A Good Year's End for Jay R

Jay R is having one of the best year-enders ever—with a movie in cinemas and a hit TV series, he's definitely living large ngayong Pasko. Text by Jason John S. Lim. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. This Christmas, parte muli si Jay R ng Metro Manila Film Festival through the sequel ng sleeper hit last year's festival -- ang Desperadas. And though last minute additions lang ang mga nuances ng character niya last year, this time around, mas buo na siya. And mas enjoy na si Jay R sa character niya ngayon. "Yung character ko sa movie, parang ako rin eh," Jay R says. And from the last movie na mo-model-model lang ang character niyang si Vito, ngayon ay isa na siyang sikat na singer. "Pero [ang] maganda dito, it's actually [still] the same character." In-explain ni Jay R, "I think they're thinking na kasi the last movie did so well, so I think that they're thinking like, don't fix something that's not broke. So everything's pretty much the same." That is, dagdag niya, except for the part na mas maraming comedy at iba na ang problems ng Desperadas sisters dito sa sequel. In the first movie, ang problem ni Jay R was how to make Isabella (Ruffa Gutierrez) see that they were meant for each other. Ngayong live-in partners na sila, ano pa ang magiging problem nilang dalawa? "Same from the first," ang mabilis na sagot ni Jay R. Sabi niya, hindi naman totally nagbago si Isabella. She's still the same commitment-shy character from the first movie. "Kasi, you know, our role [is] on-and-off boyfriend-girlfriend na breakup lagi." Pero bakit naka-pangkasal sa teaser ng Desperadas si Ruffa Gutierrez? Does that mean makukuha na nila ni Vito ang happily ever after nila? "Ah basta, panoorin ninyo 'yun sa movie," natatawang sagot ng singer. Now, unlike last year, Jay R says nahirapan siya sa very tight schedule ng movie: "Kasi ang dami kong ginagawa at the same time." With LaLola and SOP on his plate, Jay R says that his biggest challenge was having little sleep. Mas maraming nagtatawanan ngayon sa set ng Desperadas -- dahil na rin sa pagkakadagdag ni Ogie Alcasid sa cast. "Nakakatawa talaga 'yung mga ano, eh -- kulit nina Ogie. But you know, even without the bloopers, the movie is very funny naman," pagtatapos ni Jay R. Catch Jay R this holiday season sa inyong favorite cinemas! Desperadas 2 will run from December 25 onwards, as part of this year's Metro Manila Film Festival. You can also catch him on GMA Telebabad's LaLola as Pato. Or find out more about Jay R's plans and projects through Fanatxt -- exclusively available for Sun subscribers! Just text JAYR and send to 4627; and each Fanatxt message costs PhP2.00. (This service is exclusive for the Philippines only.)