Growing up in Taiwan, Paolo Gumabao didn’t know his father was a famous actor in the Philippines.
Yet, at seven, he started to feel an itch that he wanted to be an actor.
By the time he reached his late teens, Paolo had slowly inched his way into local showbiz, landing small roles, mostly supporting. Fate had also allowed a way for him to meet his biological father, Dennis Roldan.
In an interview, Paolo recalled that lukso-ng-dugo first meeting. He remembers clearly what Dennis told him as the veteran actor sized him up from head to toe.
‘’You’re really my son, there is no denying,’’ he said. Then, off they went to lunch and into a closer, newly discovered father-and-son relationship.
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Just one look at Paolo Gumabao is enough for movie veterans like this Moviegoer to declare that he is his father’s son.
The young man has inherited many of his father’s physical characteristics, that height, that posture, the facial expression, the over-all presence. They can’t be anything but two peas in a pod.
Paolo has also imbibed his father’s penchant for acting, including the latter’s taste for playing out-of-the-box characters.
It can be said that Paolo has even outsmarted his father in embracing a truly controversial role in what is considered his launching movie.
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“Lockdown.”
Written by Troy Espiritu and directed by Joel Lamangan, the film casts Paolo in the role of a displaced overseas worker who is forced to use his body and engage in the most outrageous sexual acts to be able to survive.
Paolo said he didn’t think twice about doing those cybersex acts with men in the movie.
‘’I committed myself wholeheartedly to the project as I believed in it,’’ he told an online conference recently.
Lockdown, he said, will be an eye-opener for those who look down on people who are forced to sell their bodies when they’re pushed against the wall.
The sexy scenes, he said are a small price to pay for the film’s message and impact.
‘’My character sells his body, not those of others. He doesn’t harm others. He only wants to earn to sustain his family.’’
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Director Joel says he was attracted to the script as it’s the first local film set during the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘’Film should tell the truth about this certain moment in our history. The fact that graphic sexual scenes come into play is merely incidental in telling that truth,’’ he said.
The award-winning director says Lockdown serves as a mirror of social reality and must be seen for the truth it portrays.
The movie had a special screening recently at Sine Pop in Cubao, where it was described by Pablo Tariman as ‘’by turns poignantly moving and shocking. It is a standout film in this time of pandemic. It is by turns depressing and shocking, but it is the truth. Whether we like it or not, the film is about lowlifes during the era of COVID-19.”
Lockdown also stars Alan Paule, Max Eigenmann, Ruby Ruiz, Jess Evardone, Paul Jake Paule, Angellie Sanoy, and Jim Pebanco. Executive producer is Jojo Barron.
Produced by the For the Love of Art Film, the uncut version of “Lockdown” is streaming worldwide on July 23, 2021 through KTX.ph, Upstream.ph, RAD (iamrad.app), and WeTV.