This year, he has finished two new movies where he once again gives pang-award performances: “Iadya Mo Kami” and “Sekyu”. In “Iadya”, directed by Mel Chionglo, he plays a young priest who gets a girl pregnant and is later implicated in a crime. In “Sekyu”, directed by Joel Lamangan (who has helmed him before in several films like “Dukot”, “Patikul”, “Migrante”, etc.) he plays a simple security guard whose life is messed up by circumstances that are not of his own doing and beyond his control.
Which one is more difficult to interpret for him? “Mahirap pareho, but in ‘Iadya’, very controlled ang emotions ko kasi yun ang gusto ni Direk Mel. He keeps on saying he wants a stoic kind of acting. Actually, mas mabigat yung role ko sa ‘Sekyu’ kasi family man siya and family man din ako in real life. In real life, talagang lagi kong iniisip na baka may mangyari sa wife ko at mga anak namin. Of course, I pray na what happened to my character in ‘Sekyu’, sana naman hindi mangyari sa akin in real life.”
Allen is glad to be part of ABS-CBN’s new afternoon soap, “Doble Kara”, where he’s paired with Carmina Villaroel. “Naninibago kasi four times a week ang taping namin,” he says. “Dahil nga sa hectic schedule ko, hindi ako nakasama sa Toronto Filmfest kunsaan entry this September and isa ko pang movie na natapos this year, ‘Imbisibol’, where I play an aging Japayuki hosto. Nakuha na rin ito sa Tokyo and Fukuoka International Filmfests. Naninibago rin ako sa soap namin kasi iba ang acting sa TV dramas. You have to make bigger movements, iba ang atake. Naga-adjust pa rin ako dahil sanay ako sa indie films na ang gusto ng mga director, mas controlled, mas restrained ang acting mo. But enjoy ako sa taping kasi puro mababait ang kasama ko, from Carmina and Julia Montes to Mylene Dizon and Ariel Rivera. Lagi kaming masaya sa set.”
