Kelvin, Abdul and Shaun band together for GTV family sitcom

Kelvin Miranda, Abdul Raman and Shaun Salvador are a band of brothers, whose passion is to entertain people. Their brand of brotherhood is fundamental in their GTV family sitcom, Tols, which premieres tonight at 7:05 and airs every Saturday thereafter.

From being brothers from another mother, the young actors will take on the roles of triplets, who grew up separately and are completely estranged to each other, according to the production notes. Starring in Tols is a refreshing change for Kelvin, Abdul and Shaun, who have already proven their mettle in rom-com and straight drama.

“I’m happy that I was given another opportunity (to act and work) and another challenge,” said Kelvin about his second GTV show, after the successful The Lost Recipe, in a virtual interview, also attended by Abdul and Shaun, with The STAR. “It’s a comedy and family story na nakakatawa, nakaka-kilig, nakaka-iyak sa kakatawa. The challenge for me was how to make people laugh.” Kelvin’s other recent assignments were Stories from the Heart: Loving Miss Bridgette and Mano Po Legacy: Her Big Boss, all aired on GMA 7.

Shaun, Kelvin and Abdul with Rufa Mae Quinto as their characters’ Mommy Barble.

“Malaki talaga yung contrast between the two (they are in stark contrast),” shared Abdul of him jumping into a sitcom from the GMA drama series, Raising Mamay, which also stars Shayne Sava. “We finished taping Raising Mamay. Then, I proceeded to work on this. All in all, I enjoyed both of them very much.”

Aside from enjoying the camaraderie they had on set and the privilege to essay a role, Shaun said, “I feel lucky to have played this leading role. I had my fair share of adjustments because I did drama prior to it,” added he. “Comedy is bigger than life, so I had to make some adjustments and level up.” Just a quick information: Abdul also appeared in the Kapuso cultural serye, Legal Wives, while Shaun did a guesting on GMA 7’s Wish Ko Lang!.

As what has already been established earlier, Kelvin shared, “the characters grew up with different families, hindi talaga magulang nila ang nagpalaki sa kanila. They got separated from their biological parents, iniwan sila para makaipon.”

Let it be known that Kelvin is Uno, Shaun is Dos and Abdul is Third, whose characters’ names are based on their birth order and their surname is Macaspac. Given the siblings’ childhood background, as Shaun put it, the characters’ objective is “to come (and bond) together and have one family. They want to know their real family and their real mommy and daddy.”

“They are now adults, 24, and have decided to live under the same roof,” added Kelvin. “They have a clear idea of what they enjoy doing in life.”

Although the Macaspac brothers may share common traits, they are unique in some ways. It’s up to the viewers to find out who among the three is gentle, happy-go-lucky and the family’s anchor.

Also playing a pivotal role in such milestone of Uno, Dos and Third is Rufa Mae Quinto’s character, Mommy Barbie. “(She’s) the reason why they got back together,” said Kelvin. “Siya din yung nagpahanap sa kanila na pagsama-samahin silang tatlo kasi nga gusto niyang bumawi sa mga pagkukulang niya (She made an effort to gather the siblings and wanted to make up for the lost time).”

Abdul and Shaun said the matriarch has been gone for 20 years and saved up enough money. From there, the mother-and-sons story will take off, as shared by Kelvin, who added that Mommy Barbie will confront challenges like how to win back her children and become a mother to them. What viewers can also look forward to is how comedy can be effectively used to present a sensitive topic and make viewers reflect on the value of family and forgiveness.

Yes, at some point in their showbiz careers, Kelvin, Abdul and Shaun have already crossed paths with each other, but they had to establish a brotherhood chemistry and connection for their roles. Shaun recalled that they attended a workshop, with director Monti Parungao, conducted days before the taping. The reasons behind it were to see the dynamics between the actors, who were playing as siblings, and figure out if the punch lines and the jokes worked, added Kelvin and Shaun. After that, they would do bonding activities like working out and training.

Another challenge they had to hurdle was to hold their own in the presence of a veteran comedian like Rufa Mae and keep up with her. They needed not to end up as her audience, given Rufa Mae’s antics and natural gift to tickle one’s funny bone. “The real challenge was not to laugh during taping,” said Abdul. That’s why Kelvin came up with this approach of “nag-ba-basa pa lang kami ng script, tinatawa ko na yung dapat kong maitawa, pero minsan hindi mo pa rin mapigilan (I tried to laugh hard while I was reading the script, but sometimes I couldn’t help it during the take because she was really funny).”

For his part, Shaun has also learned comedy through observing Rufa Mae and by doing it. “Things became light when she arrived,” said he. “Kaming tatlo nag-e-explore (pa rin) kami sa comedy. When she came to the set, then, we realized na, ‘OK, ganito pala yun.’ She’s very approachable, parang pinagagaang niya lalo yung sitwasyon kapag nag-ta-take kami.”

Tols offers viewers 13 episodes and is reminiscent of the iconic show, Palibhasa Lalake that starred Richard Gomez, Miguel Rodriguez, Joey Marquez and John Estrada.

With that, Uno, Dos and Third will have love interests in the family sitcom narrative. It is also the first time for Kelvin, Abdul and Shaun to have stepped away from the love-team mold. Kelvin was paired with Mikee Quintos and Bianca Umali. Abdul has an onscreen partner in Shayne. Shaun used to be in a tandem with Ella Cruz.

Based on the way the young stars shared their thoughts on the GTV weekend show, one can say that they found their latest project refreshing and also enjoyable.