BENJAMI ALVES plays a challenging role in “Adarna” that is so not him: a sangganong kanto boy. “Ako si Bok, isang tambay, siga-siga, palaboy sa kalye, pero ako ang naging best friend ni
Kylie Padilla as Ada na inaapi ng lahat dahil kuba siya,” he says. “Big challenge sa’kin ang role kasi I grew up in Guam na hindi exposed sa mga kanto boy. I’m glad our director, Ricky Davao, helped me in fleshing out my role. Yung ibang nuances, like yung paglalagay ng sigarilyo sa tenga, sa’kin na nanggaling. Nakita ko yun sa mga tambay sa Las Pinas where I live now. Challenge din na ipapakita ko ritong naninigarilyo ako when I don’t smoke in real life. Magiging madumi ang hitsura ko rito, unshaven, tough guy ang dating. Natuwa naman ako when Direk Ricky told me I was able to nail the role right.”
Aside from “Adarna”, Benjamin is also in the Saturday night docu-drama, “Katipunan”, which is getting great feedback, and in the Cinema One indie film, “Islands”, where he plays an astronaut. “Challenging din ang roles ko as a Katipunero and as an astronaut,” he says. “’Katipunan’ is my first period drama and eye-opener sa’kin ito as I’m learning so much about our history. In ‘Islands’ naman, I’m shown by myself inside a spaceship at mag-isa akong kumakain, nage-exercise.”
