Christian Vasquez unleashes his comic side

MANILA, Philippines — Not known to many, actor Christian Vasquez is also a comedian.

Christian’s fondness for the comedy genre can be traced back to when he was growing up, with his mom frequently watching comedy-themed movies such as Elvis & James and Starzan.

He also idolized the British comedian-actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who played Borat Sagdiyev and Bruno in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and created the parody character Ali G.

The former Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) housemate and ramp and commercial model has a popular TikTok account with 4.3 million likes, where he entertains followers by pretending to be “ander de saya” to his wife.

Christian has also been able to make use of his comic side in portraying the character of Orcus Silverio, a member of the mafia Tatsulok in the ABS-CBN action-packed series The Iron Heart starring Richard Gutierrez, Albert Martinez, Jake Cuenca, Dimples Romana, Sue Ramirez, among others.

Directed by Lester Pimentel Ong and Richard Ibasco Arellano, the show airs weeknights at 8:45 on A2Z, Kapamilya Channel, TV5, Kapamilya Online Live on Facebook and YouTube, Jeepney TV, and TFC IPTV.

One of the reasons why Christian was excited to play his greed-driven antagonist character Orcus was because he would be able to display his humorous side, which is “very close” to his real-life persona.

“Not so many people know na komedyante akong tao,” he told The STAR in an interview during a recent visit to Cebu City. This paper, along with select press members, were invited to the filming location of the show. “In the series, in a way, I was able to show na lahat ng nangyayari sa buhay parang nako-convert ko siya into something na nakakatawa kahit papano.”

Christian Vasquez (right, with Richard Gutierrez) injects humor into his ‘bad guy’ role as Orcus Silverio, a member of the mafia Tatsulok, in action-packed ABS-CBN series The Iron Heart.

“Like for example, we have a scene, I would think of like, ‘Ano kaya ang nakakatawa rito?’ So, yung ang pinapasok ko sa scene. Or sometimes, like earlier, we had a chest bump scene, I didn’t plan it but along the way, I just thought of it and pasok naman sa character na ginawa ko,” he continued.

Christian also loved the creative freedom given to him by the directors and the production team to tweak the portrayal of his character. “(That’s) what’s so nice about the team. You will not be afraid to experiment because the directors, production team and fellow actors, they are OK with me doing experiments (on my role). So, it feels so good because I am able to do what I want to do.”

“You’re not always on the safe side,” he asserted. “Like, ‘This is your character so ito lang ‘to kasi ito lang ang interpretation ko sa character.’ (In the series), you can experiment… ‘Pag sabihin na, ‘O bawas ng kunti ha,’ OK lang naman.”

But the “best part,” Christian said, was him injecting his personal interpretation of his character. “That’s why they discovered that my character can also be comical.”

According to him, this is what makes Orcus, who is one of the “soldiers” of the main villain Engr. Priam dela Torre (played by Albert), unique.

“Orcus’ funny personality stemmed from his overconfidence. He has this feeling that he is the favorite of Engr., type siya ng mga babae, feeling niya sobrang galing niya,” he added.

It was also the first time for Christian to portray a member of a syndicate group, a bad guy, that is entertaining at the same time. “Sobrang saya. I always study the script… Medyo mahirap kasi kailangan yung timing ko sakto.

“Yung script, kailangan mahahanapan ko siya ng butas kung saan ko pwedeng ipasok yung binibitawan kong lines na nakakatawa,” he added.

As for his TikTok content, Christian said, “I actually realized na pwede naman. People have accepted my comic side. It’s like I can actually do it. May napapatawa naman ako so I carried it out in the series. The people who know me personally see my kenkoy side… Sa TikTok personality, yes, that’s very me except lang sa ‘ander de saya.’”

“I already did (something) before na nilalagyan ko rin ng comedy but it was not on mainstream so not so many people have seen it. I’m very comfortable with making people laugh. But it’s a big thing that I’m on TikTok (to amuse my followers),” he added.