Sam Concepcion wraps up HBO Asia’s action-fantasy series

MANILA, Philippines — The third installment of HBO Asia’s action-fantasy series, Halfworlds, stars Filipino artists Sam Concepcion and Bianca Umali, with director Mikhail Red at the helm. The eight-part series was supposed to start shooting in January 2020 and was to air later that year. However, the pandemic halted the project.

“There is no specific date yet on when Halfworlds will be released,” disclosed Sam. “It is still in post-production. This pandemic kind of messed up everyone’s timeline. Halfworlds is an action-fantasy series. It’s still in the works. Great cast and I’m excited to watch it.”

Naturally, Sam sees Halfworlds opening doors for him in the international market. “As an artist, my observation in the series and movies, everything is opening up for the Philippines right now,” he asserted.

“The rest of the world is opening up to creating content. HBO, Amazon Prime, Netflix. There are many things happening around. That’s really good for Filipino artists. A lot have been getting good breaks. We see great material that we can watch over and over because of streaming. Let’s hope I play a part in that.”

The pilot season of Halfworlds premiered in November 2015 and was directed by Indonesian megman Joko Anwar. It was shot in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The second season had Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham at the helm and used Bangkok, Thailand as the locale. It premiered in January 2017.

Sam, who does not only act but also sings and dances, too, never really focused his attention to just one aspect of performing even after being in the industry for more than a decade, since he won the grand prize in ABS-CBN’s reality talent competition, Little Big Star in 2006.

“I never really went to just one lane,” Sam admitted. “Feeling ko, I’m not that type of artist. The challenge for me is when to apportion time for whatever I’m doing. When will I make another movie, more songs, when will I do theater again?

“The thing that I’m in different lanes, you can measure that in different ways. If one will say I haven’t reached my peak yet, that’s a good thing. If I have reached my peak, I have nothing more to do. There’s nowhere else to go. I really feel there’s so much more to do, to learn and to experience.”

Since he recently renewed his contract with Viva Artists Agency (VAA), Sam is not completely closing his doors to doing sexy and daring roles one day. “If it’s the right project, it’s tastefully done, it’s good material, I’m still an actor and I’m willing to act,” he said.

To renew his contract with Viva was a very easy decision to make for Sam. “I’m with a great team of very creative, talented and proactive people,” he offered. “I have no doubt this is the right partnership for me. I get to do music. I get to do movies. Those are the two main things for me. Viva is good with those things. I’m very, very glad that I’m here with them.”

When he turned 30 last October, Sam did a dance concert, The Get Down, at the Power Mac Center. “It was with a band that has always played for me since 2013, some of my cast-mates in Joseph the Dreamer,” he said. “They were all very good singers, actors, dancers. They can do anything. Fans, friends and family joined me.”

Sam will end his 2022 with more performances of Trumpets’ Joseph the Dreamer this month. He played the lead in the reimagined version in 2020 and the musical will be restaged anew.

He may be in show business more than half of his life, but Sam is not resting on his laurels and keeps on going, constantly aiming to do his best. “If you stay true to what you do, you make excellence a habit and deliver what you do with passion, the people will love what you do, regardless,” he said.

“When I started when I was only 11, I had many ins and outs, ups and downs that I wanted to do. Sometimes, I didn’t have the big motivation to go further. But I just keep going. Don’t drop the ball. It’s what you give that you get back.”

For 2023, Sam is certain he will go back to music. After all, he is a product of a singing contest. “When I had my birthday concert, I tested out a song in the show,” he said. “We’ll work on recording that soon, releasing it and get the ball rolling in terms of music.”

In all of those things that Sam has previously done, he still wants to do more concerts. “In the music part of my career, I still want to do a lot of things. I want to make movies again. Bigger roles. Make good movies. Go to Cannes. I want to work with the best producers, the best artists. That sounds like a long time. But I want to make that happen. I grew up in this business.”

His best achievement in his 16-year career? “Making it this far,” Sam beamed. “There are awards and big moments where you get to work with your heroes, work with the best songwriters, your favorite artists, best actors, the awards and all that.

“Really, the biggest privilege is to have a sustaining, good career. I’ve always thought about it. I play the long game. I’m not just here like a flash-in-the-pan. I haven’t stopped and I know I’m in a good place. Things are looking up and looking good. I’m super grateful and thankful.”

Will he agree to a possible collaboration with Jake Zyrus in the future? Sam excitedly gave his nod. “Why not?” he readily said about the erstwhile Charice Pempengco, his Little Big Star runner-up. “That will go full circle for both of us,” he concluded.