The characters have no choice but to face their reality and an army of vampires head on.

“I always wanted to work with Isabelle because we are from the same management. I had seen Jasmine in Transit and she won an award for it. Siyempre naka-excite din,” says Paulo of his co-stars. “Who wouldn’t want to work with these beautiful women?”

Speaking of beauty, wagging tongues are pointing that Jasmine has caught Paulo’s attention and they have been seen dating. For some, there’s nothing wrong with it since the Resureksyon stars are both fancy-free.

“It is unfair not just for me, but also for Jasmine,” says Paulo of the rumors, referring to the viral photo of  the two in a restaurant. “It was given a (different) meaning right away, na di naman dapat bigyan ng ganung (kahulugan).”

Paulo adds that “after the shoot (of the film) may mga bonding (kami). Di na kasi nagtatagpo ang schedule. Siguro kapag nagkaroon ng chance, baka makapag-dinner.”

Bonding among stars is typical in a happy set like Resureksyon, whose director Borgy would take time to dine with his actors and get to know them in a more relaxed setting, away from those studio lights and the grinding cameras.

“Si Paolo ay isa sa mga mahuhusay na lalakeng artista ngayon,” says direk Borgy, who also has only nice words for Isabelle and Jasmine for their performance and on-set attitude.

For his first mainstream venture, direk Borgy tapped a reliable group of lead and supporting actors, like John “Sweet” Lapus, Niño Muhlach and Alex Castro, to tell that Pinoy take on Western vampires, whose local equivalents are the aswang (shape shifters) and the manananggal (blood-thirsty monsters with wings). The actors play their roles in a backdrop that evokes of classic and contemporary location. The audience will have that feel of a heritage site, whose houses, especially the abode of some characters, are integral to the narrative and the theme, plus the details like lamps and paintings.

When asked about his favorite horror movie, Paulo answers, “It Follows (the 2014 American supernatural thriller) and Yanggaw of Richard Somes.”

Although he seems more comfortable in tearjerkers, Paulo will bring his A game in Resureksyon, a horror genre with a touch of drama and a hint of comedy, as direk Borgy puts it.

(For details, log on to www.facebook.com/RegalEntertainmentInc, www.twitter.com/RegalFilms and Regal Films Instagram.)