Aga Muhlach finds life a great acting teacher

Aga Muhlach has been wanting to portray an old gay man who used to be a standup comedian.

“Wow, so you’ve already heard about it,” began Aga. “I’d like to do it because I see drama there; I see pain, that even though you see him or them on stage doing things to make people laugh and giving so much fun to all (audiences), you have no idea what’s going on with their life. I’m intrigued by what’s really inside them. I don’t know that, so I wanna find out and I wanna show also that there’s goodness in them. They, too, have their own story to tell,” he added.

But did you know there was a time when Aga felt uncertain about showcasing his craft? Reason: he found it tough to understand what the audience wanted to see in a film. That’s why, after “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” Aga took a breather from acting. It was only recently that he once again appeared in a movie.

“At this point in my career, I’m lucky to still get to work with her generation (referring to his team-up with Julia Barretto in ‘Ikaw Pa Rin Ang Pipiliin Ko’) so, sa akin parang I would grab that opportunity.”

Budding actors can get an acting tip or two from Aga who, during his younger years, got to work with A-list filmmakers, among them was National Artist for Film Lino Brocka.

“They had told me many things that sounded so simple yet so meaningful. And one that really stuck in my head was from my Tita Amalia (Fuentes) who said, ‘You let your audience cry or react for you.’ I didn’t understand it at first and then, I realized the times when I would watch a dramatic scene, nakakaiyak na ‘yung eksena, pero parang hindi ka pa rin maiiyak. Bakit? Kasi iyak na ng iyak ‘yung artista, inunahan ka na sa reaksyon.”

“So, when you hold it first, you let the audience feel the scene. It’s always the scene that leads to that scene that makes the audience cry. For example, there’s this endearing character who suddenly dies, at mahal siya ng mga tao kaya masakit ‘yun. But you (as an actor) don’t have to cry hard anymore because the audience will feel the pain of losing someone in that scene at sila na ‘yung maiiyak.”

The actor also finds life as a great acting teacher. Life is filled with experiences, so to create a believable character, having insight into every human experience is going to be a significant component.

Speaking of life experiences, Aga admitted having gone through a difficult point in his showbiz career.

“I think people forgot about it already. They thought that after Bagets (in 1984), my biggest break, my career went on smoothly. It was not. After Bagets, Hotshots and Miguelito, I was down financially, walang pumapansin sa akin. It’s just the name that lingered there, but there was no career,” he shared.

I reminded him that his name is a brand and Aga never denied that he almost turned into a swellhead due to fame.

“Looking back at my past interviews, sabi ko ang presko ko palang magsalita diyan. But I was very careful the whole time, the whole ‘90s,” he recalled.

“I’ve always been very, very careful. I’ve remained humble kasi noong nasaktan ako sa buhay, sinabi ko sa sarili ko na hindi ko gagawin ‘yun sa kapwa artista ko kaya wala akong naapakan. As far as I know, I never maltreated anyone,” he added.

According to him, he knows what it feels like to be treated badly by other people. “Nakaramdam ako ng taong nakadapa ka na inapakan ka pa. It’s true, that’s why I do not want that to happen to anyone, especially to newcomers. You should always try to find kindness in a person because there is. But bad is real. There are really bad people.”

I asked Aga what would he choose — to be right or to be kind?

“I choose kindness because we don’t have the right to judge (others) na parang malinis na malinis ka. As for me, I know where I am, I know where I stand and I know where my heart is. At the end of the day, if there’s anyone who will ask for my help, or if I need to help, then I will.”