Dingdong takes on dual role to measure acting mettle

MANILA, Philippines — Ask how viewers can measure an actor’s mettle, they will surely answer it in more ways than one. Taking on a dual role is one valid test. Dingdong Dantes has recently subjected himself to this new territory, at least to him.

His work on GMA 7’s I Can See You: AlterNate can speak of what Dingdong, the actor is made of. As the long-lost twin brothers, Nate and Michael, Dingdong will again display an inspired performance. The drama anthology airs weeknights at 8:50 on GMA Telebabad.

“Very, ito, isa sa mga pinakamahirap na nagawa ko talaga (it’s really one of those most difficult roles that I’ve done),” disclosed Dingdong of his acting fortitude to essay his seemingly one-and-the-same roles but not, in a recent press conference via Zoom, “not just in my work as an actor, but perhaps, too, in life, in general. Kasi ang daming mga elemento na kaakibat ng experience na ito, isa na dyan, first time ko maka-experience ng lock-in (taping).”

It’s safe to say that, as much as he psyched himself up to enter into the interacting worlds of his characters, Dingdong had to mentally and emotionally prepare himself to be away from his family for 30 days, “and plus the fact na, alam mo yun, na sobrang hirap ng role, pero yun din naman kasi ang hinihingi ko sa sarili ko kapag pumipili ako at ‘pag nag-co-commit ako sa isang bagay na sana ito ay mas mahirap sa mga nagawa ko in the past in order for me to challenge myself as an actor.”

Being in the AlterNate bubble and becoming Nate and Michael gave Dingdong a one-of-a-kind experience, replete with new insights in his work and life.

“Umuwi kami ng safe… Naka-lock-in kami sa isang lugar na komportable kami, thank you GMA for giving us that. We were very comfortable and very fulfilled kami ‘pag labas namin ng bubble,” said he. “Despite the difficulties, we were able to tell a compelling story in the context of a very challenging time.” Dominic Zapata directed the drama anthology’s latest installment based on the narrative by the GMA creative team.

Dingdong shared that it was his first time to play a dual role and he enjoyed it. “Mas nangyari ang lahat ng ito dahil sa collaboration namin lahat sa set (All of that was made possible because of the collaboration we had on set). So, we co-created the characters of each other because of our commitment, hindi lang basta-basta commitment, sa tindi ng commitment ng isa’t-isa. Imagine, we got locked in for 30 days. From the time we started our (lock-in taping) quarantine, talagang pinaglalaruan na namin yung mga characters namin (we already thought about our characters).” He considered Nate and Michael equally challenging and exciting to portray.

His AlterNate, in which viewers might experience some “mirage” for seeing Dingdong double, is a meaty follow-up to his impressive work in A Hard Day. “Matagal namang nauna yung Hard Day, pero yun nga nagkataon nga, na buti nga naipalabas pa rin,” said he, “tapos ito, parang medyo same level, if not more difficult, in terms of intensity, so exciting, kaya kung tatanungin mo ako kung ano yung susunod, hindi ko talaga alam ang sagot dun.” Whether he will foray into another challenging role or not, Dingdong perhaps takes one step at a time or embraces projects as they come. “So, kung ano yung dumating, kung ano yung magpapa-excite sa’yo, sa tingin mo,” said he.

“Sa tingin ko kasi parang minsan kapag masyado mo ring pina-plano, parang hindi na siya magiging masaya (I think sometimes when you plan ahead, you won’t enjoy the process or might spoil the fun),” added Dingdong, who has to consider some factors before saying yes to a role. “Yung timing, nandyan yung kung kaya mo bang gawin sa panahon na yun,” shared he. “(And if the) conditions would allow you to excel or to really take on the challenge, so ang daming pwede mong considerations.”

Like doing scenes with fellow actors, Dingdong will organically react to opportunities that come his way and “be grateful that there’s the opportunity. If you think sa panahon na ito you’re very open to do it, very inspired to do it, and then do so.”

The AlterNate trailer revealed that his characters, who have their own endearing qualities, will curiously swap stations in life. It will lead to new personality discoveries between them, and bring change and confusion to people close to them.

“I honestly don’t know,” said Dingdong on how he succeeded to draw the line between Nate and Michael, actions- and attitude-wise. “Pero one thing is for sure: It’s because of the energy na nakukuha mo rin sa co-actors (mo), it’s because of the commitment that you get from your co-actors, hindi mo magagawa ang isang role na mag-isa.”

From the looks of it, one can easily say that Dingdong’s Nate and Michael will grab everyone’s attention, but he said that such characters as Lyndon, Carmencita and Sheila are also interesting and on an equal footing with his characters in terms of their importance in relation to the narrative. “Kahit sabihin natin na kwento siya tungkol sa kambal, pero maraming makaka-relate dun sa individual characters dito sa buong kwentong ito,” said he. “It’s really team effort. I always say we are all co-creating this together, hindi lang siya parang it’s a one-man team, we are co-contributors and co-creators dito sa napaka-gandang materyal na ito.”

As for the apparent themes of truth and honesty that AlterNate will explore and explicate, Dingdong said, “There are a lot of themes in fact. It’s a multi-genre type of material, there’s drama, there’s suspense, there’s action sometimes. There’s a love story, but all of these are anchored on relationships.” He reiterated the latter by saying, “I guess it’s really a story about relationships. It’s about the mother-and-son relationship, the husband-and-wife relationship, the (older) brother-and-younger sister relationship, lahat ng mga ito, mga filial relationships na ito ay buhay na buhay sa Pamilyang Pilipino, which makes it very exciting.”

These relationships and the tensions that challenge them will make AlterNate compelling.