“Rather than make a scandal in my personal life, I’d rather that my material is the one that’s scandalous.”
So said Jake Cuenca about his deliberate decision to take on diverse, risky and even controversial roles in 2022. He had set out to make “the year that was” his “year of reintroduction” as an actor.
“For the last three years, we were a bit suppressed and we were in the pandemic, so we weren’t able to do work that much. I feel like an abundance in me that I want to do a lot of these roles, that I want to make an impact. Rather than make a scandal in my personal life, I’d rather my material is the one that’s scandalous. I’d rather that my material is the one making noise,” the 35-year-old actor said during a recent virtual roundtable with The STAR.
“What I wanted to be reintroduced was definitely not Jake the celebrity, definitely not Jake the persona,” he further shared, calling to mind his headline-grabbing police car chase incident in 2021 and his much-publicized breakup in 2022. “Definitely not that. What I wanted to reintroduce was me being an actor and what I also wanted to prove to myself is that I can make noise with my talent, not anything else.”
With 2023 now upon us, Jake can congratulate himself for sticking to his “gameplan,” from his first-ever father role in the ABS-CBN drama Viral Scandal, to the romantic lead in Viu’s K-Love, to the flamboyant villain in the ongoing action series Iron Heart, to the closeted gay family man in the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, My Father, Myself, which is produced by 3:16 Media Network and still screening in select cinemas until Jan. 7.
“For me, (it’s) mission complete. I set this goal for myself. Ako lang gumawa ng goal na ito, ako nag-lay out ng groundwork and then my management and my team were the ones who had to fix the schedule,” Jake said. “Kaya kahit haluan ng negativity, I wouldn’t take this from me. I worked too hard this year for anyone to step on or rain on my parade.”
He was referring to the mixed reactions to his Joel Lamangan-directed R-18 MMFF movie, perhaps his riskiest onscreen project to date also because of its theme and storyline, which Jake himself described as “definitely something we have not seen in Philippine cinema.”
Jake plays a married lawyer who adopts a massacre survivor whose biological father was his former lover. Conflict arises and the relationship turns complicated when attraction develops between father and grownup stepson. His portrayal made him a strong contender in the race for MMFF Best Actor, which was eventually awarded to Ian Veneracion for his performance as a corrupt cop in Nanahimik Ang Gabi.
“It is a dark material, of course. And for the normal person, it’s a bit jarring and scandalous. But it’s movies like this that also get acclaim abroad,” he explained. “They dive into materials like this, topics like this, and as an actor, this is what I dreamed for. This is what I wake up at five in the morning every day for, to look for these challenges and these roles.”
“Call me a masochist or an obsessed-type person but I always look for the challenge. Kumbaga kung masyado madali para sa akin, it’s fairly boring for me. I’ve been acting for 21 years now, I’m always in search of these challenges and the most difficult roles,” he reiterated.
“I also like to watch things that have a different story. I’m not the type to watch the same material just retagged with different names. That’s just me personally.
“And then yung accepting it, when Joel Lamangan calls you, you say yes, that’s a 100-percent type thing. (Yes) it’s not the typical MMFF film. But if you ask me, this is the type of film I’d rather be doing. I’ve also done mainstream films in the MMFF… But it’s the first time I’ve done an acting piece na nakapasok in the MMFF. So, for me, it’s something special, to be honest.”
This conscious effort to go for varied characters as much as possible was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic made me so hungry because I feel like I have so much to give in terms of theater, in terms of movies and TV shows. Now, I really understand my craft. Now, I realize my full potential. I’ve structured my life in such a way where it complements my craft. I read every day. I search for scripts, I journal every day with my characters, I shop for my characters like watches and shoes and all that.
“In the pandemic, what I’ve realized talaga, to make it simpler, I’ve fallen in love with the process, I’ve fallen in love with my process. Samantala dati, parang siempre, we’re all in love with the final product, the prestige and the acclaim. But for me, in the pandemic, I learned to love the process because there was no acclaim, no audience, no one telling you good job or, you know, good work. I had to fall in love with the process and I had to make a process of my own.”
When it came to his process and preparation for his 2022 projects, Jake named Viral Scandal as “the heaviest in terms of homework.”
“There was a lot of political jargon, accent changes and voice changes. So it required a lot of practice and a lot of repetitions,” he added.
“Sometimes, the role doesn’t need it. Sometimes, I don’t really need to rehearse for roles, but I want to for my confidence.”
As for My Father, Myself, it wasn’t as laborious thanks to a play he was already doing at that time. “Actually, I was doing a gay character in a play. And then, direk Joel called me right after the run. He told me the synopsis and then I said, direk say less, this play is already the workshop, kumbaga we’re going to downscale the play for you and turn it into a movie,” he said of the project that wrapped up his year.
Next confirmed projects for Jake are the psychological thriller Cattleya Killer with Arjo Atayde and another foray into theater.
If 2022 was the year of reintroduction, how is 2023 going to shape up for Jake? It appears to be still full steam ahead for him, career-wise. “I just wanted to remind our industry what I’m about, what I can do, what I’m capable of doing and certainly now after all of these projects, some might think naubusan na ako, hindi. I feel so abundant. I just want to work with everyone and I want to work with the best,” he said.