TONTON GUTIERREZ has two new movies this month.
Opening on December 13 is “Unspoken Letters” and, on Christmas Day as an entry in the coming Metro-Manila Filmfest, he is in the cast of “Family of Two”.
What are his roles in these films?
“In ‘Unspoken Letters’, I’m the eldest son of Simon Ibarra na malaki ang galit sa kanya,” he says.
“My stepmom here is my real life wife, Glydel Mercado, kasi iba yung mother ko. Namatay na.
"I have four half siblings, played by Gladys Reyes, Orlando Sol, Christine Samson, and the youngest is Jhassy Busran, who’s being introduced in the movie and is mentally impaired.”
We’ve seen the movie and Tonton delivers quite persuasively in his dramatic confrontation scenes with Simon Ibarra and his siblings.
He also has a solo scene where he goes to the tomb of Glydel in the cemetery and talks to her to pour his heart out in sharing his grudges with his dad. It’s a crying scene and he really handled it superbly.
So what is his role in “Family of Two”? “The story is really more about Sharon Cuneta and her son, played by Alden Richards. Alden plays matchmaker for his mom and introduces me to her hoping it will start a serious romance between us.”
He was one of Sharon’s favorite leading men then. How is working with her again?
“It was really nice to be reunited with Sharon again after so long. We did a lot of films together before, like ‘Nakagapos na Puso’, ‘Pasan Ko ang Daigdig’, ‘Kahit Wala Ka Na’, ‘Kung Aagawin Mo ang Lahat sa Akin’, ‘Kaputol ng Isang Awit’ and others.
"So ngayon, pareho na kaming nagkaedad na, she’s still as warm as before.
"It feels really nice to have a movie na official entry sa darating na Metro-Manila Filmfest.”
Tonton is 55 years old but he has maintained his good looks and never even gained excess weight. What is his secret?
“There’s really no secret,” he says. “I think it’s because I lead a life that is stress free.
"Kung may problema man na dumating, just look for the right solution and solve it.
"I try to have a relaxed life. Kung wala akong work, by ten PM, usually, tulog na ako.
"And I have good relationship with my wife. Next year, we will be celebrating our 2Oth anniversary of a peaceful relationship.”
Tonton and Glydel were blessed with two pretty daughters, Aneeza and Aneeka. Aneeza tried acting in a movie with Joaquin Domagoso but she eventually to chose to pursue a college education and is now studying in a university in Singapore.
“Yun naman talaga ang gusto namin, mag-focus muna sila sa studies nila.
"I tell them na gayahin nila ang kanilang Ate Janina Gutierrez, daughter of my brother, Ramon Christopher, nagtapos muna ng college saka pumasok sa showbiz, and now, her career is doing very well.”
Another brother of his, Richard Gutierrez, is very much in the news because of his rumored marital breakup with wife Sarah Lahbati.
“Naku, if you’d ask me about about that, I'm sorry as I cannot share anything with you kasi, sa totoo lang, wala akong alam.
"Our brother Rocky has a new baby and had a christening recently. I saw him there but out of respect for him, hindi ako nagtanong.
"Wala rin akong tinanong sinuman sa mga kapatid namin. That’s how much we respect each other.”