MANILA -- After working on his debut movie, Atom Araullo admits he now has more respect for actors.

“Ang hirap maging aktor, lalo na yung seryoso sa trabaho nila,” he told reporters at the invitational premiere of “Citizen Jake” at the University of the Philippines on Saturday. “Marami tayong magagaling na aktor. They make it look so easy and I found out the hard way that it takes a lot of effort to act competently.”

Among these skills, he said, are being vulnerable, honest and giving a “part of yourself to the audience.”

“Na-trauma nga ako eh,” he said, giving out a laugh. “Somewhere along the way naisip ko, ‘Kaya ko ba talaga gawin ito?’ And there were doubts, not just from my end but also from the rest of the team if I could actually pull it off.”

Now that “Citizen Jake,” the first movie of legendary director Mike de Leon in 18 years, is finished, the former ABS-CBN News reporter said he leaves it up to the audience to decide if his performance was credible or not.

“The greatest fear, I suppose, is not being able to deliver as an actor. But more than that, people might not understand why I would do such a project, especially since my career is as a journalist. The two worlds aren’t necessarily connected. I heard it asked many times before, even from close friends. Some people don’t really understand,” he said.

But Araullo explained cinema is just another way of telling a story.

“Now that everything is done, I really feel like cinema is a huge influence in society. As a journalist, bilang isang reporter, I can identify with that. We make stories to inform, to educate. Cinema does exactly that. It’s just a different way of telling a story. It’s a different way of teaching an audience,” he said.

Since he admited that he finds doing movies interesting, does this mean he is open to doing more acting projects in the future?

“Acting is not a priority. I intend to do more documentaries,” he stressed. “But if this does open doors for other opportunities, I will not reject them outright. Kung tanungin niyo ako nung middle of 2016 kung gagawa ako ng pelikula, sasabihin ko hindi. Pero nandito na ako ngayon. So depende rin talaga,” he said.

In “Citizen Jake,” Araullo plays Jake Herrera, a reporter who had to quit his job at a newspaper after his father, a crony of former president Ferdinand Marcos, ran for senator. He decided to move to their family house in Baguio and become a teacher -- and a citizen journalist (i.e. blogger) on the side.

But when a student is killed, Jake is forced to finally confront his family's dark side.

Araullo assured moviegoers that he tried his best to act competently on “Citizen Jake.”

“I think at the end of the day, my performance in this film would be a very minor component of the reasons why it works and the reasons why people will find it interesting and engaging. I’m surrounded by a very formidable cast. Direk Mike guided me all the way so obviously Jake is not Atom. Part of Jake is Atom but I would say it’s just a small part of it. Sana kapag napanuod nila ang pelikula, hindi nila ako ma-recognize,” he said.

“Citizen Jake” will have another public screening at UP Cine Adarna on Tuesday, March 13.