Pancho Magno wants to flex acting muscle in action-packed series

Tall and handsome Pancho Magno reprises his Presidential Security Group (PSG) officer role in the book two (or sequel) of the hit First Yaya, which starred Sanya Lopez as Yaya Melody Reyes, and Gabby Concepcion as Vice-President-turned-President Glenn Acosta. Since the nanny is now the president’s wife, the romantic-comedy will carry the updated title, First Lady.

As for Pancho’s Capt. Conrad Enriquez, who at the onset had special feelings for Melody and later on got engaged with fellow PSG member Val Cañete (played by Thia Thomalla), the character will remain true to his calling. That is to protect the president.

“(Conrad) will choose his dedication to his work over love,” said Pancho, who recently renewed his contract with GMA 7, in a virtual group conference. But Conrad’s love for Val is still strong. This side of Conrad perhaps will be explored more as First Lady also focuses on the different characters, said the actor, who teased everyone by saying that “they (the creatives) are still experimenting the chemistry of all the characters.”

What fans of First Yaya can look forward to is, who will be the “counterparts” of characters like Melody, Glenn and Conrad, added he. These new personalities will bring changes and challenges to the narrative plot.

Although the vision of First Lady story is clear and complete, Pancho said it is still developing and subject to “tweaking.” With the upcoming national elections, people behind the show want it to be relevant. As a peek into what lies ahead, the GMA Artist Center talent hinted at the ideas of laws and problems in the other regions of the country being incorporated into the story.

With co-actors Gabby Concepcion (center) and Thou Reyes.

Aside from tackling Glenn’s political life, the president’s personal life (which encompasses his ways of dealing with struggles and raising kids, among many things) is being touched, too, in the series, said the actor. Pancho can relate to the parenting theme since he and Max Collins are young dad and mom to Skye. As a father at this time of the pandemic, Pancho said he’s doing fine, and as an actor in a bubble, he shared that he definitely misses his son. The presence of fellow actors, who are fathers themselves, helps him to get by.

“I’m OK,” said he. “We empathize with (everyone’s) situation and it helps. (In a sense,) I also have a family here. Every time I have no work, I make it a point to spend time with Skye. (Being away from your loved ones) is part of our job. If things get better soon, I can bring Skye with me in a lock-in taping.”

Speaking of work, First Lady is on its last stretch of taping. The work started sometime in November with the necessary hotel quarantine. It allowed actors to be in touch with the narrative and their characters. “The first time I wore my short-sleeve barong, I felt I was already Conrad,” said he. “(First Lady is) a bigger production and has more cast members. The problems (in the story) are deeper and there are more twists, magugulat sila, even ako nagugulat. I can’t wait for our Kapuso viewers to see the second book.” Again, First Lady is timely because the elections are just around the corner, said he, who feels grateful to be part of a show that somehow educates Filipinos to exercise their right to vote and vote wisely. Given the impressive ratings and run of First Yaya, Pancho said that the First Lady cast and crew also have to give more to meet people’s expectations.

What many don’t know about Pancho is his love for movies. The actor said that he enjoys watching the works of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese.

“I love everything about cinema,” said he. If ever he gets the chance to portray the characters he has watched, Pancho will be grateful to do so, especially the ones he called deeper roles. “I’ve done drama, I’ve done sexy. Now, I want to do intense action,” said he. If this happens, Pancho will bring his learnings from previous shows and roles. “It’s a never-ending learning experience,” he reflected on acting.

His journey so far as a Kapuso actor was captured in a VTR shown before his interview with the press members. “I’m super thankful and excited. I just watched the VTR earlier. I saw the roles I played from Amaya, Victor Magtanggol to Dahil sa Pag-Ibig. I’m so grateful for those people I’ve worked with,” said he. “Having worked with (some of) the best actors of GMA, I find the experience humbling. I’m excited about the roles that I’ll be playing and the actors and directors that I’ll be working with (in the future).”

That is something that will definitely come true. However, not far from happening is the possibility for Pancho to get his first leading man role. If that comes his way, the actor had this to say, “I will do my best and I (would) always do that in my past roles.”