Vice Ganda: ‘I have the best film’

CEBU, Philippines – If comedian Vice Ganda is nervous whether he’ll retain his perch on the throne as MMFF ruler as he’s had in the past years, he’s certainly not showing it.

It’s been a rollercoaster 2015 for the “It’s Showtime” ringleader, whose popular noontime program hit a major, unexpected nosedive with the came-out-of-nowhere birth of rival Eat Bulaga’s AlDub and Kalyeserye.

With Eat Bulaga’s Vic Sotto and the Tandem of the Year (Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza) fielding its own entry to MMFF 2015, the box office tides are predicted to turn against Vice’s favor. But if you ask the 39-year-old star, it’s business as usual in what has become his annual outing in the awaited holiday film festival.

“Nothing has changed. The competition has always been like this. There have always been good movies laid out during the Christmas season,” says Vice in a quick interview Friday evening after his promo show at SM City Cebu’s North Covered Parking Area.

“A lot of studios are preparing good entries, so the competition is quite healthy. The ultimate winners are the moviegoers, since they have a lot of choices.”

Once again, Star Cinema collaborated with Viva Films for the Wenn V. Deramas-directed “Beauty and the Bestie” starring Vice and Coco Martin.

The comedy centers on Erika (Vice), a gay photographer, and his former best friend, special agent Emman (Coco). Emman begs Erika to participate in a secret mission to pose as the missing Miss Uzeklovakia in the Miss Uniworld 2015 pageant to prevent the latter’s recluse country from waging a possible world war. As Erika accepts the mission, the former BFFs find themselves entangled in the crazy world of beauty pageants in their madcap adventure of finding the elusive Miss Uzeklovakia. Racing against time, Erika and Emman find themselves in an awkward situation that forces them to rekindle a past romance.

Vice says one distinction of this flick from his previous offerings was how the tables were turned in terms of his roles’ penchant for bashing.

“In my past films, my characters always bash my co-artists. I was asked by Deo Endrinal what made this different, kasi kong okrayan lang naman, it can be done by anyone,” he says. “Here, it’s Coco’s character who bashes me all the time. Kinawawa niya talaga ako dito.”

But Vice didn’t mind. The “Ang Probinsyano” star, he shares, is a co-actor’s dream. “Coco is very professional. For me, he is among the finest actors in the Philippines. He’s such a perfectionist, but in a good way. Not the perfectionist type who is annoying and has a lot of complaints. He is a joy to work with, because you know he’s just ensuring that we come up with a good product. He’s also very caring.”

Which was why no matter the physical challenges of his role, Vice took it all in stride, what with his leading man being the trouper that he was.

“Ang pinaka-bonggang eksena at hindi ko makalimutan ay yung kinaladkad ako ng kotse, kiniladkad ako ng helicopter at nilaglag ako sa dagat, tapos yung nilaglag kami sa burak ni Coco,” says Vice.

With a script by Mel del Rosario, “Beauty and the Bestie” marks the fifth team-up of the tandem of Deramas and Vice in the MMFF. After numerous partnerships, how do they keep their ideas fresh?

“We are conscious of the fact that people watch our previous movies again and again,” explains Vice. “I think it’s a known fact that our movies always become blockbusters every year. There are really people who watch out for our films and view it over and over. Dahil sila-sila rin yung nanonood at napakarami nila, we can’t repeat the same punchlines. We are very conscious of that. We make sure that we give the audience a different experience each time.”

Asked why “Beauty and the Bestie” should be topmost on the list of moviegoers, Vice says, “For me, this is the best entry in the film festival, because this movie is the most fun. In fact, my management said this is my funniest film so far. This is my best film so far. I’m certain the audience will really enjoy this. Hindi ako mapapahiya. There won’t be any reason for them to bash me here. If they do, then they must simply be just haters, and not because they didn’t like the film. I am confident I have a good product.”

This action-packed big screen romp also stars James Reid and Nadine Lustre, two of the hottest young stars today whose love team is soaring high on ABS-CBN’s top-rating primetime series “On The Wings of Love. Completing the wacky gang of “Beauty and the Bestie” are child actors Marco Masa and Alonzo Muhlach, Badji Mortiz, Karla Estrada, Ryan Bang, MC Calaquian and Lassy.

“Beauty and the Bestie” will premiere in cinemas nationwide on December 25.