HIGHSPEED uses more excerpts (abridged) from “Inside Philippine Movies 1970-1990” by J. Eddie Infante.
To be an actor is to pound the sidewalks of Manila all year round, come rain, come shine, from one production office to another.
“Ganyan pala kahirap, eh. Bakit ibig pang mag-artista ang ating mga kabataan?”
The answer is the same as when you ask someone why he wants to social workers, or a missionary, or a nurse. One likes the work; he finds pleasure in it; as a result, he doesn’t mind a little deprivation or discomfort here and there. It’s very much like when you have a lover who has faults galore (which makes you very unhappy at times) but you can’t give him or her up for the world.
Many actors (and actresses) started out humbly. Rogelio de la Rosa sold neckties along Azcarraga near alma mater, FEU. Pol Salcedo was a handsome gigolo (that was during the “flapper” era, when Clara Bow was the “It” girl at the Old Dreamland cabaret in Cavite). Nora Aunor sold ice water at the railroad station in Sipocot. Lani Oteyza peddler cigarettes at the corner of Azcarraga and Rizal Avenue. Efren Reyes Sr. was a “telonero” at the Life Theater during the Occupation. Jess Lapid Sr. was a grip at Premiere. Dolphy was a helper to his mother, caterer at the Avenue during the war. He was the delivery boy who brought “piyembreras” to dressing rooms.
