The Making of an Ilustrado

The Rizal look
 
Alden has the perfect physique and facial features to play Jose Rizal but his foreign looks might get in the way. Alden has inherited his being mestizo from his father who’s of American descent.  This didn’t stop the production team, though. As Jayson Santos, Executive Producer of Ilustrado, explains, “para mailapit sa mga nakababatang manonood, kailangan ng isang popular o kilalang pangalan o mukha. Si Alden ang bagong Rizal, dahil bitbit niya ang mga katangiang iyon.”
 
So instead of finding a new actor to play Rizal, they made Alden look like Rizal. How? Through make-up and hairstyling.
 
Ilustrado’s make-up and hairstyling team didn’t just make Alden’s skin darker and trim his hair, it also did thorough research to make him as much as possible look like the National Hero.
 
“Rizal is known as the Philippine National Hero so very precise na ‘yung kanyang look so kung mali ‘yung gagawin mong hairstyle sa kanya alam na alam ng mga Filipino ‘yan. We watched films about Jose Rizal. His hairstyle during his younger years, iba rin ‘yung hairstyle niya during his high school and college at the same time before he died iba na rin ‘yung look niya. So we researched it in history books,” Abbett Soriano, Ilustrado’s hairstylist explains.
 
“The products are not usually the type na over the counter, they are specifically made for film so meaning hindi siya nabibili kung saan-saan lang. [Alden] needs to look darker than the usual which is a bit challenging kasi mahirap gawing maitim kapag maputi and kailangan siyang i-mix and until now it’s still a challenge na ma-perfect,”  make-up artist Michael Munoz adds.
 
Getting into Character
 
After getting Rizal’s physical features, the next phase was to act like Rizal.  It was a tougher challenge for Alden.  With the benchmark set by the veteran actors that came before him, Alden was expected not only live up to the standards already but also create his own characterization of Rizal. There should be synonymity and variety.



Before the actual taping, Alden underwent acting workshops with Bombi Plata so that he can familiarize himself with the character he is about to give life. 

This was done so that Alden would be familiarized with how he should play the character of Rizal.
 
“We all have our perceptions of who Rizal is depende sa pinagmumulan natin and hindi maiiwasan na hahanapin ‘yan sa isang aktor na nagpo-portray ng Jose Rizal. I’ve been telling Alden the dialogue that we get from the script, the wardrobe that we put on, the instructions of the director—that’s just 50% of the character. The other half should come from him. He should be generous enough to impart some of Alden into the character. That would make it different from how Joel Torre did it, how Cesar Montano did it and all the others who played Jose Rizal,”  Plata said.

What’s interesting with Ilustrado’s storyline is that it wants to show the viewers that like all of us, Rizal was also an ordinary person.
 
“Tatangkain ng Ilustrado na ipakilala si Pepe sa ibang perspektibo.  Makilala siya bilang katulad natin, bilang tao. May masayang kabataan, may nakikilalang bully hanggang pagtanda, umiibig, natotorpe, may lakas at kahinaan, at iba pa,” Santos said.
 
This could be Alden’s most critical and delicate role to date but the young actor remained optimistic.  
 
“‘Di mawawala ‘yung fears kasi baka ang tingin ng viewers dito sa project na ito, saturated na kasi paulit-ulit na lang ginagawa ‘yung buhay ni Rizal, pero this is something different. Ang maganda kasi, ang instruction sa ’kin dito is gawin ko raw siyang Jose Rizal na with a little bit of myself kasi we’re trying nga to humanize Rizal in this project, which is more exciting. Hopefully it works,” Alden said. - Gerald Vista/NB, GMA News

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