The veteran actor makes a triumphant comeback to the film industry after three years inside a rehabilitation facility.
MANILA, Philippines — I play a priest,” Sol says as he runs his hands over his beardless face. We giggle at the thought. It is a pleasant change to see him cleanly shaven. At a quiet café near a leading television network, I spend an evening with the once-reclusive actor, Soliman Cruz.
The hole in the wall café is filled with students, writers and artists. We sit in the corner by an old wooden table. In the years that I’ve known Sol, the best way to get ahold of him would be outside the Cultural Center of the Philippines or along the boulevard. “Seabreeze Condominium,” he would joke with inquisitive reporters. To the rest of us that he calls his friends, his residence entails roughing it and sleeping along the banks of Manila Bay.
In the last decade, people have associated him more with eccentricities and struggles with drug addiction than with his films.
I remember a time when we stood outside a busy street in Malate to help track him down. Famed director Lav Diaz wanted to cast him in a film. Lav waited outside a convenience store for a few hours and — through persistence and sheer luck — in the middle of the night, Sol turned up.
He hit rock bottom three years ago. A generous artist, together with a group of doctors took him off the streets and offered free access to a rehabilitation center. He accepted the help and has been sober since. Today, he is calm and collected.
Sol’s introduction to the arts was through the acting workshops and guidance of renowned Ateneo drama teacher Dr. Onofre Pagsanghan. He was among the first batch of students to enroll in The Philippine High School for the Arts. It was inaugurated by Imelda Marcos at the National Arts Center in 1977. He has since starred in hundreds of plays produced at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
His first movie venture was an 8mm short film called Kwentong Barbero in 1991 directed by Jon Red. However, an appearance in 2005’s The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros as the father of Maxi was what made him a household name. A year later he starred in Star Cinema’s Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo which became a commercial hit at the Metro Manila Film Festival.
Sol’s film characters are brilliant and endearing — they have attained cult status among independent film viewers. He has worked with critically acclaimed directors like Raymond Red in Manila Skies (2009) and as Wawak in Lav Diaz’s four-hour epic Norte (2013). It is rare for an actor to be able to transition from theater, television to film so effortlessly.
“I’m happy I get to see my children now.” Sol’s eyes light up as he motions to his eldest daughter, Tala. She helps manage the quaint café. “It’s time to take responsibility for my actions and repair the relationships I’ve hurt while high.”
Addicts die from overdoses or are shot down in the current drug war in the Philippines. Sol is living proof that any person has a right to change. I am relieved he has owned up to his past transgressions. It is a privilege to be his friend.
Colleagues and fans come to our table to shake his hand. They are genuinely pleased with his return to the industry and are proud of his newfound sobriety.
In the past two months, Sol has left the rehabilitation facility and now rents an apartment with a common friend in the heart of Manila. He is financially stable and shares a room with his son. He has been offered a steady stream of work and currently stars in two films that are featured in the country’s leading independent film festival, Cinemalaya. He is also working on a digital series with director Topel Lee and a sequel to Erik Matti’s On the Job.
The challenge is to remain drug-free as he integrates himself back into society. The risk is still there. A wrong turn on a side street or bad company could lead to a relapse — but he remains resilient.
People underestimate the genius of Soliman Cruz. Sometimes I joke with him that we are just characters in one of his elaborate theatrical plays. I’m sure Sol still has a couple of aces left up his sleeve.
“I cannot change my past, but I have claimed my freedom back,” he says. “The question is how do I weave my life from here?” Then Sol bursts into that infectious laugh.
Soliman Cruz also stars in Gusto Kita With All My Hypotalamus, currently running in select cinemas until Aug 21. See the full cinema schedule at tiny.cc/CinemaSchedule.