Zanjoe Marudo on starring in remakes: I like adding my own style | ABS-CBN

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Zanjoe Marudo on starring in remakes: I like adding my own style

Karen Flores Layno,

ABS-CBN News

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 Zanjoe Marudo (right) in a scene with Dolly de Leon in
Zanjoe Marudo (right) in a scene with Dolly de Leon in "Keys to the Heart." Courtesy of Netflix


MANILA -- Zanjoe Marudo is no stranger to the pressure of starring in remakes and adaptations.

After getting praise for his portrayal of a cheating husband in the hit series "The Broken Marriage Vow," which is based on Britain's "David Foster" and South Korea's "World of the Married," he once again stars in a remake of another successful project.

This time it's "Keys to the Heart," a South Korean comedy-drama film released in 2018. He takes on the character of a washed-up boxer who tries to reconnect with his mother (Dolly de Leon) and younger brother with autism (Elijah Canlas).

"Ewan ko ba kung bakit palagi akong nao-offer-an ng mga adaptation," he admitted in jest during a recent media huddle. "Grabe 'yung pressure na binibigay kasi, especially kapag nag-hit 'yung show or movie."

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But instead of focusing on surpassing the original or meeting audience expectations, Marudo opts to focus on adding his own style to the roles he plays.

He said he draws from personal experiences -- in "Keys to the Heart," for instance, he treats Canlas' character similar to the way he helped raise a relative who is on the spectrum.

"May experience din ako dahil 'yung niece ko nasa spectrum," he shared. "Malaking tulong din siguro 'yung I don't treat her differently sa bahay namin... Puwede niyang gawin kung ano gusto niyang gawin, pero 'pag may ginawa siyang mali pagsasabihan ko."

"Siguro nabitbit ko 'yun sa paggawa ng movie, kung paano ko tratuhin 'yung character ni Elijah... Malaking tulong din na na-experience ko sa pamilya ko kaya ang ganda ng kinalabasan ng pagiging magkapatid namin," he added.

Marudo hopes that viewers will momentarily forget about the original upon watching the remake of "Keys to the Heart," which is now streaming on Netflix.

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He feels that he has achieved his goal if audiences are able to hold on to their characters.

"Para sa akin, wala sa goal ko 'yung pantayan, gayahin, o lampasan kung ano 'yung original content. Andoon ako sa magbigay ako ng sarili kong style... Na at least in the 1.5 hours or the whole film, sana makalimutan lang nila 'yung original at kumapit lang sila sa mga binuo naming characters," he said. "And then after the movie [saka nila maisip na], may adaptation pala."

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Director Kerwin Go had a similar approach as he went on board for the "Keys to the Heart" remake, saying he "wanted to be selfish and see what kind of movie I would make" instead of "trying to listen to any other influence from outside."

"If I internalized how difficult it would be and went into the details of it, I'd go crazy. So the way I thought of it was like, I was given the opportunity to direct this, so maybe I can change it," he said.

"I watched the original and yeah, this is cool, but maybe this can be better if we added an arc here for a character, maybe we could shuffle the story around," he added.

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Go went on to share that he allowed his cast to freely interpret their respective characters. De Leon, for instance, did not watch the original "Keys to the Heart" because she did not want it to influence her performance.

In the case of Michelle Dee, she was given a stronger, more empowered character compared to the original to suit her personality.

"Her (Dee's) original character is a little more passive. But since si Michelle is who she is -- she likes to race cars, she likes to shoot guns and ride horses -- so we wanted to make her character in line with that. So the character is... more empowered siya and mas bagay kay Michelle," Go explained.

AUTISM AWARENESS

Dee, who is set to represent the Philippines in this year's Miss Universe pageant, for her part said being in "Keys to the Heart" is a dream come true, given her advocacy for autism awareness.

"I have two siblings on the autism spectrum, one older [and] one younger. So when I nailed this role after the auditions, I was really, really happy about it," she said. "It's been one of my goals talaga as an actress to be part of a film that promotes inclusivity."

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"There are projects out there that actually shed a negative light, parang pinagtatawanan 'yung mga individuals on the spectrum and it promotes bullying, which is the complete opposite of what this film is. It really highlights how talented these individuals are, how much potential they have," she added.

Dee was all praises for Canlas for his portrayal of a person with autism in the movie.

Canlas, for his part, said he has always wanted to take on a role that is "physically and mentally challenging," and spent a lot of time immersing himself in his character.

Elijah Canlas in a scene from
Elijah Canlas in a scene from "Keys to the Heart." Courtesy of Netflix

"Going into it may mga ideas ako on how I will do it, I watch all these films, and then the original... And then we started to do seminars and immersions," he said. "Ibang level din 'yung mga na-meet ko [na people] on the spectrum, they were all such beautiful and kind human beings."

Go also commended Canlas' performance in "Keys to the Heart," saying: "If he did not get this part right, hindi accurate ang portrayal ng whole movie... So kudos to him for actually going to it, studying it, and spending time with people on the spectrum. So he kind of absorbed it all in. It was not acting, he actually became the character."

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