Italian actor-director biglang sikat sa Asia dahil sa Dolce Amore; Robin Tinawag Na Johnny Depp Ng Pinas
RUBEN SORIQUEZ, LIZA SOBERANO AT ENRIQUE GIL
MAS nakilala ang Italian actor-director sa iba’t ibang panig ng Asia na si Ruben Soriquez dahil sa Kapamilya series na Dolce Amore na pinagbidahan nina Liza Soberano at Enrique Gil.
Sa pamamagitan ng The Filipino Channel, marami nang nakakakilala sa kanyang mga Pinoy at bukod dito, kilalang-kilala na rin siya sa Malaysia, “Dolce Amore is a blessing, really. Kasi Dolce Amore now is being aired abroad, like in Malaysia. So I get a lot of following requests from Malaysian fans. Not only Pinoys living in Malaysia but also Malaysians. They love the teleserye.”
Siya ang gumanap na adoptive father ni Liza sa Dolce Amore na talagang tumatak sa mga manonood.
Nakachikahan namin si direk Ruben kamakailan, at naikuwento nga niya kung paano nagsimula ang career niya dito sa Pilipinas. Four years na pala siyang naninirahan dito sa bansa at nakapagdirek na ng isang award-winning Pinoy film.
Ito ang indie film na “Of Sinners And Saints” na siya rin ang bida kasama si Polo Ravales na nakasali sa 2015 World Premieres Film Festival-Philippines (ng Film Development Council of the Philippines).
Ang unang objective talaga ng Italian actor sa pagpunta sa Pilipinas ay para magdirek. Aniya, mas mura raw kasing gumawa ng pelikula dito kesa sa Italy, “My first aim is to direct only. But before, I was an actor in Italy, theater actor. And I studied two years in an acting academy before starting to direct.
“But I didn’t really push my acting here. I’m just lucky that I won best actor in ‘Of Sinners And Saints’. And then, that year, ABS-CBN was looking for an Italian actor who could act in English, little Tagalog, so they were searching on the Internet if ever there was somebody but they didn’t find anybody.
“When the project manager typed ‘Italian Actor Philippines’ in Google, they found me. But they don’t have my number. Luckily, June Rufino had my number. So she gave my number to ABS-CBN and they called me,” mahabang kuwento pa ni direk Ruben.
Inamin din niya na nami-miss na niyang makatrabaho ang LizQuen, “I’m not part of their new teleserye, yung Bagani. Pero, yeah, nami-miss ko sila makatrabaho ulit. Sana, sana magkaroon ulit ng project with them.”
“Actually I have a… I’m attached to a firm in the US as a director, but still it’s in a developing stage. So I have to go to US also as a director,” dugtong pa niya. Ibinalita rin niya ang tungkol sa isang bonggang-bonggang international project kasama ang isang sikat na celebrity pero bawal pang isapubliko.
Hopefully, maipalabas na rin this year ang bago niyang pelikula, “Meron akong isang bagong movie, ‘The Spider’s Men.’ Meaning the men of spiders. Kasama ko rito sina Richard Quan, Lee O’Brian boyfriend ni Pokwang), Jeffrey Tam the magician, Rob Sy. It’s a black comedy na ako rin ang nagdirek, nag-produce at sumulat.
“Ang tema is I will reconnect with my half-Pinoy brother. Pero may sakit siya, autistic siya (Richard). Comedy na may drama rin and there’s thriller, because some guys, they try to take advantage of me and my brother. It will be bloody. Actually, parang Quentin Tarantino style,” kuwento pa ni Ruben.
May isa pa siyang project na tinatapos, ang pelikulang “The Lease” kung saan kasama naman niya si Garie Concepcion. Isa itong paranormal thriller.
***
Kamakailan lang ay itinatag din niya ang European Philippines International Film Festival (EPIFF) kasama sina Maurizio Baldini at Lorenzo Galanti. “Its purpose is to bridge the gap between countries, particularly Philippines and Italy, through cinema.”
“I came up with the idea of doing a film festival in Italy because there’s a lot of Filipinos there. Originally I want to do it in Rome. But for the first annual film festival, it will happen in Florence,” chika pa ni direk Ruben.
Samantala, gusto rin daw niyang makatrabaho muli sina Sharon Cuneta at Robin Padilla na nakasama niya sa pelikulang “Unexpectedly Yours”. Bilib na bilib din daw siya kay Binoe as an actor, “I love the way he portrays his role, he’s so funny. I told people before that he reminds me of Johnny Depp, the way he acts, when he plays funny. And also both of them don’t age.”
Pangarap din niyang makasama sa mga susunod niyang proyekto sina Angel Locsin at Alessandra de Rossi.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.