It is always invigorating to look into the eyes of a young dreamer. In 20-year-old showbiz rookie Rex Lantano’s case, there is also something about that open-faced handsomeness that draws one in. It could be sincerity or perhaps passion, an overwhelming desire to leave a dent as an actor.
Rex has been flirting with the ‘biz for quite some time now, accepting almost any offer that came his way. When Shandii Bacolod agreed to take Rex in again, after an on-and-off talent-manager partnership, the former had to put his foot down.
“If I’m going to manage you,” Shandii remembers telling his ward. “We’ll do it my way. You have to wait. There is such a thing as career-pathing.”
And the wait was well worth it because in the ToFarm Film Festival entry “What Home Feels Like,” produced by Bacolod for B17 Film Productions, Rex is acting alongside two acting giants, Irma Adlawan and Bembol Roco.
Adlawan and Roco are both in the running for this year’s Gawad Urian in the Best Actress (she for “Oro”) and Best Actor (he for “Pauwi Na,” an entry in last year’s ToFarm) categories.
“Napaka-generous po nilang mga aktor,” Rex says of Adlawan and Roco. “Para nga pong hindi na sila nagpi-prepare for a take eh. Parang automatic na. Nagiging ibang tao na sila pagsigaw ng director ng ‘Action!’”
Rex isn’t in that league yet but his enthusiasm is so palpable it’s like you can almost touch it. “Nag-request po ako na makuha ko nang maaga ‘yung script. Binabasa ko po nang paulit-ulit.”
Julius Concepcion, the character Rex plays in “What Home Feeels Like,” is unlike the other parts he has been assigned in the past. “Thirty sequences po ako du’n sa movie,” Rex reports, grinning from ear to ear. “Ang talaga pong nasa isip ko, pagsisikapan ko na walang katapon-tapon sa mga scenes na nandu’n ako.”
During Rex’s first scene with Irma and Bembol, it was apparent that nervousness was getting in the way. Like an instant mentor, Irma pulled the newbie aside.
“She told us to relax,” remembers Rex. “That we should concentrate on the scene. That a scene works if the actors involved in it are working as a team. After that po, naging smooth na ang lahat.”
Rex is also blessed to have worked with the film’s director, Joseph Abello, who is generous and collaborative like industry veterans Adlawan and Roco. Abello is making his directorial debut in “What Home Feels Like,” a film that draws on Abello’s personal account as a child of an OFW father, a seafarer particularly, which is what Bembol also plays in the movie.
“First time ko pong naranasan na makapag-suggest sa director na wine-welcome po ni Direk,” shares Rex. “And every time po na nagustuhan n’ya ‘yung ginawa ko sa isang eksena, he’d say, ‘Ang galing mo, Rex.’”
If a film’s trailer is enough gauge of its merits, “What Home Feels Like” registers as a poetic contemplation about the futility of old age and alienation.
It is about a father who has worked as a seaman for more than three decades, missing out on many family milestones within that stretch of time. When he is forced into retirement, he discovers that he hardly knows the family he goes back to. In the same manner, he has become a stranger to his own wife and kids.
Rex will never forget what he believes is his best scene in the film where Bembol’s character makes an attempt to connect with his son, with only a door slightly ajar between them.
And yet the chasm that exists between father and son has become unbridgeable.
Rex says that he could have played it with bigger movements like any newbie giving his best shot to every chance he has to get noticed. Instead, he decided against it and opted to rely on his instincts. Acting, after all, is at its most affecting when it is coming straight from the heart. When emotions manifest without the need for words.
(“What Home Feels Like” is one of six film entries in the ongoing 2nd ToFarm Film Festival, which runs until July 18 at SM Megamall Cinema 8, SM Manila Cinema 12, Greenbelt Cinema 1, and Gateway Cineplex 4.)
