Paolo Contis shares lessons from his film ‘A Faraway Land’: ‘Pag nagmahal ka itodo mo na’

Rhea Manila Santos

Taking a break from his usual comedic roles onscreen, Paolo Contis saidhe looked forward to play a serious character in A Faraway Land.“I think naman one reason kaya very effective siya is because people don’t see me often cry because they always see me do comedy. And sabi nga nila ang mga comedians we really hide what we feel and siguro yun naman yung reason kung bakit very effective siya is because they really don’t see me often. Maybe pagdating ng araw pag palagi na nila akong nakikitang umiiyak baka hindi na effective at kailangan ko na bumalik sa pagpapapatawa di ba? (laughs) Again, I’m very thankful.“I do my best to act from the heart. I do my best to put myself in the character kaya naman yung iyak ko sa mga characters ko totoong iyak ako nun. Hindi ako nandadaya. I really feel it. That’s why people feel what I feel,” he shared during A Faraway Land’s Netflix interview. <a href='https://push.abs-cbn.com/2021/8/20/fresh-scoops/lj-reyes-at-paolo-contis-hiwalay-na-ba-195278' target='_blank'>READ: LJ Reyes at Paolo Contis, hiwalay na ba?</a>Paolo said his role as documentary journalist Nico Mercado in the film is closer to real life than what most people may think.“Hindi naman ako masyadong nalalayo kay Nico. More or less, I often say what I want, I often know what I have to do when it comes to work, when it comes to love. Siguro ang talagang pagkakaiba lang namin ni Nico mas emosyonal si Nico na tao. Ako hindi ako masyado emosyonal na tao. I normally keep things to myself. I normally keep things hidden kapag may mga dinadala ako. I’m just really, really quiet. That’s one more thing na natutunan ko sa character ni Nico, baka nga dapat I should be more vulnerable and be more open to my emotions when it comes to everything,” he explained.<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHeatA_om84' target='_blank'>WATCH: LJ Reyes, pinaiyak ni Paolo Contis | PUSH Daily</a>Paolo also shared how all the characters in the film are based on real life Pinoys who live on Faroe Island in Europe.“Maraming interracial marriages dun and to be honest, si direk Roni (Velasco) when she went to the Faroes to research and to write the script, lahat ng characters na yan may pinag-basehan na tao. Lahat. Hindi yan inimbentong character. Hindi ko sinabing parehong pareho ha. Pero may pinagbasehan yung character ni Majoy, yung vlogger, meron yun. Lahat yan may pinagbasehan who were with us during the shoot, we know their love stories, we’ve seen their partners. It was very fun shooting it kasi alam namin na galing sa kanila yung mga kuwentong yun,” he revealed.The 37-year-old actor also shared what lessons he learned from doing the film.“Natutunan ko kay Nico pag nagmahal ka itodo mo na. You don’t know when ikaw mawawala sa mundo. You don’t know when you’re going to get a second opportunity in life. You can call Nico a hopeless romantic, some people can even call him an asshole di ba for pursuing Majoy. Pero sabi ko nga, hindi mo alam kung kailan ka tatamaan ng love and pag tinamaan ka it’s your decision whether to do the right decision, the wrong decision, or talagang makikinig ka sa puso mo. And yun yung natutunan ko kay Nico. Lahat ng bagay, hindi lang dapat sa love, dapat lahat ng bagay itodo mo,” he says. A Faraway Land is now streaming on Netflix.

<a href='https://push.abs-cbn.com/2021/8/20/fresh-scoops/lj-reyes-at-paolo-contis-hiwalay-na-ba-195278' target='_blank'>READ: LJ Reyes at Paolo Contis, hiwalay na ba?</a>Paolo said his role as documentary journalist Nico Mercado in the film is closer to real life than what most people may think.“Hindi naman ako masyadong nalalayo kay Nico. More or less, I often say what I want, I often know what I have to do when it comes to work, when it comes to love. Siguro ang talagang pagkakaiba lang namin ni Nico mas emosyonal si Nico na tao. Ako hindi ako masyado emosyonal na tao. I normally keep things to myself. I normally keep things hidden kapag may mga dinadala ako. I’m just really, really quiet. That’s one more thing na natutunan ko sa character ni Nico, baka nga dapat I should be more vulnerable and be more open to my emotions when it comes to everything,” he explained.<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHeatA_om84' target='_blank'>WATCH: LJ Reyes, pinaiyak ni Paolo Contis | PUSH Daily</a>Paolo also shared how all the characters in the film are based on real life Pinoys who live on Faroe Island in Europe.“Maraming interracial marriages dun and to be honest, si direk Roni (Velasco) when she went to the Faroes to research and to write the script, lahat ng characters na yan may pinag-basehan na tao. Lahat. Hindi yan inimbentong character. Hindi ko sinabing parehong pareho ha. Pero may pinagbasehan yung character ni Majoy, yung vlogger, meron yun. Lahat yan may pinagbasehan who were with us during the shoot, we know their love stories, we’ve seen their partners. It was very fun shooting it kasi alam namin na galing sa kanila yung mga kuwentong yun,” he revealed.The 37-year-old actor also shared what lessons he learned from doing the film.“Natutunan ko kay Nico pag nagmahal ka itodo mo na. You don’t know when ikaw mawawala sa mundo. You don’t know when you’re going to get a second opportunity in life. You can call Nico a hopeless romantic, some people can even call him an asshole di ba for pursuing Majoy. Pero sabi ko nga, hindi mo alam kung kailan ka tatamaan ng love and pag tinamaan ka it’s your decision whether to do the right decision, the wrong decision, or talagang makikinig ka sa puso mo. And yun yung natutunan ko kay Nico. Lahat ng bagay, hindi lang dapat sa love, dapat lahat ng bagay itodo mo,” he says. A Faraway Land is now streaming on Netflix.

Taking a break from his usual comedic roles onscreen, Paolo Contis saidhe looked forward to play a serious character in A Faraway Land.“I think naman one reason kaya very effective siya is because people don’t see me often cry because they always see me do comedy. And sabi nga nila ang mga comedians we really hide what we feel and siguro yun naman yung reason kung bakit very effective siya is because they really don’t see me often. Maybe pagdating ng araw pag palagi na nila akong nakikitang umiiyak baka hindi na effective at kailangan ko na bumalik sa pagpapapatawa di ba? (laughs) Again, I’m very thankful.“I do my best to act from the heart. I do my best to put myself in the character kaya naman yung iyak ko sa mga characters ko totoong iyak ako nun. Hindi ako nandadaya. I really feel it. That’s why people feel what I feel,” he shared during A Faraway Land’s Netflix interview.

‘A Faraway Land’ actor Paolo Contis talks about his latest role as a documentary journalist who visits Faroe Island in Europe. 

Paolo Contis shares lessons from his film ‘A Faraway Land’: ‘Pag nagmahal ka itodo mo na’ | PUSH.COM.PH