Count on Martin del Rosario’s acting brilliance to breathe life to a new role in GMA-7’s remake of the 1987 flick, Pinulot Ka Lang Sa Lupa, which originally starred Lorna Tolentino, Gabby Concepcion, and Maricel Soriano.
For this year’s reboot, the new Kapuso TV drama finds Martin sharing top billing with Benjamin Alves, Julie Anne San Jose, LJ Reyes, and Jean Garcia. He plays Arthur “Kiko” Villaraza.
“I think they wanted to give the plot a different twist,” Martin reveals.
“Kasi in the original plot, it’s the usual triangle. They thought it would be more interesting to see someone else adding tension to that equation. That’s me.”
“I will play Santina’s (Julie Ann) best friend who will fall for her in the process, but she sees me as just a friend, especially when Ephraim (Benjamin) comes into the picture. I’ll play a fighter here. I will fight for Santina in the course of the story.”
Since he will be playing a totally new role, Martin finds it liberating not to be pressured into referencing the original story.
“More of an advantage, less of the pressure, since there will be no basis for comparison with the original version. So I’m free to tackle the role the way I want to. No need to stick to formulas,” he adds.
And just how challenging is this new role for him?
“Very challenging,” he admits.
“Because my role is yung medyo bugoy na makulit. I rarely play that character, and I’m also not like that in real life. That’s why I really put a lot of effort and detail in my role here.”
The Kapuso actor was also intrigued by the original story, which he reviewed out of curiosity.
“Yes, I got to read the plot of the original story. Yung basic story lang. Just for me to have a reference on the story’s theme. But then again, the remake is an entirely new story altogether. Not at all faithful to the original,” he clarifies.
Being a perfectionist, Martin actually watches most of their outtakes to nitpick and find areas for improvement.
He says, “I watch the actual takes, and if I have time, I also do watch the episodes on TV, just to see if I need to improve my execution.”
Martin also feels thankful for Direk Gina Alajar’s professionalism.
He shares, “Masarap katrabaho si direk Gina. You can feel her passion for her craft, and she knows to motivate her actors and bring out the best in all of us. I feel lucky working with her.”
When not busy shooting, he puts on his entrepreneurial cap and heads out to The Armory where he remains hands-on with his management duties. The bar, located at the new Congressional/Commonwealth Ave. stretch, continues to attract a steady customer base since it opened last year.
ALV Talent Circuit is managing the career of Del Rosario.
