Known for their work in theater, Mike Liwag and Jesse Guinto step into new territory with Ivan Payawal’s provocative, edgy drama “Bigayan,” which premiered October 30 on the entertainment streaming platform VMX Plus.
Respectively starring as Kent and Harvey — a gay couple in an open relationship whose love and commitment are tested when one partner suddenly desires monogamy — the pair of thespians openly reflected on their roles and experience on set in an interview.
Guinto shared, “This was my first time working with Mike, and I can say he’s incredibly professional. We both come from a theater background, making portraying our characters easier.
“We drew from each other’s energy in our scenes, which made our performances more authentic,” he elaborated.
Echoing the sentiment, Liwanag said, “I’m really happy to work with Jesse, especially since it’s my first time acting in this genre. I appreciate his willingness to fully dive into the scenes. When the director sets a scene, he just goes for it — no hesitation. Just pure professionalism.”
Both actors further explained that apart from the intimate scenes, the initial challenge was to tone down the larger gestures they were used to on stage.
“There were times when the director would tell me that I had to go smaller in my acting. My movements were coming across as too big since film is a different platform. I’m facing a camera now, not a large audience, so don’t have to move as much,” Guinto reminded himself.
Liwag added, “At first, it was a big adjustment. My Cinemalaya directors said the same thing to me in the past, but with this project, the main adjustment was in approaching the story. It was mostly about following Director Ivan’s guidance. We were very collaborative, so whatever approach he wanted and whatever we wanted to bring to the scenes, we’d work on it and meet halfway. It was about adjusting the character as Director Ivan envisioned it while bringing our own interpretation into the role.”
In VMX Plus’ newest drop, “Bigayan,” Liwag plays Kent, who is content with his open relationship with Guinto’s Harvey, who, in turn, has grown weary of playing the field, now yearning for exclusivity.
“With this conflict, the question is, would Kent give up his ways to save their relationship or stick to what he knows, even if it means losing Harvey,” Liwag offered. When specifically asked what helped them get through their steamy scenes, both intimate scenes without any awkwardness, both actors said it was the “trust and respect” for each other as fellow actors.
“There was no awkwardness at all because I already knew what kind of actor Mike was before I worked with him. He has a strong theater background and has also done a television series before. So I knew he was a great actor,” Guinto explained.
“When you’re acting alongside someone like that, you can really go all out, especially since we share a similar background.”
Liwag said, for his part, “I didn’t feel any awkwardness with Jesse either. From the moment he walked into the room, he was very welcoming. Just with the first hello, I knew I could work well with him.
“Then, when we started reading the script, you could see his passion for his craft. It’s clear he’s really trained in theater because he had no hesitations at all.
“Actors like Jesse are the ones I want to work with on projects like this because there’s no pretense — everything flows very smoothly.”
“Bigayan” is now available on VMX Plus through www.vivamax.net or the VMX app.
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