FOR promising hopefuls Lance Carr and Vince Conrad, patience is indeed a virtue.
Lance almost made a quick exit from show business to return to the hardcourt when nothing was happening to his career a few years ago, and then the Wattpad series from Viva happened and he realized that he should stay a little bit longer and see where destiny would lead him.
We spoke to Lance recently who is in the thick of promotions for the horror flick Rosario, directed by our filmmaker friend Topel Lee.
‘I enjoyed acting for this horror movie, a breather from the light romantic projects that were assigned to me in the past. I learned a lot from our director and I’m glad that I shared many scenes with Aubrey in this project because we work very well together and are good friends in real life,’ he shared.
The Aubrey that Lance is referring to is Aubrey Caraan, and their love team has caught the attention of Wattpad University series fans. The two rose to popularity when they did Avenues of the Diamond and Hell University. When not busy with acting projects, Lance always finds time to play basketball, his first love. ‘Basketball almost always recharges me. Shoots can sometimes leave me haggard because we do not get enough proper sleep hours, and exercise always helps-basketball specifically is a full body workout.’
We learned that Lance also knows the late Rene Baterbonia personally because they were schoolmates at the Ateneo de Davao High School. The two even shared moments on court during practice games in the past. ‘Rene was a good player and he was very grounded. He was well-loved on and off the court,’ Lance recalled. He also shared with us his views on the rising number of content creators who are using the loss to their personal advantage.
‘It is sad that there are a lot of people who are dipping their fingers into the tragedy, a lot of fake news just to attract viewers for their content and to have these monetized. It’s actually getting outrageous and bordering on being inhumane already-imagine riding on someone’s tragic death for self gain!’ Lance said, his disappointment manifest in his tone.
He added, ‘And it is even more sad that people are also very quick to pass judgment, as if they were there when the tragedy took place, as if they are in authority. If you are family or a really close friend who voice out their feelings, then I would understand because they are engulfed with emotions, but people who just want to ride on the case, for clout and personal gain, that’s really sad and despicable. Just let our fallen colleague rest, and rest in peace.’
Lance told us that he will be playing basketball at the special Viva All Star Games scheduled mid-August at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. ‘I’m looking forward to the fun games where I will be with my Viva family to play ball and entertain the fans at the same time!’
WINNING AT WCOPA
Theater actor Vince Conrad bagged multiple medals in the recently concluded World Championship of the Performing Arts (WCOPA), the same annual US-based competition that attracts promising hopefuls from the Philippines and other nations who can afford to represent their countries in various competition categories and who can successfully secure travel requirements for their quest.
Vince won gold, silver and bronze medals for various acting and vocal categories , and he was also accorded a short-term scholarship certificate sponsored by the New York Film Academy.
What surprised Vince was his big win in the Comical Acting category. ‘Comedy has never been the genre I naturally gravitate toward. I’ve always felt more at home in dramatic roles. Yet somehow, it was the piece I felt least confident about that God chose to use and bless me. I only finalized my comical acting piece the night before the preliminary competition then I had to make some last minute revisions before stepping onstage. By God’s grace, that same piece became the one that brought me to the grand finals and eventually earned me the title of WCOPA Division Champion for Acting.’
It was on different theater stages where Vince honed his gifts more than 10 years ago. His first lead role was in Gantimpala Theater Foundation’s Si Totong Tipaklong at ang Kapangyarihan ng Tag-araw. Vince also had the opportunity to work with theater thespians like Joel Lamangan, Laurice Guillen and National Artist for Music Fides Cuyugan-Asencio,
Vince is now part of Ilviso Artists, founded and managed by the highly-regarded and very amiable cinematographer-filmmaker Rain Yamson II, who is so happy with his talent’s milestones in Las Vegas.
Before he flew and competed, Vince was also part of the Frannie Zamora directed musical production Ibarra Ngayon. Vince acknowledged the theater productions he worked in as his training ground. His manager Rain also shared that Vince has also wrapped up work for Rommel Ramilo’s debut movie Liwanag at Dilim, a biopic of Emilio Jacinto.
Both Lance Carr and Vince Conrad are on the right track, and they should just continue with their artistic pursuits armed with determination, hard work, humility, sincerity, and more patience.
We hope they will just let their actions and achievements define them as artists and not allow their egos to get overblown. The future looks bright and their respective paths to success in the entertainment business certainly look much clearer and wider now.