Having portrayed former President Emilio Aguinaldo in three films, Mon Confiado was able to embrace the best and worst sides of Aguinaldo, saying it was proof that even historical figures are human.
Confiado, who starred as Aguinaldo in ‘Heneral Luna,’ and ‘Goyo,’ is set to cap off his portrayal of the character in ‘Quezon,’ the third in the Bayaniverse film series. This time, the former president finds himself in a political rivalry with the then-presidential aspirant Manuel L. Quezon (Jericho Rosales).
‘Hindi ko naman masasabi na sobrang negative ang dating ni Aguinaldo. Medyo controversial ang ating pagtingin kay Aguinaldo at napakaraming tanong na papunta sa [anggulong], bayani ba ‘to?’ he said.
(I don’t want to paint Aguinaldo in a negative light. Others would just see him as controversial and wonder if he should be considered a hero.)
This is why Confiado focused on portraying Aguinaldo as a human, instead of a ‘villain.’
‘Noong pinupuntahan ko ang character ni Aguinaldo sa ‘Heneral Luna,’ hindi ko siya tinitingnan as kontrabida. Niyakap ko si Aguinaldo. Nalaman ko [rin ang] positive na ginawa niya,’ he said. ‘Marami siyang positive na ginawa pero kagaya ng pelikula, ang mga heroes natin ay tao lang.’
(When I approached Aguinaldo’s character in ‘Heneral Luna,’ I didn’t view him as a villain. I embraced him. I also discovered the positive things he did. He did a lot of positive things, but as shown in the film, our heroes are only human.)
The screen veteran added that one of the strengths of the Jerrold Tarog-helmed film is the portrayal of flaws, instead of hammering down the purpose of why the aforementioned historical figures are ‘heroes.’ ”Yun ang maganda kasi pinapakita ang flaws nila, lahat ng kapalpakan at pagkakamali, at si Aguinaldo na ang kanyang pagkabigo sa rebolusyon ay naging masalimuot. Napakaraming questions kung bakit nangyari ang gan’ong pagkakataon,’ he said.
‘Napakaganda for me as an actor na gampanan ito. Ang pinagdadasal ko lang ay sana kumita ang ‘Quezon’ kasi baka kainin ni Ma’am Daphne [Chiu] ang sinasabi niyang huli na itong trilogy na ‘to,’ he continued, referring to the president of TBA Studios.
(What’s good about the film is it shows their flaws, mistakes, and mishaps. Aguinaldo found himself in the dumps after losing the revolution. There were a lot of questions about why these things happened. It’s quite nice for me as an actor to do this. What I’m praying is for ‘Quezon’ to earn because Ma’am Daphne Chiu might take back her words that this trilogy would be the last.)
Joining Confiado and Rosales in the film are Romnick Sarmenta, Arron Villaflor, Karylle, Benjamin Alves and Ana Abad Santos.