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How Alex Mallari Jr. fought to highlight his Filipino background in 'The Adam Project'

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/edzMuf-Pv2E?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>Alex Mallari Jr.&#x27;s family left Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines to live in Canada when he was four years old but he never forgot his Filipino roots.So when he booked his first feature role in &#x27;The Adam Project,&#x27; the actor asked the film&#x27;s stunt coordinator Jim Churchman if he can incorporate part of his culture in his character&#x27;s fighting style. He plays the villain Christos in Netflix&#x27;s sci-fi action adventure film.&quot;I was on the phone with Jim. I was like, &#x27;I&#x27;m Filipino. I want to give a little head tilt to my people, so can I use these arnis sticks?&#x27; And then he goes, &#x27;Well, yeah, man, we&#x27;ll try to squeeze that in there.&#x27; It starts as the two sticks. I was like, &#x27;Thank you. I just needed something that shows I&#x27;m Filipino.&#x27; So there&#x27;s that, and that was my input. And I was like, &#x27;You guys could do whatever else you want with me. And I will abide. I just have one request, and that was it.&#x27; So I was happy that they allowed it,&quot; Mallari shared.In the movie&#x27;s pivotal scenes, Mallari goes up against &#x27;Deadpool&#x27; star Ryan Reynolds who plays a man trying to save the world.The film&#x27;s theme of making peace with your own mistakes and history is something that resonated with Mallari. He was a taekwondo champion at six years old, but his athletic career was cut short by an injury which, devastating as it was, paved the way for him to pursue acting.&quot;It was a point where I had to face world and say &#x27;Look, I can be here and keep trying, or I could find a different avenue.&#x27; And so I went to University of Toronto for a year, and I heard an advertisement on the radio, you know, &#x27;if you want to be on in commercials, call this number.&#x27; I called the number, and that was the beginning of that journey, and here I am.&quot;From childhood, he had an unspoken dream of becoming an action star. He knew, however, that historically, there was a lack of opportunities for Filipinos in Hollywood.&quot;There are challenges in everything. But I think, as a Filipino earlier on in my career, I mean still now, I really go for open ethnicity roles. I think I&#x27;ve had maybe two or three Filipino auditions and lucky enough I was able to book them all. It&#x27;s finding the recognition that Filipinos exist in the world at all, and that we deserve to be on the big stage and on the big screen with everyone else,&quot; Mallari said.Mallari starred in the Canadian SyFy TV series &#x27;Dark Matter&#x27; which ran from 2015 to 2017. Frequently cast in villainous roles, the actor is thankful to fellow Asian Canadian and &#x27;Shang Chi&#x27; Marvel hero Simu Liu for giving him an opportunity to play a romantic lead in the upcoming CBC Gem digital series &#x27;Hello (Again)&#x27; which the latter co-produced.Mallari is also filming season 2 of the Netflix series &#x27;Ginny &amp; Georgia,&#x27; continuing his role as a private investigator.&quot;I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;ve ever seen a Filipino with a Texan accent, so I was like, &#x27;Can I just do it and try it?&#x27; And lo and behold, they let it happen, and here I am. Season 2 still doing the thing.&quot;&#x27;The Adam Project&#x27; also stars Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, and Walker Scobell.

Filipino Canadian actor Alex Mallari Jr. talks about his journey to the big screen and how he gave a nod to his Filipino heritage in his first big film, ‘The Adam Project.’