In an interview with Joao Constancia regarding his role in the BL movie, My Lockdown Romance, he admitted he imposed restrictions on how he will play his role.
Since it is his first time doing a gay role, he is not into intimate scenes as long as it is not vital to the story.
“As an actor you know, I don’t want to say no a lot. I want to be open-minded to certain things. But obviously, there are some restrictions also. I think I agree with Jameson (Blake) din. Maybe nothing too much than the bed scene. As long as it’s vital for the story, if it makes the story better, it’s important, I’m game with it. But if it’s not necessary, wag na lang muna,” he said.
However, the Kapamilya actor was very happy that BL genres are being regarded as the ‘new normal’ when it comes to love. He is glad that the country is becoming acceptable about this kind of genre. He also shared that BL genres really do have stories to tell and he is sure that people can relate to them.
“Nakakatuwa lang talaga na Filipinos are becoming more open-minded lang talaga you know. Coz’ it is amazing. All types of love are important here talaga,” Joao said.
When asked about how did he react knowing that the LGBTQIA+ community is very sensitive regarding this kind of topic, he said that he understands where they’re coming from.
“As actors, our job is to play fictional characters, we bring life to them and it is just to entertain the viewers talaga. So I understand where they’re coming from when they want gay person to play this gay role. But at the same time, as actors we play different types of roles eh. And we’re not really them talaga from time to time. Depende rin talaga sa script or sa tao. Pero again, we play fictional characters kasi. It’s a great way for us to experience and learn from our roles rin talaga,” Joao explained.
He also added, “…it opened up my mind more to the perspective of love pagdating sa LGBTQ community talaga.”
Also, he is proud that he had learned something from the movie and the character that he portrayed. He realized the importance of his abilities as an actor. He learned that anyone can play the role and gender should not be the reason why an actor cannot play the character.
“Again it’s important for us also to learn from them and I guess it doesn’t just have to be for gay people to play gay roles also. It’s a great way for all of us to learn and hopefully, also our viewers will learn something from our movie or from our characters rin,” the actor said.
The BL Genre
The BL genre has high hopes of making it in the Philippines despite being a conservative country. Since BL dramas are more on the personal side, it focuses on the self-journey and coming-of-age of that individual. More people are becoming open-minded with this kind of genre. Also, when it comes to its fans, Filipinos are now engaging more in BL fan activities, as well as the discourses they create within the subculture concerning female desire.
Joao Constancia and James Blakeson star in a BL movie under Star Cinema titled “My Lockdown Romance”. It is available via KTX.ph, iWantTFC, IPTV, Cignal PPV, and Sky Cable PPV and is only P150.
