The VILLAIN
JM Rodriguez plays ART. Art is the other storyteller. He is simply put, the villain in the story. And JM played it even better than how the role was written on paper and how I imagined it. Needless to say that Art is someone to watch out for in this film. JM plays it so effortlessly, it’s unnerving. You will love him and you will hate him in this film. Best casting choice we made hands-down.
I’ve known JM since we were kids. We went to the same school in Bacolod, we were one batch apart I think. I was older. And I’ve always known him as a singer and super duper nice person. Our mom’s were best of friends so were practically connected already. So for me, it was really nice shooting Red with JM. It’s always a pleasant break to talk in Ilonggo on the set and explain the scene and the character in your own dialect. I’ve lived in Manila more than half of my life but still, speaking in Ilonggo is liberating especially on the set. And when I would explain the film, JM gets it right away because he knows Bacolod, he knows Negros, he knows the people I reference characters from.
He only had 2 days of shoot but boy did we abuse the kindness of JM. He would get to the set at 6am and we would release him around 4am and he would be in good spirits the whole time. That to me is amazing. What a pro!
We all loved JM…love, love, loved him! Thank you for giving us Art.