In a recent media conference, Breakthrough Artist of the Year nominee Kokoy de Santos answered questions regarding his upcoming iWantTFC series titled, Oh, Mando!.
When asked about what made him say yes to this project and what made him feel excited for playing this role, he answered that it was because of the script and the entirety of the show. Along with the cast and the award-winning director, Eduardo Roy, he is very eager to play his role (Mando). According to him, it was because he wants to be challenged that is why he is excited.
“Simple lang naman, napakaganda po nung script, nung material. At yung direktor po natin ay si Direk Eduardo Roy. At hindi sa pambobola pero napakagaling na direktor po talaga nito.
Tingin ko eh, bago ito sakin. Kaya madalas gusto ko nachachallenge,” he said.
Additionally, another reason he accepted the project is that, unlike his previous works which were also LBTQ-related, his character Mando is far from the same roles he portrayed before.
“Gustong-gusto ko po sya kasi ano eh, si Mando ibang ibang karakter to kumbaga bago rin sakin to kahit na may nagagawa na akong roles or character before na LGBTQ related din eh ibang-iba pa rin po ito,” he added.
Kokoy praised his co-star Alex Diaz whom he is working with for the first time.
“Si Alex po kasi first time ko rin makatrabaho at hindi mahirap maging kaibigan, makatrabaho si Alex kasi mafi-feel mo naman na open naman sya sayo bilang aktor at bilang tao. At tingin ko na-appreciate ko yun kasi bibihira din samin sa industriya yung sobrang magiging open sa’yo hindi lang sa pagiging aktor. Sa personal na buhay nakapag-share s’ya kaagad sakin ng mga ilang bagay na tingin ko hindi naman nya sasabihin kung hindi sya nagtitiwala sakin,”
Talking about love, the actor believed that sexuality will never be an issue for him. When asked if sexuality is important for him to love someone, he agreed with his co-star Alex that love knows no gender.
“…love has no gender talaga. Love is love is love at mapa-romantic way man yan o kaibigan mo, mahalin mo lang kasi hindi talga yan ano eh… pare-pareho lang naman tayo ang gusto lang naman talga natin ay magmahalan bakit mo pipigilan di ba? Tao lang naman tayo eh,”
He also added that if you love someone, you should not hide it and never stop yourself from doing so.
“Oo! Wag mo itatago! wag mong pigilan ang sarili mo,” he added.
The previous characters that Kokoy portrayed were very serious unlike his character in the upcoming series. When asked how he transitioned from serious portrayals to feel-good characters, he said he was thankful that he was given the role and that it was satisfying for him as an actor to be working with this kind of project.
“Malayung-malayo po dun sa dati na pinag-gagawa ko eh. Tingin ko po eh nung mga panahon na ginagawa ko, yung mga ganung proyekto, eh talagang na-eexcite ako na sana eh, someday mabigyan ako ng gantong klaseng proyekto na napapanood ko lang madalas sa pelikula, sa teleserye, mga ganyang romcom. At mabigyan ako ng klaseng ganito na may twist na bago sa ating mga viewers sa Pilipinas na romcom pa. Sabi ko, bakit hindi natin to subukan at nung ginawa naman po eh sobrang satisfying for me as an actor na makatrabaho tong mga to sa ganitong klaseng proyekto para mas mapadali, mas maging swabe lahat po,” he answered.
He also believes that while the series is a romcom, there are family-oriented issues as well.
“Oh, Mando!” moment, well sa family siguro at dahil nabanggit ko nga na ito ay family related at oriented din to (Oh, Mando). Tingin ko dun ako makaka-relate kasi malapit ako sa pamilya ko. Laging nagma-matter yung decisions nila sa akin. I mean yung desisyon ko kailangan merong approval nila. Pagdating siguro sa love life tingin ko eh kailangan nila panuorin (Oh, Mando),” the actor answered with a hint of what the show will be.
When it comes to his previous shows, Kokoy is ready to have comparisons to be made.
“…I mean ako personally iba ang ginampanan ko dito at tingin ko ay imbes na macopmpare, siguro iappreciate na lang natin yung mga ganitong klaseng bagay. pero ready naman. wala namang masama eh,” he answered.
For Kokoy who has portrayed a lot roles in BL films, being typecasted is not a big deal because for him, the fact that he is being assigned repeatedly the same role proves that he is doing something good and that he is perfect for that kind of role.
“I think wala namang ho masama na ma-typecast sa ganitong klaseng mga role. tingin ko kasi sa mga karakter na ito ay representation ito ng mga totoong tao. tingin ko eh kung ma-typecast ako sa ganitong klase (role) eh baka may ano, may something sayo na, baka pwedeng magaling ka, pwedeng pasok sayo yung role, so for me satisfied na ako. At tsaka tingin ko, pag-arte sakin talaga is ibang iba. Iba yung pakiramdam ko kapag iba yung karakter na ginagampanan ko. Kasi yung feeling ko talaga, ibang tao at sana lang eh nabibigyan ko ng hustisya palagi yung mga ginagawa kong proyekto, mga ginagampanan ko,” Kokoy answered.
As far as the actor is concerned about his career, he has no specific plans yet. He said that whatever the Lord gives him, he will accept it.
“Kung mapagbibigyan man, wala akong specific na tinatahak. Kung mapagbigyan na parang katulad kay ganto, pwede kung may sarili ako na ibang iba rin naman, bakit hindi, kahit kanino. Why not di ba? Kung saan ako dadalhin ni Lord,” he replied.
Before leaving the conference early, Kokoy answered one last question which is his reaction whenever he hears a masculine name yet womanly. He responded that he’s already used to it and that he thinks it is time to normalize the fact that there are guys who are feminal
“Actually wala. Kasi sobrang normal na sakin. Actually hindi lang pangalan pati sa itsura, lahat. Kaya tingin ko noon palang eh medyo dilat na ako sa mga gantong klaseng bagay na tingin ko eh sobrang natutuwa ako na napag-uusapan ng madalas itong mga nakaraan bwan. So tingin ko yung mga tao na bihira eh masasanay din kayo. Ako nga si Armando Deputado Jr. mahalin ka pa di ba? Armando eh. Madami akong kaibigan, borta pa nga eh. normal na po sakin yun. At tingin ko let’s normalize na yung mga ganitong bagay,” he said before saying his goodbye to the conference.
Kokoy de Santos is a nominee for the 2020 RAWR Awards whose personality rocked the entertainment scene with such a sterling performance.
He is currently the top candidate to win the Breakthrough Artist Of The Year.
Oh, Mando! is about two boys entering a complicated relationship since one of them already has a girlfriend. The series will be available on November 5, 2020 on IWantTFC and stars Kokoy de Santos as “Mando”, Alex Diaz as “Barry”, and Barbie Imperial as “Krisha”.
