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EXCLUSIVE: Noel Comia Jr., grateful to Carlo Aquino for guiding him in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay PH

Article (news)

Jemuel Tandoc

Push Team

Carlo Aquino has surely captured the hearts of audiences with his outstanding performance as Matthew ‘Mat-Mat’ Gonzales in the Philippine adaptation of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Equally impressive is young actor Noel Comia Jr., who plays the younger version of the character in the flashback scenes.In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN, Noel admitted how even he was surprised by how his performance came across on screen.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1754191679296THUMB-WITH-SHOW-TEMPLATES-Recovered.jpg" style="width:600px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div>“It feels fulfilling, nakaka-proud, and I&#x27;m so grateful kasi naging parte po ako ng It&#x27;s Okay to Not Be Okay. I didn&#x27;t expect it to turn out the way that it did. I didn&#x27;t know kung ano po ‘yung naging performance ko pero sana po mabigyan ko ng justice ‘yung role ko bilang young Carlo Aquino, bilang young Mat-Mat,” he said.The former child star also shared that it means a lot to him when people say he looks like Carlo Aquino. “I think they said na young Carlo Aquino. So, natuwa ako kasi people have been mentioning na kahawig ko si Kuya Carlo ng slight, ganyan. So, nakakatuwa.”But upon learning what his role would be, Noel admitted to feeling the pressure given the complexity of portraying a person with autism.“Noong nakita ko ‘yung role and the story itself, kinabahan ako ng mga 100%. Kasi, I&#x27;ve never done anything like this. I&#x27;ve never done a role where I had to portray a person with autism or in the spectrum. Very much of a huge challenge for me. And alam ko kay Kuya Carlo rin, challenging din siya,” he expressed.The Cinemalaya Best Actor revealed that they joined workshops together to help them fully understand and prepare for the challenging role.“Kaya ang ginawa namin ni Kuya Carlo ay nag-workshop kami together. We had a lot of sessions together para maging in sync ‘yung portrayal namin, ‘yung treatment namin sa character. ‘Yung ako as ‘yung young Mat-Mat, medyo malaki pa (‘yung movements niya); ‘yung kay Kuya Carlo, medyo nakokontrol niya na ng slight,” he explained. They also visited a school for people with autism to observe how they behave first-hand. This shared experienced further enriched their understanding and somehow helped them be more mindful of their portrayal.“Pumunta kami talaga sa school for people with autism para lang ma-immerse kami to how they really are in their own environment and how they react and treat other people. We worked on this together with Ms. Anna Feleo. We don&#x27;t really have a specific advice, pero paano kami nag-share ng thoughts sa isa&#x27;t isa na parang ‘ay siguro maganda to, siguro maganda yan’,” he recalled.Noel remained gratefulfor the opportunity worked alongside his seasoned co-star. “Sobrang generous ni Kuya Carlo. Sobrang grateful ako kasi siya ‘yung nakasama ko for this entire process.”He revealed that while he did watch the original version and some scenes of Moon Sang-tae, his character’s counterpart, he limited his viewing to keep his portrayal as natural and authentic as possible. It was a deliberate choice on his end, with the intention of being more natural in his portrayal and growth in the story.“I watched the scenes lang po ni Young Mat-Mat. Para lang makita kung paano po ‘yung ginawa sa Korea. But the entire series itself, I don&#x27;t know what it&#x27;s all about. I limited my knowledge to my story, ‘yung scope ng story ng Young Mat-Mat. Para hindi masyadong maraming nangyayari sa utak ko kasi baka ma-preempt ko sa emotions ko or baka ma-preempt ko sa acting ko ‘yung mangyayari,” he explained. “And I don&#x27;t want that to happen. Ang intention lang namin ni Miss Anna, ni Direk Mae, is for it to come out naturally, as natural as possible. Na hindi kami nagpre-prescribe na ganito ‘yung itsura ng tao na nasa spectrum. No, we don&#x27;t want it that way. Ang gusto namin is for them to feel like they are watching actually Mat-Mat and they are sympathizing with Mat-Mat,” he added.Noel was part of the hit children’s show Team Yey in 2016 and stayed on until its second season. His biggest break came in 2017 when he won the Cinemalaya Best Actor award for his powerful performance in the title role in Kiko Boksingero.

Talented young actor Noel Comia Jr. takes on another challenging role as the young Mat-Mat in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay PH. He also shared how Carlo Aquino has been a big help in guiding him as he portrays a character with autism.

Talented young actor Noel Comia Jr. takes on another challenging role as the young Mat-Mat in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay PH . He also shared how Carlo Aquino has been a big help in guiding him as he portrays a character with autism.