Who will play Bonifacio?
Reality Entertainment producer-director tandem Dondon Monteverde and Erik Matti have announced that they are producing the “ultimate Andres Bonifacio” film for Regal Entertainment to the tune of “multi-millions” (exact budget not revealed). They said that shooting will start in the next few months. Being eyed to play Bonifacio are (note: initial negotiations may be going on)...
1. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto (an acting greenhorn),
2. Manila Mayor Isko “Yorme” Moreno (a Tondo Boy like Bonifacio),
3. Alden Richards (who has played Dr. Jose Rizal in a GMA teledrama),
4. Coco Martin (the Probinsyano star who once played Juan dela Cruz in an ABS-CBN action-adventure series),
5. Dingdong Dantes (who has played folk hero Robin Hood and a topbiller in Descendants of the Sun, the GMA series now streaming on Netflix).
6. Jericho Rosales (who played the titular role in the Manny Pacquiao movie), and
7. Raymond Bagatsing (as Pres. Manuel L. Quezon in the critically-acclaimed Quezon’s Game).
Who do you think is the right choice?
Come to think of it, why don’t Dondon and Erik gamble on a newcomer?
How Sean bagged the Macho Dancer role
More than 85 showed up for the auditions and Sean de Guzman, the lucky one, easily bagged the role in Godfather Films’ Anak ng Macho Dancer because he’s a carbon copy of Allan Paule who played the title role in the 1988 film Macho Dancer, written by Ricky Lee and directed by Lino Brocka. A decade later, a sequel of sorts was made titled Sibak: Midnight Dancers, also written by Ricky Lee and directed by the late Mel Chionglo. There was not just one or two but three macho dancers played by Gandong Cervantes, Alex del Rosario and Lawrence David.
“I was young when I saw Macho Dancer and I told myself, ‘Someday, I will produce a similar movie’,” said Joed Serrano, head of Godfather Films. “It’s a dream come true.”
Joed’s company is so-called because, according to Joed, he is generous...so generous that he is giving away houses to some of his actors.
Sean, 20, was already on his way home from the audition when he got a call to go back pronto.
“I was just hoping to land a supporting role, so I was surprised when they told me that I was the bida,” recalled Sean whose striking resemblance to Allan (who plays his father) became his ticket to stardom.
Allan himself was floored when he first saw Sean in person. “Hindi kaya anak kita?” he joked. “Pareho din ang apelyido natin.” (Allan is Allan de Guzman in real life and Sean is Ferdie de Guzman.)
Among those who picked Sean was Joel Lamangan, director of the movie, who must have remembered Sean as one of the supporting players in his movie Lockdown, which is the story of young men rendered jobless by the pandemic and resorted to video-shooting themselves for a fee.
Prior to the nine-day shooting of Anak, Sean and the three other main players (some of the auditionees appear in bit roles) underwent training in macho dancing at a gay bar on Timog Avenue, Quezon City, which served as the main set of the movie.
“At first,” shared Sean, “medyo awkward ako. Later on, I was doing it like a real macho dancer.”
Before showbiz, Sean said that he joined the talent search Circle of 10 in 2017 and later became a member of a TikTok group called Circle of 5. He’s the second among four siblings and he was raised by his maternal grandmother after his parents separated when Sean was four years old. His mother went to work in Bahrain.
“Actually,” disclosed Joed, “our first choice was another newcomer, Ricky Sumera. At ‘yun na nga, suwerte ni Sean that he looks like Allan Paule.”
Ricky, who plays one of the macho dancers, is being built up by Godfather. He’s cast in the remake of Totoy Mola, the Jay Manalo starrer, and Jay himself will now play the father. Ricky will also be in Kontrabida, starring Nora Aunor, which is among Godfather’s big projects including Joed’s life story. Godfather has bought the rights to Joel’s film now retitled Lockdown: Kapit sa Patalim. Meanwhile, Sean (paid P550,000 for Macho Dancer) has signed a 12-picture contract with Viva Films.
“I wasn’t born yet when (the Brocka film) Macho Dancer was shown,” said Sean. “But I saw it on the Internet.”
Told that Allan became an awarded actor, Sean said, yes, he knows that.
Can he equal, if not surpass, Allan’s achievement?
“Mahirap yata!” A tall order, at that!
(Note: Anak ng Macho Dancer is streaming tomorrow, Jan. 30 on KTX.ph, for P690.)
(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)
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