Award-winning actor Elijah Canlas has portrayed numerous roles in the past, earning accolades for many of them. However, portraying his real-life story presents a unique challenge, according to him.
In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN, Elijah shared that it’s something he never imagined before.
“I guess, yeah (I’m open to doing it). I'm open to anything naman. I just can't imagine it. First time ako matanong ng ganyan. What about my life? I don't know if my life's interesting enough. But yeah, I'm open to anything. And I feel like portraying myself would be a different challenge also,” he admitted.
He also teased what the title of the episode might be if it were centered on his life: “Siguro, ang corny, headphones? Or sine, theater ganon. Whatever, I don't know.”
Meanwhile, Elijah also talked about the challenges of portraying The Voice US Season 26 champion Sofronio Vasquez for Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK).
“Pinaka-challenging yung different stages ng buhay niya. Kung ano yung state niya emotionally, physically. Nasaan si Sofronio ng mga panahon na age 32 siya, age 24, ganyan. I had to portray all those ages kasi,” he explained.
The award-winning actor admitted that he felt pressured by the singing aspect of his portrayal.
“Mainly, nakakapressure lang kasi it’s singing. Kasi syempre, he's The Voice champion, right? So, hindi naman ako singer like that. But still, they gave me two songs to sing. Very simple songs naman that tinulungan naman ako ni Sofronio how to sing it properly. So, yeah, yun yung mga nakaka-pressure na part,” he added.
Elijah shared how grateful he is to Sofronio for helping him learn how to sing the songs featured in the episode.
“He considered my range, I guess. Kasi nung pinakanta sa kanya yung songs and he sent me the recordings para may peg ako, para may paggagayahan ako on how to sing it. He just sent it on my range. Hindi niya binirit, hindi niya tinaasan the way that he would normally do. And I appreciate him for that."
He went on to say how it helped him feel more confident in his acting: “Malaking tulong siya. Nung sinu-shoot na namin yung mga scenes, I just went back to the recordings all the time. Tapos mas naging confident na ako to doing it.”
Maalaala Mo Kaya is making its much-awaited return with a brand-new limited series, premiering this April 24 (Thursday) on iWantTFC.
The series will stream exclusively 48 hours in advance on iWantTFC, offering 13 compelling episodes over 13 weeks. Each episode will feature a special director’s cut, delivering more daring storytelling and emotionally unfiltered, powerful scenes.