by Vanessa A. Balbuena
Updated January 07, 2011 12:00 AM
Already a household name in Indonesia after selling there millions of CDs and downloads, he was offered a role by an Indonesian movie company for an inspirational film called “Sepandung Luar Biasa” (Jayden’s Choir). Christian is the only Filipino in the all-Indonesian cast.
“They needed a foreign singer. Bumagay ako sa role. They met with me when I was there to do some shows. I read the script and it was very good and inspiring. It’s about a foreign teacher from Manila who comes to Jakarta and changes the lives of kids in a school for special children, and who changes my life also,” said Christian, who had to learn Bahasa for his character who had speaking lines in Tagalog, English and Bahasa.
He will be shuttling between Manila and Jakarta this month up until March to finish dubbing and do a promotional blitz. His management is also in talks with local movie companies for the film’s possible release in Manila.
Asked what differences he noticed with Indonesia’s entertainment industry with that of the Philippines, Christian notes the absence of network wars.
“They have a very big entertainment industry with 10 TV stations. You can go around, walang network war. Music is king. Even though hirap din sila sa piracy, they’re surviving through ringback tone downloads.”
The experience to star in his own movie has inspired him to actively pursue acting, without of course compromising his singing career. He shared that doing a season of “Your Song” with Malaysian actress Carmen Soo was really enjoyable, so he hopes to bag more acting projects this year.
“I’m trying to go into acting here and there. It’s time to do different things and go to other countries. I go where the opportunity is. Kung wala, I create the opportunity. You have to innovate yourself every once in a while. I always get roles na sacristan or goody-goody. So I want to prove that I can also do other roles.”
Part of his gameplan to be considered for other roles apart from the typical was to bulk up his physique and pose shirtless late last year in a Bench ad. Christian has always been on the lean side and he thought that prevented him from becoming leading man material.
“I want to do a movie, whether it’s an indie or for the mainstream, and maybe a teleseries. Kasi here in the Philippines, the only way to survive is to be in a show or a teleserye. The music industry is changing. Most singers are going into acting like Rico Blanco and Marc Abaya. I want to do the same.”
Read the full interview here:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=645996&publicationSubCategoryId=51
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