MON CONFIADO just won the Eddy best supporting actor award for his role as a corrupt cop in “Arisaka”.
Folks now say he has a good chance of bagging another trophy in the Metro Manila Filmfest Awards Night.
This is for his effective portrayal of the intruder who messes up the lives of Ian Veneracion and Heaven Peralejo in the lone suspense-thriller entry, “Nananahimik ang Gabi.”
“This is one of the most challenging characters I’ve played in my career,” he says.
“When Direk Shugo Praico sent me the script and I read it, my character really excited me so much. We had a one-on-one meeting and I told him all my inputs.
"Then, as part of my method of preparation, I immersed myself in the role, namundok ako sa Baguio and spent ten days in Pangasinan.
"Pinag-aralan kong mabuti ang character ko, his moves, kasi kakaunti ang lines namin sa movie. What I did is part of my journey going to the isolated mansion where Ian and Heaven are staying in the movie.”
He was in character while they have lock in shooting on location in Tagaytay.
“After the shoot, nahirapan naman akong iwanan yung role. Kasi ang daming layers sa pagkakasulat ng character at na-absorb ko talaga siya.
"He’s really a mysterious character at hirap na hirap akong bitiwan siya.
"When you watch the movie, makikita nyo ang hitsura ko at sabi nga ni Direk Shugo, I did a lot of sacrifices to be convincing in the role.
"Ilang beses ko ring nasaktan sina Ian at Heaven. Very physical ang roles namin. Nagkapasa-pasa kami. Grabe.”
Heaven butts in at this point. “At hindi naligo si Kuya Run during the shoot. Hahaha!”
Mon asks her: “Naamoy mo ba? It’s true, ilang araw din akong hindi naligo.
"Pero nagtu-toothbrush naman ako ha. Actually, kung ano yung suot ko sa entire shoot, hindi ko hinuhubad. Nakakatulong sa akin bilang aktor.
"Kasi supposed to be, one night lang nangyari ang whole movie, kaya kung ano ang suot namin, yun na yun hanggang sa ending ng movie.”
He also did not talk to Ian and Heaven on the set.
“Sila, sweet sa isa’t isa. Part yun ng motivation nila. Pero ako, we’re adversaries sa story kaya hindi ko sila kinakausap in between takes, para in character talaga ako.
"I think naging effective naman, as you’ll find out when you watch the movie.”
Mon is really very dedicated when a role is assigned to him. For his role as a menacing villain in “Diplomat Hotel”, he shed off about 20 lbs. And for his role in “Goyo, Batang Heneral”, he gained 25 lbs to be convincing as Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.
“I’m really flattered na ako ang napili nina Direk Shugo, Philip King and Lino Cayetano for my role in ‘Nananahimik ang Gabi’.
'I heard more than ten daw kaming pinagpilian and in the end, sa akin napunta, so very thankful ako for giving me the chance to play this once in a lifetime role. I really had to explore my dark side for this role.”
His hope is for moviegoers to return to the moviehouses this coming Metro-Manila Filmfest.
“The pandemic really changed us in a lot of ways. So sana, moviegoers will be encouraged to go to the theaters again kasi magaganda ang walang entries sa filmfest. And among them, kami lang ang suspense thriller, yung iba are comedy, family drama, romance, horror.
"Kami lang ang may home invasion story so sana, ma-curious ang mga tao kasi we really did our best para mapaganda ang ‘Nananahimik ang Gabi’.”