PAOLO GUMABAO stars in two new movies after winning two acting awards for his movie last year, “Lockdown”. Now being shown on Vivamax Plus is “Sisid”, directed by Brillante Mendoza, and starting to stream on January 28 is “Silip sa Apoy”, directed by Mac Alejandre.
“I feel so blessed kasi kasisimula pa lang ng taon, may dalawang bagong movies ako agad,” he says. “And both are directed by good directors who I really enjoyed working with. I learned different things from each of them, also from Direk Joel Lamangan in ‘Lockdown’.”
In “Sisid”, he has bed scenes with both Kylie Versoza and Vince Rillon. In “Silip sa Apoy”, he has sexy scenes with Angeli Khang. What can he say to the comment of some detractors that all Vivamax does is sexy flicks?
“I respect their opinion but I think some of them make such comments kahit hindi pa nila napapanood ang mga pelikula ng Vivamax,” he says. “The movies of Vivamax are just focusing on reality more. Love and lust is part of our life and that’s what we show, as realistically as possible.
"But it’s just a part of the film. ‘Sisid’ also focuses on environmental protection, kung paano aalagaan ang ating karagatan. ‘Silip sa Apoy’ is about domestic violence and woman empowerment, so hindi sila puro sex lang.”
In “Sisid”, he figures in a gay love story with Vince Rillon and they have scorching love scenes. How did he prepare for it?
“We shot the film in Mindoro at pagdating pa lang namin sa set, I tried establishing good rapport with him right away and I can feel na yun rin ang gusto niyang mangyari. Sabay kaming nagkape at naging close kami agad.
"Before we did the sexy scenes, nag-uusap kami, sabi ko, pare, sasagarin ko ito ha. And he said, sige, ako rin, sasagarin ko rin, para hindi na ipaulit sa atin. Nakikiliti siya sa bigote ko, so nagtatawanan kami. We were so relaxed on the set.”
In “Silip sa Apoy”, he was more careful in his bedscenes with Angeli Khang, who plays his neighbor, the battered wife of Sid Lucero who he rescues from her abusive husband.
“Actually, mas comfortable ako sa kissing scene with a guy, kasi you don’t have to be that delicate. Pareho kayong lalaki, e. Sa babae, you have to be more careful.
"I ask muna kung okay lang ba gawin ko ito sa eksena namin. You have be more respectful and not cross any lines para hindi siya ma-offend and think you’re taking advantage of her.”
Now that he’s with Viva, would he like to work with his older brother, Marco Gumabao, who’s been with Viva for sometime now?
“Yes, I really want to work with him, so I was delighted when the offer from Viva came. I even visited him and I told him na, sana, magkaroon kami ng film together. Sabi niya, sana nga. We really both welcome the experience of working with each other. At sana, maganda yung material.”
