What makes a good actor? Michael de Mesa and Rafael Rosell answer

Michael de Mesa and Rafael Rowell took the "Fast Talk with Boy Abunda" stage Friday to promote their upcoming project "Forever Young" and answer some questions from the King of Talk.

As Michael and Rafael are both award-winning actors, Tito Boy couldn't help but ask them about their craft, and what constitutes a good actor.

For Michael it's "when you forget or disregard who you really are and become another person."

"You drown yourself in being another character and you are able to portray that with truth, honesty and believability," he added.

Michael shared his personal opinion that "there are actors born to be actors and there are some who are manufactured."

"I'm not against that," he clarified and drove home the point that there are many factors and layers to being a good actor. "Kasama na ang attitude mo and kung ano ang gusto mo maging sa industry na ito."

Rafael meanwhile used the metaphor of a sitting duck, paddling hard beneath the surface. "There's the craft and the delivering of the lines," he said, adding "you can fake it."

"I think it was Denzel Washington or Robert De Niro who said, some days you're there and some days you're not and it's your job to make sure nobody knows the difference," Rafael said.

"You're creating a whole new different personality, but the punctuation in the whole acting, in the craft is authenticity," he said.

Asked if snapping out of character is different, both admitted to the importance of debriefing, especially after a heavy scene. "Para maintindfhan ng katawan mo na tapos na, hindi mo siya iuuwi," Rafael said.

— LA, GMA Integrated News