Less than two years after he joined a reality TV show, singer-actor Tony Labrusca is ready to make bigger splash via the Cinemalaya official entry “ML.” Tony Labrusca The movie is about three teenagers who get more than what they bargained for when they learn about the dark days of Martial Law straight from a retired soldier. Tony plays one of the lead characters named Carlo. He is confronted by a frustrated History professor and this will push him to try and prove Martial Law wasn’t all that bad. He does this by finding someone who lived through that period in the person played by Eddie Garcia. The retiree is an old recluse living alone in a ramshackle house in Carlo’s neighborhood. With Carlo’s best friend Jaze and girlfriend Pats, he visits the old man to interview him about what truly happened during the Marcos regime – a visit that may put the lives of the three teenagers in danger. In an interview, Tony divulged how important “ML” is for him, especially as it allowed him to work with such an icon as Eddie and on a project that’s been selected for one of the most prestigious film festivals in the country. “No one can take that away from me,” he proudly stated. Tony was asked about his opinion of Martial Law during auditions and he answered honestly that he doesn’t know much about it. “I was born in the States and my family is also very Westernized so we only heard old wives’ tales about Martial Law. We’re really not political people so it wasn’t something that we really had opinion about,” he related. “I mean we have no right (to talk about it) ’cause we don’t really know much about it.” It proved to be the winning answer. In no time, Tony was cast. His experiences working on this movie taught him a lot. “I’m very pro-freedom and this movie is actually pro-Filipino,” he said. In terms of what he can take away after making the film, he stated: “I would like to share with my fellow millennials that it’s so important for us to stop being ignorant (about goings-on in the country).” ‘Consummate actor’ Well, good words have been thrown at Tony by those who’ve seen the film in advance. They even tease Tony that he just might get nominated in the best actor category. Even Eddie described him as “a consummate actor.” Tony revealed he allowed his co-actors to “hurt” him for real in shooting the torture scenes. “It’s so hard to get that authentic reaction if they would fake it,” he explained. So with that, he actually received numerous slap on the face and his hair got pulled so many times, aside from several other “maltreatments.” The actor said director Benedict Mique was always there to guide him. Also the latter made him watch videos as there were certain scenes that he needed to feel, like the horrible things that happened to people. First time Asked how his scenes with Eddie went, Tony praised the veteran actor, saying the latter did not even hurt him as he thought he would. “But I was really nervous during our first interaction,” he admitted. “It turns out he’s really nice and I’m super lucky that once in my life, I experienced working with him.” Tony revealed that when he was in the US, he didn’t know Eddie from Adam. So imagine his shock when he realized the latter is one of the most awarded Filipino actors around. For the record, Eddie has done at least 600 movies and counting. Tony (right) with Eddie Garcia “Just working with him you really want to level up, you want to be better ’cause if you don’t step up your game you will be left behind,” he said. “ML” also stars Lianne Valentino, Henz Villaraiz, Jojit Lorenzo, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, and Chanel Latorre, to name a few. The 14th Cinemalaya is slated on Aug. 3 to 12 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Theaters and in selected Ayala Cinemas.