NICO ANTONIO has done several films where he played a gay role, including “Straight to the Heart”, “Echorsis”, “Sana Dati”, “All of You” and “Dedma Walking”. His first movie for this year was “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes” about two gay husbands and he played a macho dancer who seduces one of them. Now, he plays the security guard who helps an aging couple get to Ilocos in “Delia and Sammy” and its director, Therese Cayaba, thinks he deserves to win a best supporting actor award for being an effective comic relief in the movie. What can he say about this? “Naku, ayokong mag-expect,” he says. “Kasi before, I had an entry sa Cinemalaya where I played a victim of police brutality and those who saw it said mananalo ako, but when I saw the performance of Sir Eddie Garcia in ‘Bwakaw’, all my hopes were crushed. So ngayon, di na ko nage-expect. Basta pinagbubuti ko na lang ang performance ko lagi. In ‘Dalawang Mrs. Reyes’, I felt so fulfilled when I watched it sa sinehan and the people were really laughing sa mga eksena ko. Dito sa ‘Delia and Sammy’, sa script pa lang, tawang-tawa na ko sa role ko and I’d like to thank our director for allowing me to do some adlibs in interpreting my role.”
How was it acting with Rosemarie Gil and Jaime Fabregas? “Si Sir Jaime, ilang beses na kami nagkatrabaho and he really made me feel good when he reminded me na una kaming nagkasama in ‘Here Comes the Bride’, a big comedy hit, and he told me: ‘Nag-improve ka, Nico.’ Si Ms. Rosemarie, I saw her past movies, like ‘Batch 81’ at galing na galing ako sa kanya. Intimidated ako at first, but it’s such an honor to act with her now, lalo na nga’t classmate ko sa Ateneo noon ang apo niya, si Sid Lucero.”
After this, Nico is doing another comedy, “Pinay Beauty”, about beauty pageants, starring Maxine Medina and Chai Fonacier. Nico has a degree in European Studies from Ateneo and he finished law at San Sebastian, but acting is really his passion. “Wala naman akong ilusyon na maging matinee idol. Contented ako doing character roles na hindi ikaw ang nape-pressure kung kikita ang movie o hindi. Ang gusto ko lang, makilala ako ng mga tao on my own. Kasi ngayon, kapag nakikita ko in public, sasabihin sa’kin: Sino ka nga? So maalala man lang sana kung sino nga ako.”
Off cam, Nico is married to Angel Garces-Antonio and they have two sons, Gelo, 6 years old, and Jacob, 5 months old.
How was it acting with Rosemarie Gil and Jaime Fabregas? “Si Sir Jaime, ilang beses na kami nagkatrabaho and he really made me feel good when he reminded me na una kaming nagkasama in ‘Here Comes the Bride’, a big comedy hit, and he told me: ‘Nag-improve ka, Nico.’ Si Ms. Rosemarie, I saw her past movies, like ‘Batch 81’ at galing na galing ako sa kanya. Intimidated ako at first, but it’s such an honor to act with her now, lalo na nga’t classmate ko sa Ateneo noon ang apo niya, si Sid Lucero.”
After this, Nico is doing another comedy, “Pinay Beauty”, about beauty pageants, starring Maxine Medina and Chai Fonacier. Nico has a degree in European Studies from Ateneo and he finished law at San Sebastian, but acting is really his passion. “Wala naman akong ilusyon na maging matinee idol. Contented ako doing character roles na hindi ikaw ang nape-pressure kung kikita ang movie o hindi. Ang gusto ko lang, makilala ako ng mga tao on my own. Kasi ngayon, kapag nakikita ko in public, sasabihin sa’kin: Sino ka nga? So maalala man lang sana kung sino nga ako.”
