Not expecting to win the coveted Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival, John Arcilla, who gained national fame in 2015 with his widely acclaimed portrayal of the Filipino revolutionary general Antonio Luna, decided to miss the red-carpeted battle ground in Venice.
A tactical miscalculation of his brilliance by the actor himself.
“I’ve won my share of awards here in the Philippines and have been nominated in various international film festivals abroad,” he said in an exclusive interview hours after his unprecedented win.
“But this is the Volpi Cup we’re talking about. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of winning. Just being there and getting nominated with all of those other actors would have been an experience of a lifetime. It’s something that doesn’t happen to any actor every day,” he told PeopleAsia.
Aside from not expecting to win, Arcilla, the first Filipino to be named best actor at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, confided to the magazine that he was not keen on the 14-day quarantine upon his return to Manila.
One of PeopleAsia’s “People of the Year” 2016 awardees, Arcilla bested the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Isaac and Tim Roth for the top acting award for actor in a lead role for his performance in Erik Matti’s OTJ: The Missing 8, a sequel to the director’s earlier film On the Job, which showed the violent and corrupt underbelly of a supposedly modern society in Manila. But this time, OTJ revolves around a different set of characters.
Instead of being able to “kiss” his Volpi live, Arcilla, who also played the title role in Jerrold Tarog’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful biopic Heneral Luna in 2015, made his acceptance speech via video.
“Well, if there is something that I really regret tonight is that I will not be able to kiss my Volpi Cup there in the middle of Venice and on that red carpet just like the other 77 great actors whom I admire who have already kissed their own, this most wonderful and prestigious award,” said Arcilla, who plays a journalist in crisis who nearly gets swallowed by the system in OTJ.
There’s no comparison, he said, between his flamboyant and larger-than-life portrayal of General Antonio Luna and his more quiet, more introspective role as a journalist in OTJ. He has played more demanding roles before, said Arcilla. The challenge for him in Matti’s latest film, which runs for more than three hours and is set to be serialized in HBO, is more physical, as it required him to do a lot of running and body movements.
“Had I attended the festival and brought home the Volpi Cup, I probably would not have minded being held up in a hotel room for two weeks upon my return,” said Arcilla with a chuckle. “With all the likely media interviews and messages of congratulations I would be doing and receiving while on quarantine, those 14 days would probably be over in an instant.”
“Please direeek! Kailangan ko ma kiss yan! Huhuhuhuhuhu…pinatong lang sa sahig huhuhuu (Please, director [Erik Matti]! I really need to kiss that [Volpi Cup], which was just placed on the floor),” Arcilla wrote on the comments section of Matti’s Facebook post, referring to his Volpi Cup. The Filipino director behind On the Job and its sequel OTJ: The Missing 8, accepted the award on his behalf.
With his victory, Arcilla now joins the elite roster of some of the world’s most celebrated actors such as Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt, who all won Best Actor and brought home the prestigious Volpi Cup during previous editions of the annual film festival.
Arcilla told PeopleAsia that he had no idea that he would win, much less get nominated, because none of the jurors had seen any of the films yet prior to their screening at Venice. It is for the same reason that Arcilla is unable to comment on who his closest rivals were for the top plum. He has yet to see the films and performances of the other nominated actors, he said.
“Quarantines for visitors aren’t required in Europe as long you’re fully vaccinated and have tested negative,” Arcilla said. “I’m fully vaccinated. But had I gone to Venice, I couldn’t imagine myself returning home and spending 14 days in quarantine in a hotel room in Manila, which I myself would be paying for. I don’t think I would have the patience to sit all day, waiting for the 14 days to end.”
But in hindsight, had Arcilla known that he would be nominated, he would have joined the Filipino contingent led by Matti to Venice. No ifs, no buts.
