Paul Christian Ocampo

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Rodriguez admits hesitation to play a husband going through annulment

Article (news)

Jemuel Tandoc

Push Team

<p>Tom Rodriguez won both viewers’ and critics’ attention with his portrayal of Stephen in <em>Unmarry</em>, ultimately earning him the Best Supporting Actor award at the last Metro Manila Film Festival.</p><p>In an exclusive interview with <strong>PUSH ABS-CBN</strong>, he revealed that he was initially scared to take on the role.</p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770722982528PUSH-Tom-Rodriguez-Is-Hesitant-To-Play-Husband-Going-Through-Divorce-Role.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><p>“Of course. Like anyone, especially like my life, having been public, people may have misconceptions. Yun yung isa sa parang (I’m) scared of when accepting this type of role ‘yung what people will think of me and who I am in real life. Will it get blended? Na baka they&#x27;ll call it the same way of chismis lang or things that they think they might know about me? Or will I accept a project that I really believe in?” Tom openly admitted.</p><p>But the leading man said he simply trusted the project and decided to go for it.</p><p>“I chose to just take a leap and trust that I wouldn&#x27;t make the wrong choice given the writer, the producer, the director, the entire cast. And I&#x27;m glad. I think I made the right decision kasi kahit ako inis ako sa sarili ko. But, oh man, what a payoff kasi really highlighted the main character&#x27;s story,” he shared.</p><p>Tom also admitted feeling guilty during his antagonistic scenes, so much so that he told his real-life wife about it.</p><p>“I knew he would be hateable (because of) how he&#x27;s written but he&#x27;s a needed part of the story. I had to turn up the D-bag levels 200% to the point that I would feel bad every time I would have a scene with Angelica (Panganiban) and we would enter a scene and I&#x27;d go home and I&#x27;d tell my wife I really had to turn it all the way up and I would feel so guilty,” Tom shared.</p><p>However, Tom explained that, as an actor, he needed to understand the perspective and motivations of his character.</p><p>“I may not agree with Stephen&#x27;s actions. I don&#x27;t want to condone it, I don&#x27;t want to give it a free pass. But I had to understand at least what his &#x27;why&#x27; was. What was he reacting that same way? Because his whole thing is he&#x27;s a provider. That&#x27;s the image he made for himself. Now, if you think about it on a surface level, being a provider shouldn&#x27;t be a bad thing. So for him, it was his fear, his insecurities of trying to control that image. And toxic na in a way na it made him almost treat his wife like a portfolio instead of it being through love,” the actor shared.</p><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DSyzbr2Dxji/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=607&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1029739.8000000715%2C%22ls%22%3A1029274.1000000238%2C%22le%22%3A1029704.3999999762%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="927" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Even though he didn’t fully relate to Stephen, Tom said he gained a lot from playing the character.</p><p>“He wanted it to be ideal when all it needed to be was real. So his fears made him act like that. I saw Stephen&#x27;s story was very tragic even in the end when he realized that that image was shattered. It&#x27;s sad for him that that&#x27;s where his value was. Now hopefully everyone needs redemption and deserves redemption. So maybe hopefully Stephen&#x27;s story doesn&#x27;t end there. Maybe in another chapter, he does realize that real love exists out there. That material (things) or what you can give someone is not the only way to show your love,” he explained.</p><div><iframe width="1157" height="651" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3bLDu6QxdNE" title="UNMARRY Full Trailer" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, Tom shared how he knew that he made the right decision.</p><p>“The material I think speaks for itself. When I read it, of course, I had my own apprehensions. Pero reading the script and what I felt from the character&#x27;s journey, and watching the film, kung paano ako nadala, I knew I made the right choice kasi from knowing who the cast was gonna be, who the writer was gonna from knowing who the cast was gonna be, who the writer was gonna be, who the director was gonna be, I would be a fool to say no to it,” he shared.</p>

<p>Tom Rodriguez reveals that he was initially hesitant to play a husband going through an annulment. He also admitted feeling guilty during some of his scenes.</p>

Tom Rodriguez reveals that he was initially hesitant to play a husband going through an annulment. He also admitted feeling guilty during some of his scenes.