Elijah shares takeaway from Romnick’s acting method in “About Us But Not About Us”

Elijah Canlas, at a young age, is winning accolades and unparalleled admiration as a thespian. He recently demonstrated huge versatility in the experimental film “About Us But Not About Us,” a widely acclaimed entry to the inaugural Summer Metro Manila Film Festival.

Kapamilya Chat caught up with the actor. Read on and watch the episode to know his process of building his portrayal in the said movie and his experience working with the festival’s Best Actor, Romnick Sarmenta.

For Elijah, just to be lined up in the 2023 Summer MMFF was enough of an achievement for their team, but to bring home major awards takes the pride much, much higher. “Sobrang hindi namin in-expect ‘yun, eh. Just getting into that festival for our small film meant a lot. To be given that platform na mapapanood ng mga Pilipino ‘yung gano’ng klase ng pelikula, malaking karangalan. So, the fact na madami kaming nakuhang awards, we’re super grateful for that,” he smiled, showing appreciation to those who continue to support and give them praise.

With Elijah’s humility, we can say that victory was placed in the right hands. And despite being tagged a small film, their team’s incredible talent was enough to produce a cinematic masterpiece.

“As much as it’s a small film na two actors lang, ganyan, sobrang laki ng input creatively ng buong team like production designers, cinematographer. That film wouldn’t have been that if it weren’t for them.” Before MMFF, “About Us But Not About Us” took part at the 26th Tallin Black Nights Festival in Estonia where it was awarded Best Film in the Critics’ Pick Competition.

According to Elijah, the movie was done in 5 days. He and Romnick just had individual preparations. They didn’t talk chemistry and acting styles until their first shooting day. And since the pre-production work started during the pandemic, their meetings were done virtually.

It helped that they speak the same language – theater. He also saw a mentor in him, a “big brother” as he puts it, though they didn’t talk much off-cam since Romnick is a naturally quiet guy until one particular break time. “Dahil nga nakaupo lang kami the whole shoot, isang beses nag-cut, kinailangan naming tumayo kasi masakit na ‘yung puwet namin kakaupo. Labas kami, nagpahangin lang kami. Tapos nagkuwentuhan na kami,” he recalled.

“After that, nag-usap na kami, ‘Ano’ng plano mo, Kuya Nick about this?’ Tatanungin na niya ako kung anong gagawin ko dito sa eksena na ‘to. He’s very collaborative in that sense.”

Elijah admitted to feeling pressured that he overrehearsed some scenes. He planned every movement, as he does in theater. “Dahil laking-theater nga ako, nakasanayan ko ‘yung gano’ng preparation. I studied theater back in high school, graded talaga kami. As in binabasa ng teacher lahat ng scripts namin para malaman nila kung nag-prepare kami. Nadala ko ‘yun hanggang ngayon, sometimes it’s a good thing, sometimes it’s a bad thing.”

But, in this movie, Director Jun Robles Lana wanted a more natural approach. “One day sa shoot, I had this monologue where [my character] was talking about his experiences as a child, so emotional. Sobrang pinrepare ko ‘yun.”

“Tapos after take, si Direk Jun, sabi niya masyado naman daw nakakanto ‘yung acting. Sa sobrang preparation ko, parang halata na I’m going from one step to the next unit. Gusto niya mas flowy. So I had to let go of my preparations at that point,” he realized his character requires him to be in the moment.

He divulged that even Romnick didn’t pore into the script until their first reading via Zoom, “Hindi niya masyadong pinag-isipan para pagdating niya sa set, natural, truthful. Sabi ko, hindi ko alam kung kaya ko ‘yun. Pero nag-work sa kanya. Ang husay-husay niya, eh. Sabi ko, ‘Kuya Nick, baka nakawin ko ‘yung proseso mo sa next project ko, ah.”

Actors like Elijah dedicate their whole selves to their characters’ emotions, so learning to repress them is a different kind of challenge. In “About Us But Not About Us,” Elijah mastered acting only through his eyes. “Mas sanay ako na napi-physicalize ko ‘yung feelings but nag-push through naman ‘yung gusto naming magawa.”

Those who’ve watched the movie have sure recognized his brilliance in the scene where he embodied another character, to which Romnick portrayed the grown-up version. This, he said, was the most challenging scene for him. He mentioned that Romnick let him do it first and just copied what he delivered, adding more to the pressure. “I really had to dig deep just to justify that character. Panoorin n’yo para ma-gets n’yo,” he teased.

Apart from the social commentaries infused in the film, Elijah’s greatest takeaway from this is there’s no one-size-fits-all formula in acting. “Sometimes ‘yung process ko doesn’t work for all my projects. ‘Yung pagiging overprepared, ‘yung pag-prepare ko sa script, sometimes hindi siya nagwo-work lagi. Si Kuya Romnick delivered that great, great performance and sobrang different ng process namin sa isa’t isa,” he mused.

Elijah has already done one of his dream roles, which is to play a mentally challenged person. But he also wishes to act in a sci-fi project. On the pressure to outdo his every performance, the award-winning actor explained that he tries to avoid repetition in his portrayals.

“I really have to transform everytime. And it’s hard kasi tao lang din ako. I can only do so much. I’m not the best actor. I have so much to learn pa. But I like pressure. Competitive din kami na pinalaki ng magulang namin. So, ‘yung competition na ginagawa ko, with myself. So, kung disappointed ‘yung iba, kung nag-eexpect ‘yung iba ng mas better, I’ll use that to make myself better,” he shared.

Apart from his dream to become an astronaut as a kid, Elijah has always wanted to make movies. That’s why despite the sky-high pressure, he finds happiness in his craft.