Richard Gutierrez brings his action dreams to life in ‘Incognito’

MANILA, Philippines — Beneath “Incognito” star Richard Gutierrez’s heartthrob surface is a legit action star. His martial arts training lends authenticity and intensity to his acting, making his fight scenes and stunts in the Netflix series about private military contractors believable.

In his first-ever ensemble project, Richard plays Jose Bonifacio, a son of a military general (played by Richard’s real-life dad, Eddie Gutierrez) and a Navy SEAL who gets discharged due to his “involvement” in a mutiny. He gets contracted to lead a team doing covert missions for the government. The ABS-CBN Star Creatives-produced show also stars Daniel Padilla, Maris Racal, Anthony Jennings, Baron Geisler, Kaila Estrada and Ian Veneracion.

The concept for “Incognito” actually originated from Richard in tandem with his “Iron Heart” director Lester Pimentel Ong, who also helms his new show.

“The concept is something direk Lester and I already talked about during ‘Iron Heart.’ I told him, let’s do something like this because I got obsessed with stories about private military contractors before, particularly Blackwater, one of the most famous and controversial private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. (I learned that) they trained in the Philippines, in Clark before.

“(I learned about it because) may mga nakilala ako kasi dito (in the Philippines) incognito nga sila. They trained here before going to different countries. I got obsessed learning about their stories, lives. I find them so interesting. They come from different military backgrounds and then they are formed into a team.

“Then I started reading books about it. Then I also trained in tactical training with some US, Australian and then local special forces. I told direk Lester about it and after ‘Iron Heart,’ binuo nila yun.”

“Incognito” is also a dream project because Richard gets to live out his childhood dream of becoming a soldier.

“Before, I really wanted to become a soldier. I was still in the States and doing martial arts at that time when I met a Pinoy, who was part of the US Navy. Ang ganda ng buhay niya sa America, so I got curious,” he recalled.

“Then, when he was telling me about it, it sounded so exciting and eventful. I researched about how I could become a soldier. Bata pa ako nun, pero ginusto ko talaga. However, ayaw ng nanay ko. Dinala ako ngayon sa Pilipinas and dito ako pinag-aral.”

Not long after, he followed in the footsteps of his family and entered showbiz.

It was when he hit his 20s that he realized acting is something that he’d like to pursue for life. “This became my passion when I realized that it’s an art form. Many people join showbiz pero nawawala rin ‘di ba? I think some people think that showbiz is like, ah ganun lang yan, acting ka lang whatever,” he said.

“For me, it’s an art form. Acting is an art. Dagdagan mo pa ng action, which is another layer of art to acting. So I became very passionate about it (to the point that) I also got obsessed with cinematography for a while. That’s why I got into photography for a while and lighting. So, it really became my passion,” he reiterated.

One could say that Richard is one of the few Pinoy actors who can stake a claim as a legit action hero because of his martial arts background. He has a black belt in karate and is trained in jiu jitsu and muay thai.

He said he doesn’t know how his interest in martial arts started. “But when I was young, I really love watching action films. All of Bruce Lee’s movies, I collected them. All of the James Bond films, the movies of Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Van Damme, I watched them,” he shared.

When he was cast as the male lead in the GMA fantasy series “Mulawin,” opposite Angel Locsin, it gave him his first opportunity to use his training in the acting world.

“Through ‘Mulawin,’ parang duon na-establish na kaya ko pala mag-action. In ‘Mulawin,’ medyo na-showcase ko dun (martial arts training) because we had sword-fighting,” he said.

“During my karate days in the States, I had weapons training and I competed in weapons (tilts),” he added.

He was so into the sport that he would amass medals and trophies from competitions. “I had a trainor there, he started his own school and I became a top student of his, then he made teach in kids’ classes.”

Richard noted that his training became so useful that he even got to apply it in real life as a form of self-defense.

“Nagamit ko siya especially when I was growing up. I was able to use it for self-defense for myself and for my twin brother Raymond. Because when we started in the States, we became an easy target for bullies. First of all, twins kami and then ‘di nila alam, Asian ba ‘to or Mexican, ano ba sila?”

Looking back on how martial arts have further helped him, he wants his kids, particularly his eldest Zion, to learn it as well.

“Kaya ngayon gusto ko na ipasok si Zion sa martial arts kasi he’s 11 years old. Ako nag-start ako around 10 or 11 also. I started competing when I was 12.”

He also sees Zion showing interest in showbiz.

“Si Zion parang gusto niya. Papayagan ko, oo, but I want them to finish their school first. Nakikita ko talaga na gusto ni Zion. He really enjoys it when I bring him on set,” he said.

“But no (acting) workshops yet, martial arts nalang muna. It’s more practical, and a form of exercise and discipline also. That’s where my discipline started, when I learned martial arts.

“I learned about my body, how to take care of it. I remember that time, sobrang flexible ko. Well, I was big and then I became fit because of martial arts.

“When I became fit, I was able to apply it on different sports. Yung sipa ko, mataas, yung breathing ko (was good). My trainor was very strict on stretching and breathing and cardio. That’s where I learned, from a young age, to really take care of myself.”

Meanwhile, Richard said that he loves being part of an ensemble cast in “Incognito.”

“After ‘Iron Heart,’ kasi pagod na pagod talaga ako dun, gusto ko yung ginagawa ko pero nakakapagod physically. But ito mas spread out. Although there are times that we are all together, yun ang matagal kasi ang daming shots, ang daming dialogue. Kaya madugo tapos film style pa ang shots, hindi pwede yung pwede na.”

“Incognito” is featuring different locations --- Italy and Japan for overseas scenes, while Palawan and Baguio in the local front.

It currently is the No. 1 most-watched series on Netflix.

He said, “After ‘Iron Heart,’ that’s the way to go. If we wanted to elevate the stature of Philippine action, kailangan i-Netflix natin yun. Kelangan ipantay natin yan sa ibang Asian countries. So that’s what we’re trying to do here.”